Success for Coffee Culture Days and the 4th Lithuania Barista Championship 2008
9th February 2008
Lithuania held its fourth National Barista Competition late January at the Europa shopping centre in Vilnius, organised by the SCAE’s Lithuanian chapter, in association with the GMM agency. The competition was organised according to the official national barista championship rules, as published on the WBC web site.
The championship jury were:
- Ms. Valerie Egele, Dalla Corte, (France) – Head judge
- Mr. Anatolij Gustinovi, Baltcoffee SK, (Latvia) – sensory judge;
- Mr. Holger Welz, Dalla Corte, (Switzerland) – sensory judge;
- Mr. Georg Lauridsen, Mahlkönig, (Denmark) –sensory judge;
- Mr. Darius Kodis, Lavazza, (Lithuania) – sensory judge;
- Ms. Kati Kljukina, Paulig Institute, (Estonia) - technical judge;
- Ms. Aliona Golubovic, Sviezia Kava, (Lithuania) - technical judge
There were 10 baristas taking part at the fourth National Championship, with nine from the capital, Vilnius, and one from Kaunas; three of the 10 participants were young ladies who wished to present their barista skills and professionalism at the Championship.
Following the rules, at three stations equipped with new Faema Diplomat machines and Mahlkonig K-30 grinders, all the contestants were obliged to serve four espressos, four cappuccinos and four of their own signature beverages in 15 minutes. Beyond this, 15 minutes of preparation time and 15 minutes of cleaning up were evaluated too.
Also according the rules, anyone was allowed to register and compete. Contestants were allowed to use any coffee, and so Paulig, Julius Meinl, Sviezia Kava, Cerutti and others coffees were seen at the event. No contestant used alcochol for the signature beverage, however.
The official WBC score sheets, identical to those available on the WBC website, were used for the judging at the championship. The baristas first saw these judging sheets two weeks before the event, during a preparatory seminar given to highlight what the judges would be considering.
The competing baristas also learned about the competition in the media beforehand, so that by the time they had registered, they also had had access to the competition rules, translated into the Lithuanian language. They also had a chance to ask questions during seminar. Each competitor paid a registration fee around €30.
Initially our aim was to show this whole event to a wider public and get as many attendees as we could, so we decided to hold it in a very well known and popular shopping centre; as a result we had a lot of attendance. Unfortunately, there was a lack of attendance from the restaurant and cafes owners’ side, and that was a pity.
The winners were:
- First place: Saulius Simonavicius (Sviezia Kava) – 629.5 points;
- Second place: Laimonas Kubilius (Vero Café) – 452 points;
- Third place: Kristina Biriukaite (Grand Casino World, “Tokyo”) – 424.5 points
The public also saw a show by Helger Aave, from Estonia, who is the current Coffee in Good Spirits World Champion. During the event, attendees participated in an auction of speciality and Cup of Excellence coffees, where some 20kg of coffee was sold to the public, thanks to presentations of the various origins, cup profiles and what is special in each coffee. All the while, an invited jazz group played in a “coffee theme.”
The most important thing that came from this event, was that everybody involved gained more knowledge about coffee and improved their understanding of a better qualities.
This was the first event in Lithuania produced not just by a coffee company, but through the combined efforts of the Lithuania SCAE chapter. We did it together for the first time, and it was a good start. The aim is to go forward with this event.—Vytautas Kratulis, Lithuanian National Coordinator
To see a gallery of the Lithuania Coffee Culture Days, click here.