Photo: Andrey Davydchyk
Creators Cup seasons two had a great start. Opening up this season was Minsk, Belarus.
The event was hosted by local roasters Kitchen Coffee Roasters and organised by an old Brewing student of mine Jane Lash.
Brewing devices were looking great. I was very impressed with what the Belarusians brought to the table. There was a lot of creativity in the devices and some interesting interpretations of familiar shapes.
Photo: Andrey Davydchyk
This group of judges were friends. There were some past students of mine from courses in Minsk in previous years and hosts of venues.
There was:
Daria Pinchuk - Freelance consultant.
Kate Varaksa - Trainer Sorso/JS Barista Academy.
Michael Tsiukhsiayeu - Owner Kitchen Coffee Roasters.
Thanks to them for offering their time to judge all these curious devices and drink coffees with me.
Photo: Andrey Davydchyk
The event was organised fantastically with cuppings from roasters from Ukraine and Kitchen Coffee Roasters.
Overall the coffee standard in Minsk is really on a high level and this shows in the skill of the competitors.
The concepts were based around making tasty coffees and showing off the brewing process, lots of exposed filters.
But in the end we had to choose winners:
And they were:
Best Brew: Alexei - Student of Jane Lash and IT professional.
His brew was made on a hand wound copper brewer that used a single cup chemed paper.
Best Design: Anastasia - A student of mine who later continued her brewing studies with Jane Lash and also an IT professional.
Her brewer was a very minimal wooden wide angled chemed style brewer but in addition there was a screen showing you the brew temperature in real time and a cheeky 'Creators Cup' banner on the screen.
It is fun to see a device that can make brewing more informative and fun through date.
Overall Winner: Jane Lash - A student of mine who has been running brewing courses in Minsk ever since she finished her training with me and became Belaruses first AST and is also an IT professional among other jobs.
It is a true testament to her drive to help make Minsk, Belarus a quality coffee hub that she won and that her students came behind her.
I have not seen a coffee community where one person has had so much of an impact and I am sure a lot of you have met her around.
Her brewer was a lego construction with interesting spinners that help you calculate brew time as well extra features that showed the flavour profile of her cup.
Photo: Andrey Davydchyk
Photo: Andrey Davydchyk
Well done to all the contestants, winners and a big thanks to the judges.
As always I want to thank the fantastic sponsors who help keep Creators Cup running:
BUNN EU/UK: As always their backing is such a help.
Panama Variatles: For always keeping the compulsory coffee tasty for the judges.
And this year the new sponsors who really are a great addition and have taken over the trophies:
Coffee Desk: Thanks for the shiny kettles and stickers.
See you next year Minsk!
