The Basel team made a strong impression at the Swiss Coffee Championships. Two 2nd places, two 3rd places, one 4th place and a 5th and 10th – that's our team's record. Even though we didn't win a title this year, we are extremely proud of this performance. We are delighted to have more medals on our shelf.
In the Barista discipline, we had three participants in the final. Felix Hohlmann (r.) sensationally took 2nd place, ahead of Michel Aeschbacher (2nd from right) in 3rd place. Benjamin Hohlmann (3rd from right) landed in 5th place. This year, 12 outstanding baristas participated. An extremely strong field. So making it to the final is already a great achievement! And then two podium places on top of that. Amazing!
In the Brewers Cup, three of our participants also made it to the final. There Benjamin Hohlmann secured 2nd place (together with Kai Keong Ng), ahead of Florian Wicki (l.) in 3rd place and Gonzalo de los Reyes (centre) in 4th place.
In the Latte Art discipline, Demian Annaheim (2nd from left) took 10th place in his first participation. There's still room for improvement and we look forward to what's to come.
In Cup Tasting, we only achieved mid-table places this year. Benjamin Hohlmann and Gonzalo de los Reyes unfortunately could not match their outstanding performances from last year (both in the final).
And then there's the All-Around Competition. As the only competitor with three disciplines, Benjamin Hohlmann defended his title here. However, we've been told that the All-Around Competition discipline will not take place again next year.
We are very satisfied and proud of the work we have done. Thanks go to our friends, trainers and roaster Reto Häner (3rd from left) from Haenowitz & Page, Philipp Henauer and Henauer Kaffee, Filip Bartelak and Elżbieta Citak from Coffee Proficiency, Claude Stahl and Black & Blaze, and Machhörndl Kaffee. Many thanks also to everyone who supported us during daily training at the Kaffeemacher Academy! Thanks also to Ditting for the sponsorship!
We would like to thank André Kissling and his team from Kialoa for the excellently organized championship as always. The same goes for Micha Schranz from LatteArt.ch. Reto Häner and Philipp Henauer moderated the championship smartly and expertly, making it a successful event. A huge thanks to all the helpers who did great work over the days, whether at the SCAE bar, as timekeepers or cleaners. Thanks also to Adrian Huber, who captured the championship so beautifully on camera again. Gloria Pedroza and Philipp Meier assembled an international jury that has brought our Swiss championship to an absolute top level. That was great class and a quantum leap – thank you for that!!! Likewise, thanks to all the judges, namely Gwilym Davies, Petra Davies Veselá, Anita Bertok, Björn Dietrich, Luzia Taschler, Thomas Schweiger, Cem Korkmaz, Lukasz Jura, Błażej Walczykiewicz, Vlad Buda, Nina Rimpl, Micha Schranz, Michal Pivrnec, André Strittmatter, Martin Stock, Roger Bähler. Thanks also to Blaser Café for hosting the Cup Tasting Championship.
