If you’ve been following along with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Google+, you would have caught a glimpse of our fun filled weekend in Ottawa for the Canadian Brewers Cup and Canadian Cup Tasters events! Both events took place in Ottawa’s own, Bridgehead Roastery (130 Anderson St. Ottawa, Ontario), who also sponsored this past weekend’s events.
The smell of fresh brew was in the air as we kicked off Day 1 of the competition walking into Bridgehead! The first day of the competition consisted of the preliminary rounds for both the Brewers Cup and Cup Tasters events. Starting off with the Canadian Brewers Cup, competitors focused in on their well-taught brewing expertise, preparing 3 individual cups for the panel of judges using whole bean coffee provided to them by the competition. We saw competitors pulling out all the stops, showing off their skills using methods such as chemex and aeropress.
Meanwhile, also taking place was the Canadian Cup Tasters competition in which a professional coffee cupper must demonstrate their speed, skill, and accuracy in distinguishing the taste differences in specialty coffees. As any coffee lover knows, coffee comes from all over the world and each have many distinct tastes and characteristics. In this competition, the objective is for the competitor to distinguish between the differences in the coffee provided. Three cups are placed in a triangle, with two cups being identical and one cup being an alternate roast. Using skills of smell, taste, attention to details and experience the competitor must identify the odd cup in the triangle as quickly as they can. As you can probably imagine this was definitely a very fast-paced event to watch and a great learning experience.
After a long day, judges announced who would be moving forward into the finals. And with that, day 1 was concluded.
As day 2 of the competition brewed, things really started to heat up, as the finals were finally in sight for the competitors! Starting the day off with the Canadian Brewers Cup finals, competitors were allowed to use any whole bean coffee of their choosing for this round, but they had to also accompany their drink with a presentation to the judges, which further allowed the contestants to show off their knowledge and expertise.
On the flip side, the Canadian Cup Tasters finals were in full swing as well, and the intensity definitely picked up!
After another great day spent at Bridgehead, the judges deliberated and the results were in! The winner’s were announced as follows:
Results For the 2013 Canadian Brewer’s Cup:
1st Plase: Joshua Tarlo – Pig Iron Coffee Roasters in Missisauga, ON?
2nd Place: Damien Zielinski – Capital Espresso in Toronto, ON?
3rd Place: Keaton Ritchie – Cafe Myriade in Montreal, QC
Results For the 2013 Canadian Cup Taster’s:
1st Place: Benjamin Kim – 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, BC?
2nd Place: Sendy Phanthavong – Social Coffee Roasters in Richmond Hill, ON?
3rd Place: Juhee Noh, Toronto, ON
Winner of the Canadian Brewers Cup, Josh Tarlo, not only takes home the title but will also be representing Canada on the world stage in the World Brewers Cup on May 23-26
th, at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo in Melbourne, Australia!
Furthermore, Ben Kim, of 49
th Parallel Coffee Roasters, was Canada’s Cup Taster champion and will represent Canada in the World Cup Tasters Championship this June 26-28
th, at SCAE World of Coffee in Nice, France!
We want to thank Bridgehead for hosting the competition, and a big congratulations is in order to both Ben and Josh! We’ll be checking in a cheering for you both as you move forward in each competition!
Posted on: 2013-04-25 12:00 AM 
