2010 Australian Barista Champion
At Pure Via we all love good coffee, and we are honoured to have current Australian Barista Champion, Scottie Callaghan, as our Coffee Ambassador. Scottie has been working with us on all things coffee related with Pure Via since the beginning, and now we are part of his cheer squad on his journey to the World Barista Championships in London this June.
“I have customers who like to sweeten their coffee but are conscious of the type of product they are putting into their daily cup. Since Pure Via is made from stevia it’s a great option for them to naturally sweeten their favourite drink without the extra calories of sugar”
Scottie was introduced to barista competitions when he saw Maico La Penna win the Australian Barista Championship in 2004. It was the beginning of Scottie’s dream to win that competition.
In his third year of competing, Scottie represented Australia at the World Latte Art Championships in Berne, Switzerland and won. Then in 2007, he followed up his world title with a win at the Australian Barista Championships (ABC) and went on to represent Australia in Tokyo at the World Barista Championships (WBC). He also competed in Singapore at the Asia Barista Cup, where he placed 2nd to seasoned competitor, Carl Sara of New Zealand.
During an 18 month break from competing, Scottie wrote the book ‘Cafe Republic of Australia’, became a father for the first time and started working for Belaroma Coffee Roasting Company.
In 2010 Scottie was back competing again, but instead of taking the usual route through the ABC, Scottie skipped the state heats and turned up on the finals weekend to enter the open heat. It was a gruelling schedule, competing three days back to back. With no time in between to celebrate his success in the open heat and semi finals, Scottie remained focused and performed well in the final.
Scottie won the ABC for the second time and is now busy preparing for the WBC in London this June. Along the way he will compete in the Asia Barista cup as a part of his preparations.
You can follow Scottie on his travels by reading his blog, called ‘Good Baristas are Mad’.