ITALY 23rd March 2011

Francesco Sanapo became Italian Barista Champion for the second time in mid-March in a contest where the contestants were able to communicate their passion mixed with a high level of professionalism, reports Valentina Cuomo of the SCAE's Italian chapter.

In Italy, the barista profession recently has become highly specialised and there exists an ever-increasing pool of talent--and of companies to sponsor and support that talent at competitions. This clearly shows that the sector is growing.

Sanapo, for the second consecutive year, impressed the judges at this year's competition in Carrara enough to become Italian Barista Champion, earning himself a place in the World Barista Championship in June in Bogotá, Colombia.

A jury of four sensory judges and two technical judges evaluated every single espresso, cappuccino and signature drink and closely examined the contestants'  technical ability, taste and presentation skills.

Among the 24 competitors in the race, Sanapo, with his Brazilian blend, came through with a perfect performance and a great coffee. Second place went to Elisa Molle from Frosinone, who amazed the judges with an incredible improvement in skill compared to 2010. Eddy Righi from Modena took third place and was able to stand--for the fourth year in a row--on the podium among the best baristas in Italy.

Francesco Sanapo's championship-winning score was a record-breaking 725 points out of 800, and it was clear that he had reached this goal by incredibly thorough preparation. All of this really paid off, as his performance brought a real art to his perfect 15-minute presentation, obviously the result of months of practice.

In fact, the performance level of all the baristi seems to get higher every year, and now all the contestants appear to be at WBC level. We have great hopes that our new Champion will arrive in Bogotá in June with the proper spirit to achieve greatness in the world's top barista competition.
 
Pictured: the winner's circle, Italian Barista Champion Francesco Sanapo (left), with Elisa Molle and Eddy Righi.