Coffee Lovers: Here are the judges of Kenya AeroPress Championship

The World AeroPress Championships (WAC) have been going on for 10 years, and despite going international, the celebration of the AeroPress and the coffee brewing process to yield the smoothest, richest cup of coffee has remained a very grassroots event, and is uniquely organised in each country.

This year, there are more than 60 countries participating and over 90 events in total (including regional events), including Kenya’s inagural AeroPress Champsionship, held in Nairobi’s The Alchemist, on Sunday.

Event Details
Kenyan AeroPress Championship (KAC): 17 September 2017, 2pm-6pm, The Alchemist, Nairobi
World AeroPress Championship (WAC): 09 or 10 November 2017, Seoul, South Korea

Here are the judges:

VavaAngwenyi
Vava Coffee – Kenya

In 2009, Vava Angwenyi started Vava Coffee – a social enterprise whose main goal is to contribute to better prospects for local coffee growing communities.  Vava Coffee not only works with small holder farmers in different coffee growing regions within Kenya but also has its coffee gift bags made by groups of women in the informal settlements surrounding Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Vava is a CQI trained and qualified Q Grader –  Vava was part of the 2015 African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, a prestigious Department of State-sponsored program coordinated in conjunction with African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) and International Visitors Leadership Program.  Vava has created a sustainable and ethical coffee brand that sources coffee from farmers in Kenya and around the region. and most recently she has gained recognition from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the UNDP’s Business Call to Action.

Bruck Fikru
Volcafe – Ethiopia

Ethiopian Bruck Fikru is based in Addis Ababa, where he represents Volcafe Ltd., a global green coffee group from Switzerland, and a subsidiary of the London based agricultural commodities merchant ED&F Man.

At Volcafe, he enjoys working with a strong team of dedicated coffee professionals. Whenever there’s a break from the world of coffee beans, he is busy designing a side project focused on learning the basics of design thinking.

Benjamin Carlson
Long Miles Coffee – Burundi

Originally from Wisconsin, USA, Ben and Kristy Carlson moved to South Africa in early 2002.

Whilst in South Africa, Ben’s US roasting and barista background led him to stumble into opportunities to consult for cafes which then led to a growing interest in specialty coffee.  Ben began training baristas in and around the city and country. Ben soon had a network of individuals whom he trained in roasting coffee, green coffee buying and barista skills. Ben is now a well-known figure in the South African specialty coffee scene having judged and organised regional and national barista competitions.

MbulaMusau
Utake Coffee – Kenya

MbulaMusau is an independent consultant based out of East Africa who serves the international coffee sector in the areas of quality training, marketing, project development and management. She recently set up Utake Coffee Consulting, a business that addresses coffee quality and emerging development issues in the coffee sector in Africa. As an internationally certified Q Instructor and Barista trainer and judge for over 15 years, she collaborates with organizations and institutions that work in different areas including strategic development agenda for the coffee industry. These have gained her regional and international recognition for her expertise and work in the global coffee industry.

 

Martin Shabaya
ArtCaffe Group – Kenya

Martin Shabaya is currently the head barista of the Artcaffe Group in Kenya. He has been involved in the coffee industry for about five years now, buthe says it feels more like a week for there’s still a world of opportunity to learn.

Martin has focused on barista competitionsas a big part of his career, which has been rewarding as he has retained the Kenyan Barista Championship title for three consecutive years and represented Kenya multiple times in the World Barista Championships.

 

 

Raphaël Prime
Dormans Coffee – Kenya

Raphaël Prime is a French national and the Specialty Coffee Trader at C. Dorman Ltd. Raphaël’sinterest for coffee is more than just the drink itself, but as well the positive social and environmental impact that this dark beverage can have on the world.

To find out for himself and to learn coffee from tree to cup, in 2010, Raphaël left Paris,his hometown, to live on the coffee fields of Brazil. While in Brazil, he started by coffee cherry picking, then coffee processing, then Fair Trade auditing, all while tasting thousands and thousands of coffees.

In 2016, Raphaël wanted to get closer to the true origin of coffee and moved to East Africa where he is currently working as the Specialty Coffee Trader of C. Dorman Ltd based in Nairobi, Kenya. His job is to promote the best coffee farming practices in Kenya while promoting the best Kenyan coffees on the international market to fetch the best prices possible for the farmers.

Sponsored