UKBC 2013 - (the results)
Seventh overall in the U.K., at 21 years old and in your first barista competition against one of the toughest and most experienced fields ever assembled. That is a very, very good result, something that I am very proud of as are all the staff who work here and have helped Shaun along in his quest to be UK Barista Champion.
However, he missed out on the top six by a point and a half. When the maximum score is 700 and most competitors are scoring between 550 and 650, to miss out by such a small margin is also heart breaking.
We have not yet seen the score sheets, or been able to review the video to be able to assess the performance We did get to see most of it on the streaming video of the competition on the day and we know that Shaun absolutely smashed the performance side of it all. If you watch shows like Masterchef and see experienced Chefs shaking as they put together a dish in front of the judges, you will know it is not always easy holding your nerve in such a situation. Some of the competitor on the day did just this, but Shaun is very good at presenting and in his words just after he called time was ‘oh mate I loved it, that was brilliant’.
Of course we are a bit disappointed he did not get in, but that which does not kill you only makes you stronger and it is my prediction that if you know Shaun now, then one day soon you will be able to say you know the UK Barista and possibly World Champion.
What is also very important is so say how much we absolutely value the support of all our staff here, our customers and pretend judges who helped out over the past four months. In particular we say a big thank you to Chef Jared, our manager Claire and Blazej, Blaze’ Stempin who have supported Shaun in so many ways.
Bring on next year.
PS: We are also very proud that John Gordon went on to win the finals, this is the third year he has won it and he now goes to Melbourne to compete in the Worlds. As John is originally from the Gold Coast and lived in Melbourne for a few years, we very much hope he smashes it and brings it back.
John has been massively helpful to us as a barista in the early days and as a support from Square Mile Coffee with our Synesso machine. You can see a video of him in action at Kaffeine here. Go John.
Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.
