A Melbourne Barista Has Been Named Australia’s Coffee-Making Champion of 2022
A barista from the Victorian capital has won the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) National Coffee Championships. This comes as little surprise, given Melbourne’s status as the coffee capital of Australia and the city’s penchant for coffee snobbery. Anthony Douglas of Axil Coffee Roasters has been named the National Barista Champion of Australia for 2022.
In the annual competition held at North Melbourne’s Meat Market last month, Douglas triumphed over dozens of other Australian hopefuls. His winning dish consisted of an espresso, a coffee made with milk, and his own coffee-based signature drink, a concoction containing pomegranate and feijoa syrup, juniper reduction, barhee dates, and honey. Your morning latte has nothing on this devilish beverage.
The newly crowned coffee king will now represent Australia at the World Barista Championship, which will be held from September 27 to 30 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Australia has not triumphed in an international competition since 2015, when Sasa Sestic of Ona Coffee was crowned World Barista Champion.
Twelve years into his career in the coffee industry, Douglas identifies two-time National Barista Champion Dave Makin as his supervisor and mentor.
