Barista Championships Ethiopia 2007

In February the first ever Addis Ababa Barista Championships took place.
Barista is the term used for a skilful coffeemaker using an espresso machine.
At the time of the Italian seizure during the Second World War an espresso culture was introduced in Ethiopia that still exists today.
Often you will still find machines there that are decades old.
In the mean time the Ethiopian macchiatos and latte macchiatos have become world famous. Joseph Brodsky who often stood side by side with Barend Boot during the cupping (=tasting) of Ethiopia’s best coffees at many different Ethiopian coffee competitions, was one of the organizers of this event.
From the beginning of January, 42 enthusiastic baristas were trained in tasting and making the best espressos, macchiatos and cappuccinos.
When the participants first inhaled and tasted “their own” Ethiopian coffees, they were amazed with the wide taste spectrum.
It was a real eye-opener. The participants also received a couple of days of thorough training from foreign fellow baristas of Hines Coffee, Intelligentsia from the USA and from the champions from Guatemala and Kenya. The semi-finals and the finals took place at the Hilton Hotel.

According to the organizer of this event Willem Boot, it was a beautiful meeting between tradition (traditional Ethiopian clothing) and modern design and technique (the handle machines from Rancilio).
This event told its own tale. Eventually Mifta Sultan, a very skilled barista from the Lime Tree restaurant, became the winner. The world of the Addis Ababa barista was changed for good. Baristas now know a lot more about the special qualities of their own coffees. Ethiopians already consume half of their own coffee production. In the future this will become even more.

Luckily we managed to purchase a very special organically grown coffee at the last Ethiopian coffee auction. And.... you can also learn the skill of making the perfect Ethiopian macchiato and latte macchiato in our Junior Master Espresso course.

Find out more about our Junior Master Espresso course.

Ethiopia