Taf’s team adds two worthy awards at its track record!

Irini Daskalopoulou won the 1st place at the Hellenic Barista Championship and Stathis Koremtas won the 2nd place at the Hellenic Brewers Championship, during the Coffee Events, at HORECA 2020.

Irini won the 1st place, presenting an updated and modern approach of «Ethiopian Ceremony». The coffee she used for espresso and cappuccino, as well as for her signature drink, is known with the code name Jasper and is coming from small producers in the Guji Zone, in south Ethiopia, known as ‘’Garden Coffees’’, under the aegis of our partners “Project Origin”.The coffees of this project are grown at 1800m above sea level. The code Jasper has been processed with carbonic maceration which leads to fermentation. Whole coffee cherries are placed in sealed stainless containers, and are pressurized with Carbon dioxide (CO2), removing the oxygen, creating an anaerobic environment, promoting lactic bacteria growth, giving this espresso creamy texture. Furthermore, aromatics and flavors, created by fermentation cannot escape, so they are absorbed by the coffee bean, leading to amazing fruity flavors. Every variable in this process is controlled and measured. At the end of the process mentioned above, fermentation is completed with the cherries being dried by the sundried method on raised African beds for 28 days.

The whole project that Irini prepared and presented at the competition was inspired by the motherland of coffee Ethiopia and the traditional ceremony that wants women to be the hosts who prepare coffee for their guests.

For her signature drink, Irini added to her recipe earl grey tea to add floral notes, and an Ethiopian coffee flower coming from the same producers of “Garden Coffees” to add fruity notes to her drink. Also, during the Ethiopian Ceremony, coffee is brewed by boiling it and Irini wanted to revive this Ethiopian tradition but avoiding the bitter flavors of boiling water, so she used a vacuum chamber.

Stathis, having already acquired many awards at national and international level, participated this year at HBrC. Stathis using the same coffee from Ethiopia and the Gem Series designed by Stefanos Domatiotis presented a truly unique and groundbreaking presentation, inspiring the entire coffee community by conveying an amazing message “making the coffee experience accessible to everyone”. An extraordinary concept designed to highlight how we should care about customers and the coffee experience they receive, while also exploring ways to make this experience equal for everyone no matter their disabilities. Such a keynote presentation to give everyone access to the enjoyable coffee making process.

These awards were the result of love and passion for coffee, persistence and a coordinated effort from the competitors as well as from the whole taf team.

Finally, responsible for the skillful roasting of these great coffees that Stathis and Irini used, is Ilias Taloumis, head roaster at taf roastery.

Congrats to everyone and we are looking forward to seeing Irini Daskalopoulou compete at WBC in Melbourne 2020!