We at Barista Magazine couldn’t be more excited for the second edition of Barista & Farmer ”the totally unique and absolutely amazing coffee competition, talent show, and community-building extravaganza ”to be kicking off this week in Honduras.
The brainchild of multi-time Italian Barista Champion Francesco Sanapo, who might just be among the best barista ambassadors our industry has ever seen, Barista & Farmer debuted in Puerto Rico in 2014. Read all about the excitement and activity that took place at that event HERE.
Once again, Barista Mag’s publisher, Ken Olson will be traveling south to see the Barista & Farmer drama unfold in person: Ken leaves on Wednesday for Honduras, and will stay for the second half of the unique and awesome event.
This year’s Barista & Farmer is taking place at Finca Santa Isabel, and 10 baristas from around the world are the stars of the show. Each earned his and her place among the group in an online competition, and now they’ll work both individually and together to complete tasks common to today’s working coffee farm.
The first order of business: Pick coffee! Finca Santa Isabel’s owners, the Welchez family, led the 10 baristas through an introduction to picking, after which they were set loose on the farm to selectively pick cherry. Their total for the day? 203 kilos! All of the coffee picked during the Barista & Farmer event will be used by the Welchez family in their cafe in San Pedro Sula. The daily weighing of coffee determines one of the most important distinctions between the baristas, as the one who picks the most coffee by the end of the event gets special standing in the final ranking.
After weighing the coffee today, the 10 baristas had to show their skill at using the depulper. While this practice of shedding the cherry of its fruit is often automated, the 10 Barista & Farmer contestants had to use a manual depulper.
After a quick stop at the œLas Cascadas restaurant, inside the finca, the baristas headed to the Barista & Farmer academy for their first class: Ruber Rivera, a cupper at IHCAFE and Q Grader, gave the students a lesson on Honduran coffee and the specific botanic varieties growing in the country’s various production regions. At the end of the lesson, students took part in a cupping of these different varieties.
The baristas who are competing in Barista & Farmer are: Bogdan Prokopchuk, 21 years old (Russia); Julien Latil, 36 years old (France); Agustina Romà n, 24 years old (Argentina); Angelica Madrigal Garcia, 30 years old (Colombia); Sandro Bonacchi, 37 years old (Italy); Stephany Davila, 29 years old (Guatemala); Julian Dammanhayn, 20 years old (Australia); Panuwat Yoosakda, 24 years old (Thailand); Deborah Cesanelli, 34 years old (Italy); Patrick Sinapi, 38 years old (Italy).
Barista & Farmer is a project created by Francesco Sanapo, in collaboration with Rimini Fiera “ SIGEP Salone Internazionale Gelateria Pasticceria e Panificazione artigianale, with the patronage of SCAESpeciality Coffee Association of Europe; in collaboration with Cafè de Honduras, IHCAFE Istituto Hondurenodel Cafe, HWC Honduran Western Coffee’s Beneficio Santa Rosa; hosted by Finca Santa Isabel,Cooperativa Las Capucas. Thanks to: our main sponsor La Cimbali, Faema, Mumac Academy; eventsponsors Genovese Coffee, Caffè Corsini, Caffè Pascucci, Molino Quaglia, Quarta Caffè; supporters PulyCaff, Cafeistas, 9 Bar, Imperator, Umami Coffee Campus. Golden media partner Barista Magazine,Bargiornale; media partner BeanScene, Global Coffee Review, Pasticceria Internazionale, Punto IT.
