So who makes the best coffee in Australia?

Australia’s Champion Barista for 2015 is Sasa Sestic from Canberra. He started preparing for the competition at the Australian Barista championship a year ago.

Mr Sestic said; “I do work with a lot of different countries worldwide. I look at a barista competition to see when it’s going to be held. For this competition, that was March. I’ve looked at a calendar and seen when coffee will ripen in each country. Seasonality is very important and we knew that the season would finish in Colombia from September to October. Just like fruit and vegetables, when they’re in season they taste great. It’s the same thing with coffee.”

It is a significant win as Baristas from Melbourne have held the title for most of the last decade.

Mr Sestic said; “Canberra’s [coffee scene] has really picked up in the last three years and it’s amazing to go to local suburbs and see small micro roasters being passionate about their brews. When I go overseas and say ‘I’m from Australia’, the response is always ‘Oh, are you from Melbourne?’I say ‘no, I’m actually from Canberra’ and I’m so proud of living here and most of the people think coffee is the best in Melbourne, but we have a small community here and it’s a humble community. So obviously we can do great things in Canberra. It’s about customer service. Behind the bar sometimes as a barista we are a little bit too obsessed on how perfect the coffee is and we don’t get to know the customers as much.”

The competition is run by the Australian Speciality Coffee Association and requires that the competitors must serve four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature drinks.

Mr Sestic said; “For the signature drinks, coffee obviously needs to be a star, but we would add ingredients, not to mask coffee but to highlight the qualities of the coffee as well. We might add a hint of ice in order to bring more apricot favours out of the coffee. You really need to know that coffee inside out, to see what other potential it has.”

This is Mr Sestic seventh attempt at the title and he will now go to the USA to represent Australia at the World Barista Championships.

Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.