After a long journey searching for partners and event spaces Creators Cup finally came to Poland with the help of Colours of Coffee. I could not be happier with this partnership and how well the event turned out.
Thanks to Colours of Coffee the Polish Creators Cup was given its own stand at the fantastic Warsaw Coffee Festival. It is held in a multi storey ex-library and showcases all the best roasters and cafes from Warsaw and some from further a field. What is also so great about this is the fact that it is a much more consumer facing event. When developing Creators Cup it is exactly this type of event I wanted to try it in, brew coffee in an eye catching way in order to spark interest from the consumers. It totally worked.
A packed out room to watch the competitors.
Creators Cup was scheduled to go between rounds of Colours of Coffee's latte art competition. This format work fantastically as there was always something for the audience to watch.
So as you can tell the atmosphere was great and we had a fantastic audience of non-professionals getting very excited and interested in latte art and Creators Cup. Having coffee enthusiasts approaching competitors to ask them questions about coffee or brewing as well as directly asking our wonderful MC. Piotr Markowski directly about all things coffee. This type of interaction is what coffee events are about. The more we engage with consumers the more we learn about them and the more they learn about us, the walls were falling at the Warsaw coffee festival.
The Judges: Jana (Jane Lash), Belarus. Irina (Mad Espresso Team), Russia. Karolina (Warsaw freelance barista celebrity), Poland. Arek (Story Coffee Roasters), Poland.
Once again I was super lucky to find such a great team of judges. They came from all across Warsaw and Eastern Europe. Some are Insta celebs, some are national barista champions and others WCE judges. Thank you all again.
From what I hear they had some fun, although I did have a tight schedule for them to keep. And I know they really enjoyed the competitors devices and brews.
Finalists, judges and Creator of Cups.
The actual competition. This is probably what you wanted to hear about, sorry it took me so long to get here.
Each competition so far has had a totally unique vibe and each country has its own take on what makes a Creative brewer. UK was very must experimenting with things that are to hand (the winner made a low pressure brewer using a bowl and shower head), Greece was a lot about making more complex brewing ideas easier to use (The winner tried to make thermal stability easier for baristas by making a sous vide) and well Poland tried to take function and meet it with design (a little like Bauhaus).
The competitors brewing devices were quite minimal looking to reduce weight and interference with the brewing. Beautiful device all but there are only three trophies.
BEST DESIGN:
This went to Uri Wollner. This was something different. A brewing device made from babies bottles. The device was two layered, first was the filter/brew chamber and the ontop fit a second chamber that dispersed the flow of water creating an even showered effect.
What was so great about this device is that once the grind is set it is a small, very transportable and easy to use device. I really could see myself taking it in my bag on trips. This interesting approach that came from using odd bits of baby ware really was fantastic. The creative eye finds inspiration everywhere.
BEST DESIGN: Uri Wollner
BEST BREW:
This went to Anastazja Kaczmarek for her brew using her innovative wicker basket brewer. The basket brewer was designed by her to be eco friendly and totally customisable and I hear it might be on sale soon.
The concept behind the brewer was to reduce contact on the filter paper while also working to insulate the brew creating a stable temperature, water flow and clean cup. The other interesting part was that it had some balls attached to the top, these however are not decorative. The balls shape the filter paper to create more of a Kalita paper shape to enhance airflow.
This was a really complex brew that merged the best of Chemex, Kalita and V60 plus with an eco conscience. Well deserving Best Brew winner.
BEST BREW: Anastazja Kaczmarek
OVER ALL WINNER:
This is the prize for getting top points for both Best Brew and Best Design and the award went to Anna Gornich.
Her brewer was a very practical design made from a bicycle sprocket and sailing boat rigging. Then too add to this there are shelve supports to provide a wide and stable platform. The versatility of this design is great. Without the legs the brewer is very portable and due to all the metal elements very strong and surprisingly light. But then for a cafe scenario the legs add an extra visual touch and also great stability for those less than perfect mornings (you know, when you are half a sleep and knocking everything over).
As for the brew... well it was a very clean and tasty one. The design holds a V60 paper and keeps everything as contactless as possible. This provides a clean and bright coffee as you would expect.
Each competition someone competes with a brewer that all the judges want to try and take home. This was the brewer for the Polish competitions.
Well done Anna for your win.
OVERALL WINNER: Anna Gornich
THANKS:
I really want to thank all the sponsors of this event and the people who keep it going. Bunn Europe and UK really came through on this one. Had gear shipped from the UK to Poland due to no equipment being available in Poland at that moment. Giulia, Nicole and Paul, as always thanks so much for being so supportive of this event. Really great to have you all on board with it.
Thank you to Primulator PL for jumping in as Bunn support for this and I hope we can make this a working relationship for future events.
Thanks to Panama Variatles for the compulsory coffee and the little bit of geisha that was being brewed at the tasting bar. Again you have been supportive since day one and I am very happy to have you in this event.
Finally and for this event most importantly Colours of Coffee. Without Piotr Markowski, who saw Creators Cup in London and helped me make it happen in Poland and Marcin Michalik, for providing me with such a fantastic space and opportunity to hold Creators Cup in Warsaw. Thank you Colours of Coffee very much.
Until the next event,
Take care.
Raf.
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