2017 ASCA National Brewers Cup

Eisha Ryden-Hale, Barista at Blackbox Brewers and Barista Trainer at Blacklist Coffee Roasters, had previously won the Brewers Cup in the Western Region Championship and flew to Melbourne to represent WA and SA in this national competition.

Eisha performed brilliantly and stood as one of the Top 8 in the whole of Australia. This is a massive achievement and especially so for a first time ASCA competitor. We are very proud of her!

Her final presentation was available for the public to see; ten slick minutes of brewing, storytelling and information delivery.

But what is not seen are the months of preparation and teamwork that went into this starting, from the Western Region Championship. Countless hours of green bean sourcing, roasting, cupping, brewing, water testing, coaching, script writing and rehearsing. Sleepless nights from caffeine overdose straight into another day of brewing. Flying the team over to Melbourne with coffee beans and equipment in tow. Juggling staff rosters across 3 cafes in Perth to allow the team to travel. Sourcing local water from a spring and getting lost on a mountain. Turning an Airbnb kitchen into a brew bar and practice stage. Competition day shenanigans. Pack down, clean up and transportation back home. It’s more than meets the eye.

We’ve seen the Perth coffee community come together to help us represent Western Australia and South Australia to the rest of the nation. Thank you Loaded Craft Coffee Roasters, Mano a Mano Coffee, Dimattina Coffee, 5 Senses Coffee, Grouch & Co, Greenzbeanz, Espresso Lo Surdo and Dukes Coffee Roasters for providing us with coffees to practice with. Thank you to all our industry friends who went out of their way to sit through Eisha’s practice runs and provide constructive feedback.

This final 10 minute run was the result of a whole lot of effort from a whole bunch of people. We didn’t win first prize this time. But we’ve seen our team and the rest of the industry come together and work together. We cheered and watched Eisha nail her routine. And for all that, we are very very happy.

We’re so grateful to our teams at Sprolo, Blackbox Brewers and Little Matcha Girl for stretching themselves to cover our trip to Melbourne. And to the rest of the Blacklist Coffee Roasters team who stayed behind to keep our operations going.

Thank you Rie Moustakas and Aline Hornoff for coaching Eisha in the regional and national championships respectively.

And of course, a massive congratulations to Eisha Ryden-Hale for representing the Western Region on the national stage and pulling off an amazing performance!