KUCHING: The Barista Wars 2016, organised by UCSI in collaboration with CityOne Megamall was held successfully at CityOne Megamall recently. The event took place in conjunction with the International Coffee Day. Other sponsors for the event included Coffex, Monin, Uchimono & Co., TLS Marketing and HCE Borneo. 

A total of six finalists were competing in the competition and were judged by the professional judges, based on both sensory and technical merit. These professional judges, Darren Mong and Anuar Zamani from Coffex, and Georgina Lim from Uchimono & Co. were also the judges for the Malaysia Barista Championship and Malaysia Siphonist Championship. 

Foo Jee Xin walked away as the championship of Barista Wars 2016, followed by Lavinia Ng as the first runner-up and Dennis Liang as the second runner-up. 

“The competition has given me a chance to be exposed to a whole new level of making coffee competitively. All in all, being a gold medalist for Barista Wars 2016 has inspired me to aim higher over time to achieve even greater success” said Foo. 

There were two competitions going on the same day, including Monin Mixologist Challlenge and City Cafe Dessert Tasting Competition. The champion for the Mixologist Challenge was Tommy Wijaya, followed by Joey Kho in second place and Michelle Wong in third place. As for the dessert competition, Kingsley Choo was crowned as the champion, while Essy Lydia won second place and Joshua Dasanmegana won third place. 

William Anthony, the project manager for the event said, “This competition is a good platform for students to gain substantial experience and showcase their skills. It also encourages students to adopt innovative techniques and develop their ideas and skills in making their signature drinks and food products for the competition. Altogether, I believe the competition has strengthened their self-confidence and helped them to overcome their stage fright”. 

Christopher Wan, the Head of the Hospitality and Culinary Arts Department commented “We at UCSI University strongly emphasise on enhancing our students’ learning experience through an experiential learning approach. Entire activities and events which we have conducted provide a significant platform for our respective students to showcase their skills and knowledge towards certain aspects of their specialisations.” “With all our dedicated and specialist lecturers, we believe that our students will continue to gain beneficial outcomes from each particular event. Well done to the organising committee for a successfully run event” he added. 

Professional barista, David from Barista Guild Asia and Azam from Coffee Obsession were also present to perform their latte art demonstrations during the event.