Like a well-made latte, the first ever North Coast Junior Barista Championship burst into being with flavour and buzz on June 22.
St John’s College Woodlawn took out the inaugural team title with a series of fantastically frothy offerings that impressed the judges at the Byron Youth Service where the event was held.
‘Coffee in the Northern Rivers is in good hands,’ said competition judge Drew McGovern, who is also Secretary of the Australian Grown Coffee Association.
‘All coffees presented to me were of a commercial standard.’
North Coast Community College trained more than 150 students aged 15-18 from 12 local flood-impacted high schools who completed the Nationally Recognised Barista Training.
The training was part of the NGO Flood Support Program, for non-government organisations funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
Four members of each teams had 15 minutes to make four coffee varieties which were examined on appearance, taste, temperature, micro foam/crema , cleanliness and teamwork.
Contributing to the high-octane occasion was live music performed by students and a nearly all-in crowd participation joining in on the set steps to be filmed for the global Jerusalema dance challenge.
The community college’s CEO, Ted Nabung, said the outcome was a great success supported by numerous schools, local businesses and the community.
‘Looking ahead, we want to commit to staging the 2024 contest,’ Mr Nabung said.
‘We believe it could be bigger and better, but it’s going to need similar accessible funds to train secondary students and broader sponsorship for the community event.’
A long list of businesses supported the event, including Byron Youth Service, Zentvelds Coffee, Lions Club Wollongbar, Wallace and Co Ballina, Byron Bay Cookie Co, The Mens Shed Maclean, Hooked On Ballina, The Book Warehouse Ballina, Juice It Up Ballina, Yamba Ice Creamery, Beachside Bargains Ballina and Evans Head, Ulmarra Food Co and Chris Hackett Tree Felling.
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