Square Mile Coffee Blog » barista competition

John Gordon in the WBC Finals

James Hoffmann — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:28:47 +0000

We’re delighted that John has made it through two very tough rounds of competition to the grand final of the World Barista Championship. He is one of the 6 baristas who will compete tomorrow in Bogota.

We hope you’ll be watching it online here, and cheering him along. We will be! There is a schedule of competition here.

All of us at Square Mile are incredibly proud of his hard work, along with Jess’s amazing support and roasting of delicious coffees!

Webshop and subscription changes/closures May 30th- June 8th

Anette Moldvaer — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:10:19 +0000

Important changes to upcoming webshop and subscriptions affecting shipments May 30th-Jun 8th, please read & place orders early!

Due to the bank holiday on Mon May 30th, this webshop day will roast/ship Tues May 31st instead. June subscriptions will go out a couple of days earlier than normal, either May 31st or June 1st.

Due to the upcoming WBC in Bogota, webshop will be CLOSED Thurs Jun 2nd and Mon Jun 6th, then resume as normal Thurs Jun 9th.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and wish our John Gordon best of luck at the WBC!

John Gordon – UK Barista Champion 2010

James Hoffmann — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:10:34 +0000

Photo courtesy of salxhart

Huge congratulations to John Gordon on winning the UK Barista Championship this year. (We know the competition was over a week ago, and we’re a bit behind!)

Having joined the team at Square Mile around six weeks ago we’ve seen first hand the huge amount of effort and work that John put in, with great support from his fiancee Jess.

John had already started working on his UKBC blend with Steve at HasBean before he joined us, and knowing how hard Steve works and how good he is we had no intention of getting in the way of that relationship.

We’d also like to congratulate James Phillips of Dose on placing 5th – impressive considering he wasn’t going to compete until a couple of weeks before and this was his first time at the UKBC.

We were also extremely grateful to Jon Sharp of Kilimanjaro, Carl Fleischer of Opposite and Gary Whiteley who did an incredible job with our coffee in the semi finals.

UBF 6 – Let’s take it outside Santa

Anette Moldvaer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:57:10 +0000

Columbia Road is a magical place on a Wednesday evening in December, the lovely shops are open but it isn’t as crowded and bustling as when the flower market is on.

Need another reason to visit? Join us for the first UBF we’ve ever held outside! World Barista Champion 2009 – Gwilym Davies – is hosting us at his legendary coffee cart on Ezra street as London’s finest baristas prove that fine art can be achieved in take-away cups too!

Spectating is free! Coffee (to keep you warm) will be free! Fun will had, and you can do a bit of Christmas shopping too!

If you want to compete there are a few spots left and you can book a place by purchasing your ticket here.

See you there! It is going to be amazing!

Gwilym’s Cart
Ezra Street (Off Columbia Road – Map)
7.30pm
Wednesday December 17th

UK Barista Championship Workshop – 6th January

Anette Moldvaer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:37:38 +0000

Event: UKBC Workshop

Venue: Square Mile Coffee Roasters
273 Poyser Street
London
E2 9RF (Map)

When: 5pm – 10pm Wednesday 6th January

As you may know we are hosting the South East regional of the UK Barista Championship this year. There is a pdf download of information about the heat here.

We highly recommend competing (but then we would!), and as part of our involvement in the South East regional we are hosting a workshop about competition.

The aim of the workshop is to take some of the mystery away from competition, help competitors understand what is expected of them and how to get the most out of it. We’ll cover the DOs and DON’Ts of competing and do our best to answer everyone’s questions. It should be a lot of fun, as well as being informative.

Two World Barista Champions will be on hand to give talks and answer questions – this is a great opportunity to tune up those performances.

Numbers will be limited, and those who have signed up to compete in the regional event – which you need to do by December 31st – are guaranteed a space. For those interested in attending/competing then we will also put tickets in the webshop at the start of January. We anticipate about 15-20 spaces.

We’re working hard to make sure that the London/South East regional is a great experience for all involved, especially the baristas who compete. Competition is a great learning experience and if you’ve made it through a single round of the UBF then anything else should be easy!

Any questions then do please leave a comment or get in touch.

UBF Round 3 – Tickets, Event and More!

Anette Moldvaer — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:05:32 +0000

For those of you competing you’ll want to click here to grab a ticket before they all go!

The Event:

Time: 7.30pm (7pm for Competitors)
Date: September 30th

Venue: Pavilion Cafe, Corner of Globe Road and Old Ford Road, Victoria Park.

Map

Attendance to spectate is £4 on the door, or free if you bring treats/beer! Come down and cheer on your favourites!

The Challenge is a speed challenge.

Competitors must make 4 drinks: Cappuccino, Latte, Flat White & Macchiato.

They can only steam 1 pitcher of milk for all drinks.

Cappuccino and Flat White must contain 2 shots.

This is a time trial. Time penalties for:

Incorrect Milk Temperature (Below 50C or Above 70C)

Poor milk foam (ideally 2-3cm for a capp, less than 2cm for latte and flat white)

Incorrect shot times (outside of 20-30 seconds)

Spillages

Wasted ground coffee

Drinks with latte art with receive time bonuses. A full explanation will be given on the night to all competitors. Jugs, milk, coffee and cups will be provided.

UBF ROUND 2 – SOLD OUT!!!

Anette Moldvaer — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:00:24 +0000

Challenge: ACF 7oz cups. Can you pour on demand? The wheel of fortune will decide the pours. Can you bring it…..?

Competitors: Tickets – £5 (Prize fund of £50 + some barista wares)

Please arrive at 7pm for the draw, or let us know if you are running late.

Spectators: Do not buy tickets! Entry – £4 on the door, £3 with a UBF Badge (or free if you bring some beer or food).

There will be beer and delicious eatings provided (hence the cover charge and option to avoid it).

Massive thanks to Paul from CoffeeHit.co.uk for agreeing to add to the prize pot for each event!

Gwilym Davies: 2009 World Barista Champion

James Hoffmann — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:01:22 +0000

We are delighted to annouce that Gwilym Davies is the 2009 World Barista Champion. We’ll post more about the routine, the coffee and all things WBC but for now huge congratulations to him and also to Anette for roasting the winning coffee three years in a row!

Photo from barista magazine

Gwilym makes WBC Finals

Anette Moldvaer — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:38:55 +0000

Congrats to Gwilym for making the World Barista Championship finals tomorrow. He represents the UK along side competitors from the USA, Hungary, South Korea, Canada and Ireland.

It is going to be a lot of fun – watch live tomorrow online:

WBC Live Stream

Go Gwilym, Go!

Fancy being a judge?

Anette Moldvaer — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:30:20 +0000

We are looking for people to come and judge Gwilym in the run up to the WBC. No formal coffee experience necessary – just an interest in getting to taste the drinks that will be served in Atlanta. We will try and work out a date once we have enough people but we are likely looking at around Sunday 12th, perhaps in the late afternoon/early evening.

We quite fancy the idea of three run throughs with three different judges teams. If you are interested then leave drop us an email at info at square mile coffee dot com. There is no guarantee that this will happen and registering your interest sadly won’t guarantee you a judging spot but we’d appreciate anyone stepping up and getting involved.

A rare and fun opportunity!