The Cupping Room – Roaster Profile
The Cupping Room – Roaster Profile
I first encountered The Cupping Room in 2014 when following my friend and, at the time, reigning UK Barista Champion, Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, in his bid to win the World Barista Championship. In the end, Maxwell finished a very creditable 5th, with Kapo Chiu from The Cupping Room gaining 2nd place and demonstrating, along with winner Hidenori Izaki from Japan, that specilaty coffee had arrived in Asia.
Curiously, I had visited Hong Kong a few years prior to this, not long after The Cupping Room was established, in 2011, but had not thought to seek out good coffee in the country. This was an oversight, because The Cupping Room offer some extremely unqiue coffees that are seldom seen in Europe, or outside of Asia for that matter.
The main draw, of course, apart from the roast profiles being nigh on perfect, is the rarity of the beans themselves. There’s very much a focus on coffee at the highest level here, with regular use of Geshas and rare single estate coffee from around the world. Even the seasonal espresso is a high end single origin, and this represents an excellent entry point into coffees from this unique multi award winning roaster.
Awards
Hong Kong Barista Championships
2011 – 2nd Place
2012 – 1st Place
2013 – 1st & 3rd Place
2014 – 1st Place
2015 – 1st & 2nd Place
2016 – 1st Place
Hong Kong Brewers Cup Championships
2015 – 1st Place
2016 – 2nd Place
2017 – 2nd Place
World Barista Championships
2013 – 15th Place
2014 – 2nd Place
2015 – 4th Place
2016 – 11th Place
2017 – 3rd Place
World Brewers Cup Championships
2016 – 4th Place
Cupping Room’s Affiliated Competition Achievements
Japan Barista Championship
2017 – 1st Place
Cupping Room’s Team Accreditations
2012, 2013, 2016 Hong Kong Barista Champion
2015 Hong Kong Brewers Cup Champion
2007 Canadian Barista Champion
World Barista Championships Sensory & Head Judge (2009-)
World Brewers Cup Championships Sensory Judge (2014-)
World Latte Art Championships Visual & Head Judge (2014-)
World Coffee in Good Spirits Championships Visual, Sensory, & Head Judge (2014-)
World Coffee Roasting Championships Sensory Judge (2017-)