2024 Australian Espresso Championship

Get ready for the Australian Espresso Championship (AEC) - a knockout-style competition where the winner will represent Australia in the 2025 World Espresso Championship! The competition is a multi-round, elimination tournament where 32 Baristas will go head to head showcasing their skill to present the best tasting espresso.

GENERAL INFO

In each round, two randomly chosen competitors prepare espressos simultaneously on the revolutionary Zero machine, with the opportunity to level up their extraction with the ‘Freestyle Flow’ lever.

The winner of the final round will receive a prize trophy and entry to the 2025 World Espresso Championship, including flights and accommodation!

Each competition day will have the same equipment, and the same location but Dalla Corte & Proud Mary are shaking it up, testing your skills and maybe a little bit of luck; providing different coffee for each day.

Hold onto your mugs, because Tuesday 14th May is going to be one wild ride! It's not just about the top competitors giving it their all; it's a full-on celebration where we invite the coffee community to come together to wrap up Melbourne Coffee Week. Get ready to kick back, groove, and cheer on your favourites as they battle it out for first place! Get ready for a night packed with good vibes, endless drinks, incredible judges, and a whole lot of caffeine.

COMPETITION OUTLINE

The compeition has 5 ROUNDS comprising of 31 HEATS over 2 days (11th and 14th of May).

HEATS: each heat includes PREPARATION time, COMPETITION time, and JUDGING time.

ROUNDS: a round is concluded when half of the comptitors have been knocked out. The first round starts with 32 competitors, and when each competitor has completed 1 heat each we will be left with 16 competitors remaining to compete in round 2. Round 2 will finish with 8 competitors left to compete in round 3, and so on until we're down to the final round of 2 compeitors, which will finish crowing the overall winner!

Round 1: 9am to 5pm on the 11th of May (preliminaries)

Round 2: 3pm to 7pm on the 14th May (quarter-finals)

Round 3, 4 & 5: 7pm till late on the 14th of May (finals)

Preparation Time

This is the time where compeitors set up their area and dial in/calibrate their espresso. In each round, compeitors will have the following preparation time:

• Round 1: 40 minutes prep time

• Round 2: 25 minutes prep time
• Round 3: 10 minutes prep time
• Semi-Finals: 10 minutes prep time
• Finals: 15 minutes prep time

Competition Time

Once the preparation time is up, compeitors will then have 5 minutes in which to prepare and extract six single espressos in the identical vessels provided which will be served to a panel of five judges.

The sixth espresso is for the competitor. That’s right - finally, a barista comp where the baristas can sample the same espresso that the judges sample!

Judging Time

The judges blindly evaluate each espresso and make their own private assessment (silently, absolutely no deliberation).

Then the judges will give 1 point for the espresso with the best tactile (texture/body), 1 point for the espresso with the best taste (balance/sweetness), and 1 point for the espresso with the best flavour (aftertaste/aroma).

5 judges x 3 points each = 15 total points available. The competitor with 7 or less points losses and is eliminated, the person with 8 or more points wins and progresses to the next round.

SEE THE FULL RULES AND REGULATION HERE: https://2ly.link/1w87a

ADDITIONAL INFO

Round 1 will be held on Saturday 11th May. Friends, family and cheer squads are welcome to attend - completely free of charge! Make sure you grab a free preliminary spectator ticket for this date to allow entry on the day.

Round 2 and 3 will be held mid afternoon on the 14th of May

The semi and grand final will also be held on Tuesday 14th May in the evening (after MICE) and this will be the most exciting part to watch, the top 8 competitors battling it out for the ultimate title of Australian Espresso Champion!

Spectator tickets for the final rounds are also required for entry and are available for only $10 (AUD) and include nibbles and a welcome drink (incredible value!)

Party time kicks off with Round 3 showcasing the Top 8! (about 7pm on the 14th of May)

Don't miss out on an unforgettable night! So, what are you waiting for?

See you there!