South Africa’s top coffee connoisseurs congregated at FNB’s Acacia House from 24 to 26 July 2024 to discuss the latest trends and blends while competing for the best cup of café at Creative Coffee Week.

“Creative Coffee Week was a massive success in terms of getting the coffee community together to brainstorm the way forward and the future of the South African coffee industry,” said Iain Evans, Creative Coffee Week Event Organiser. “We’re delighted with how everything went and cannot wait for next year!”

The event kicked off with a bang at FNB’s Acacia House on Wednesday morning when previous South African Barista Champion, Winston Thomas interviewed the Danish Barista Champion and owner of April Coffee in Copenhagen, Patrik Rolf who discussed his approach to coffee competitions. Tastings, workshops, and demos On Thursday and Friday, there were multiple coffee cuppings (tastings) and workshops that catered to coffee business owners and coffee consumers alike.

From sensory rooms to equipment demonstrations and access to international coffee professionals, Creative Coffee Week was a coffee enthusiast’s dream. This was followed by two mornings of lectures led by South African coffee professionals sharing their insights into the industry.

he line-up of talks included:

• The Challenges of Sourcing Coffee at The Southern Tip of Africa by Jorge Alberto (Origin Coffee Roasters), Dario Scilipoti (Bluebird Coffee Roastery) Adele de Villiers (Zuka Green) and Warren Fenner (RMB)
• Leveraging Big Business Strategies for Specialty Coffee Success by Miranda Caldwell (The Coffee MBA)
• What Do Cafe Customers Want: The Psychology of Choosing Your Local Caffeine Dealer by Salman Khan
• From the Ground Up: A Case Study in Yemen by Andrew Nicholson
• Building a Brand by Patrik Rolf
• Door-to-Door Delivery in Coffee by Ryan Solomon (The Barn Owl Coffee), Johann Peek (Beverage Seal) and Lizl Hindeberger (Vida e Cafe)
• Sustainability and How it Protects the Future of Coffee by Wilmie Cronje
• Rainforest Alliance 2023 Goals by Marla Naidoo (Rainforest Alliance)
• How to Make Sustainability in Coffee Easier by Wilie Cronje, Marla Naidoo, Daniel Pretorius (4WKs Coffee) and Chris Hall-Jones (Lizzard)
• A workshop on exploring espresso sensorily and The Future of Training in Coffee by Lani Snyman, Andre Blignaut, Samantha Naidoo. and Miranda Caldwell.

Coffee competition Taking the first-ever South African April Cup Champion title at this year’s Creative Coffee Week was Pascal Bauwens (Durban), with Luhle Mnyandu (Howick) in 2nd place, and Lee Maps (Durban) in 3rd place. Round one of the South African April Cup brewing competitions hosted by April Coffee took place on Wednesday, with six finalists selected to compete on Thursday evening.

Each competitor was given the same April Brewer coffee to brew with each competitor adding their own unique recipe. There were coffee tastings by the judges, with competitors giving a 10-minute presentation explaining the tactile, aroma, and sensory experience the judges should expect as well as the flavour experience.

The winner was chosen on the quality of the coffee and how accurately they were able to describe the flavour experience. Creative Coffee Week continues to have a place for those in the coffee industry, as well as curious coffee consumers looking to learn more about coffee from the experts - and how to grow into the future of coffee.

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