BARISTA COMPETITION

The Barista Competition is produced annually by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) as part of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival. The competition focuses on promoting excellence in coffee, advancing the barista profession, and engaging an audience with an annual championship event.

Past winners:
2023 – Ricardo Jackson – Café Blue
2022 – Shanice Sappleton, Café Dolce
2021 – Dimel Ballen, Danya’s Coffee Barrel
2020 – N/A
2019 – Carlyle Gabbidon, Deaf Can Coffee
2018 – Lemar Williams, Café Blue

The Final 3 contestants will advance to the COMPETITION FINALS to be HELD AT THE FESTIVAL MARKETPLACE on March 2, 2024.

Each participant has 3 minutes to prep and 7 minutes to make 1 latte.
Contestants will be allocated 10 minutes to complete and can request a 5 minute safety net bringing maximum allocated time to 15 minutes.

Judges will review the latte for visual appeal and then the latte will be poured in smaller cups for the judges to taste.

Competitors will be provided with:

  • Machine with grinder
  • Roasted, whole coffee beans
  • Milk
  • Coffee cups

The scoring will be done as follows:

A 10-point scale, with 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest – an
opportunity for 30 points per judge

  1. Preparation style – i.e., how smoothly they move while preparing the
    beverage
  2. Visual appeal of latte
  3. Taste of latte

Each participant has 3 minutes to prep and 10 minutes to make 1 signature drink. The drink may be hot, cold, blended, over-ice and can include alcohol, but must include at least 1 shot of espresso. The espresso cannot be made in advance. Drinkware, and all ingredients and equipment must be provided by the competitor.

A printed copy of the recipe, including ingredients and preparation steps must be provided on the day of the competition.

REGISTER