From brand new experiences like the Roast Masters™ championship, Mindful Coffee Tasting and The Brand Dubai Hub to old favourites like Latte Art Live and the Dutch Barista Championships: Amsterdam was again the beating heart for every coffee lover.
Meet the first Roast Masters™ champion
New this year was the Roast Masters™ championship with a main focus on the art of specialty roasting. Some of the world's best roasters battled it out over three days, showcasing their skills across two disciplines. But there could only be one winner and White Label Coffee took the crown.
White Coffee Label was very proud to win: “We are very happy that we defended our hometown. It was so interesting to see what all these different roasters had done to the same coffee. Our secret? Trying until we meet perfection. To give you an idea: we sample-roasted a hundred grams for about seven times, until we were happy with the flavor profile, and then roasted a bigger batch on the Giesen W6. It gives you more precision."
Mindful Coffee Tasting Experience
Another new concept at The Amsterdam Coffee Festival was the Mindful Coffee Tasting Experience. Florence, a visitor and coffee lover was very enthusiastic about it: “I always drink my cup of coffee to wake up and start my day. I usually drink it very quickly. But at the Mindful Coffee Tasting I learned to look at my cup of coffee in a different way. I started to really enjoy it and took my time: smell the aromas, feel the coffee beans, see the colour. It was a fascinating experience.”
Dutch Barista Championships in association with SCA NL
Sander Groenink was the star at this years’ Amsterdam Coffee Festival. He became champion in two competitions: Sander won the Dutch Brewer Championship 2019 and the Dutch Cup Taster Championship 2019. This has never been done in The Netherlands before.
Kaspar Tammjärv won the Dutch Latte Art Championship. Dutch Barista Champion 2019 this year is Wendelien van Bunnik and she'll go on to represent The Netherlands at the World Barista Championship in Boston in May. She's got big shoes to fill, as last years’ Dutch Champion, Lex Wenneker, came second at the World Championship. But we are convinced she will do great.
The winners:
- Dutch Brewers Champion 2019 – Sander Groenink
- Dutch Latte Art Champion 2019 – Kaspar Tammjärv
- Dutch Barista Champion 2019 – Wendelien van Bunnik
- Dutch Cup Tasters Champion 2019 – Sander Groenink
Vivid coffee culture in The Netherlands
Allegra, the organization behind this festival, looks back with satisfaction. Director Ludovic Rossignol:
“Bringing together all the key players from across the thriving Dutch coffee scene, the 6th edition of The Amsterdam Coffee Festival is a true testament that craft coffee culture is going from strength to strength. We were also impressed by the amount of international visitors this year, further highlighting that the Dutch coffee scene is becoming a beacon model for excellence in coffee quality standards in Europe. Our brand-new international coffee roaster competition Roast Masters, which was won by White Label Coffee from Amsterdam, is proof that roasting standards in The Netherlands are now as advanced as other leading coffee markets in the world.”
Special thanks
Finally, we'd like to send a huge thank you to the sponsors behind The Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2019, who helped make it all possible: Espresso Service West, Alpro, BRITA, Brand Dubai, Friesche Vlag, Tia Maria Opihr Gin, Faema, iZettle, Lavazza, Daarnhouwer, Acme & Co, Just Breathe London, Keen Coffee and koffieTcacao.