Filipino barista wins place in Barista of the Year finals

GWYNETH Gabay will go on to compete for the crown of Barista of the Year 2017-18 at the global Champion of Champions finals in London, England

A Filipino barista has been recognized as one of the most-skilled coffee makers in the Middle East Asia region after becoming one of the three winners of Costa Coffee’s Barista of the Year MEA Final 2017-18.

Gwyneth Gabay showed off her flair and passion for coffee, by creating a full-range of hand-crafted coffee based drinks including the Flat White and her own specialty drink to wow the judges and win the final. She will now be flown to London to compete in the prestigious Champion of Champion Finals in January 2018, in a bid to be crowned the best Costa Coffee Barista in the world.

The 24 year old Barista from Cagayan who has worked for Costa for the past year, not only demonstrated her coffee making skills by hand-crafting a variety of coffees to Costa brand standard but she also created her own drink…the Ice Shaken Cafe Rosa. Inspired by the Flower Festival in Baguio where she studied. Gwyneth created an espresso-based drink complementing rose and cinnamon flavours.

Clair Preston-Beer, Managing Director of the Middle East Asia Region from Costa Coffee said:

‘We have over 3000 baristas in the Middle East Asia region, working across more than 525 stores, so for Gwyneth to be crowned in the top three in Middle East Asia is a huge achievement and something she should feel incredibly proud of. Her passion for coffee craft and love of the Costa Coffee brand is clear. I can’t wait to be joining Gwyneth in London, England, the home of Costa Coffee to see if they can be named the best Costa Coffee barista in the world”.

The Champion of Champions final will be held at The Roastery in London in January 2018, marking the 12th anniversary of the prestigious competition. If Gwyneth is crowned the champion she will win a ten-day trip for two with spending money to a country of her choice with a Costa connection, in addition to worldwide praise from Costa employees around the globe.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/living/filipino-barista-wins-place-barista-year-finals