Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/123507
NATIONAL CELEBRATION But the changes to the country's coffee scene wouldn't be in motion without Melbourne, and coffee people from around the world will see the city's coffee culture first-hand this month at MICE. In the World Barista Championship, Australia will be represented by Melbourne's Matt Perger, who placed third at the 2011 WBC. "He's got really good coffee this year, he's got the training behind him and it's in his hometown," says Hirte. "Matt should do really well." C O U R T E SY O F TO B Y ' S E S TAT E million miles, and Sydney's sort of slowly catching up. But it's a good rivalry. It's like that in sport too." Hirte says one of the reasons Melbourne's specialty-coffee culture has exploded in recent years is that information between roasters has flowed more freely. "We're coming together and we're all sharing," he says. "Education has spread like wildfire, and it's really helped us move leaps and bounds." What's more, that propensity toward sharing has helped expand the scene to other parts of Australia. Tim Fraser, co-owner of roasting company Darkstar Coffee in Perth—on Australia's southwestern coast—says the specialty scene in his city has started to take off in the last few years, largely driven by former Melbourne residents relocating and sharing. "They're bringing a lot of knowledge, and we're figuring out how to use it," he says. "I expect things to really change here in the next six or eight months." TOBY'S ESTATE has locations in Brisbane and Melbourne, but its highest concentration of shops is in Sydney—including this one in the Chippendale suburb. For a few days in May, all the coffee world's eyes will be on Australia. For Ford of MTC, that international recognition serves as validation of the strides that have been made in the last decade in Australian coffee. "I think this is a pretty defining moment," he says. "I think this event is going to result in a really proud sense of achievement as an industry to say: 'We're mature now, and we know what we're doing.'" For more on the factors behind Australia's unique growth, visit freshcup.com for a Web-exclusive article. freshcup.com May 2013 37