What? The PHAC 2018
Apart from being a scorching Saturday, last August 18, the 2018 Philippine AeroPress Championship was held at EDSA Beverage Design Group. Yardstick Coffee, this year's host, is sending the winner off to the World AeroPress Championship in Sydney, Australia in November.
Yardstick Coffee / Facebook
The history of the AeroPress in the Philippines began in 2006 and globally competing using this technique for crafting coffee began in 2013. This year had the biggest number of participants in Philippine history: a record-breaking 81 individuals brewing to be able to bring home some goods but also bear the country in the World Championship. There was a five-part program during the event: the eliminations, the quarter finals, the semi-finals, the blind press technique, and the finals. There was also a pool of the country's go-to people in the coffee industry who participated as judges for the event: roasters, coffee farmers, baristas, and former AeroPress champions, among others.
Yardstick Coffee / Facebook
The eliminations were done by battling four individuals at a time, each cup to be judged by a random panel of three from the pool of judges. This same method was done for the quarter finals and the semi-finals. As an intermission, the classic Blind Press round was done prior to the semi-finals.
Yardstick Coffee / Facebook
The winner for the Blind Press competition was Raph Garcia of Habitual Coffee. The top three winners this year were Luis (Independent), Marika (MA+D Manila), and Aldrin (Yardstick) respectively.
Yardstick Coffee / Facebook
Aldrin is a two-time and current Philippine Barista Champion as well as a two-time and current Philippine AeroPress Champion. On the photo above, he is the person on the left, holding the esteemed golden AeroPress trophy.
