Throw Down !

It was begun at 4 in the afternoon at 1/15 Coffee, located at Jalan Gandaria 1, no. 63, Jakarta – and finished at exactly half past eight in the evening. Muhamad Aga claimed the title as the champion of the Latte Art Throw Down, after eliminating 17 participants who came from Jakara, Bandung and even Jogjakarta. An event that was held from a collaboration between Cikopi.com, 1/15 Coffee and Toffin Product for the fourth year anniversary of this blog. Exhilarating!

The Judges of the Latte Art Throw Down 2012
1. Ve Handojo: Writer and Movie critic
2. Michael Gibbons: Bahana Genta Viktory (Illy Coffee)
3. Adi W. Taroepratjeka: Food and Beverage consultant, Q Grader

How it started: In the beginning of June, I had a further discussion with a coffee consultant, Hendri Kurniawan, when Lia and Francis from 1/15 Coffee gave their permission to collaborate together for this unique event. Then Tonny Arifind from Toffin Product – without being asked –  consented to provide all the necessary equipment such as the machines, the grinder and the coffee to be used during the competition. Adi W. Taroepratjeka and Michael Gibbons also gave their full support for the event to be successful, including Yudistira Bawono. Caswell’s Coffee and Wien from Qertoev voluntarily offered to provide souvenirs for the finalists and coffee for all the participants. So the event was mutually aided by many people for the Indonesian barista!

Organizing a coffee event like this Latte Art Throw Down turned out to be very exciting and exhilarating, since it was the first event that involved many parties. But fortunately they have voluntarily helped putting together an event that  – please correct me if I’m wrong – was probably the first in Jakarta, if not in Indonesia.

The Judges were Ve Handojo, a travel writer, a Food and Beverage observer, a movie critic an of course, a coffee lover. We’ve both traveled to Balikpapan and Samarinda to cover the local culinary for an in-flight magazine of a local airline. Then Michael Gibbons, a representative from Illy Coffee for Indonesia and  Universita Del Cafe (UDC), a Barista school recognized by Illy to be the best in the world. Last but not least was of course, Adi W. Taroepratjeka, my partner in crime whom I trust to evaluate the skills of the participants, due to his long history and extensive knowledge about coffee. This was the combination of the judges who I think had more than enough credibility to evaluate the latte art skills of the participants.

Show Time! The event started forty five minutes late of the schedule, due to electricity problem and the participants from Jogja who hadnt turned up yet because they were struggling with the Jakarta traffic to get there. Nevertheless, as soon as it was launched by Mira Yudhawati, the whole thing started flowing, and with a brief opening speech, I gave my thanks to all the parties involved, who play parts of the existence of this blog till its fourth year.

The Competition Procedure used the knockout system and on the first round, the 18 participants were free to be creative and showcased their best patterns. Each two participants who had taken a lottery number showed their skills, and the judges would choose based on the preliminary criterias – the pattern, the contrast and the symmetry. From the 18 participants, nine were chosen to create patterns that were decided on them – such as the swan, the tulip, the rosetta or the double rosetta. In the final, only three finalists were left, and they were free to express their skills in their own latte art creations. The champion title, which was won by Muhammad Aga, reserved the one million rupiah prize and crowned as the winner of the competition.

Other competition: aside from the latte art in a cup, the committee also provided three plates for the three finalists to reckessly be creative in medium that was out of the box.

The Participants: As I’ve said before, this was a competition that was intended to be fun, so the judges – and the audience – could interact with the participants without any strict barriers. Widodo – who came all the way from the border of Tangerang and Serang – was a home barista who enlivened the event and I truly appreciated his fortitude. Not only that, we also intentionally waited for the participants from Jogjakarta who departed a day earlier to attend the event, so a delay was definitely in order. For us, their participations was incredible and they gave an important meaning to this event. Most of the participants came from the Barista Underground Society – or BUGS as they called themselves – a channel for coffee brewers, who had indeed showed their skills at the Throw Down.

An Annual Event: I can’t yet answer the question of whether or not this Throw Down will be an annual thing, or a once-in-a-lifetime event. But for sure, the baristas’ skills yesterday were amazing, and their creations were definitely far from amateurish. Adi and Gibbons thought their skills were something to be proud of, and I am sure that someday they will bring Indonesia’s name to fame in an international competition.

Hopefully, we can throw similar events or another that is just as unique as this one, in the near future. To all the participants, I hope you are proud and happy with yourself as a barista and as creative people. Thank you for participating, and thank you to all the parties involved for your support!

Throw Down !

Perhelatan itu sudah selesai tepat pukul 20.30 sejak dimulai sore hari Sabtu kemarin jam 16.00 di 1/15 Coffee, jalan Gandaria 1 no. 63, Jakarta. Muhamad Aga berhak meraih titel sebagai juara Latte Art Throw Down setelah berhasilnya menyisikan 17 orang peserta yang datang dari Jakarta, Bandung, hingga Jogjakarta. Sebuah event yang diselenggarakan atas koloborasi antara cikopi.com, 1/15 Coffee, dan Toffin Product dalam rangka perayaan ke-4 blog kopi ini. Seru !!!

Ceritanya begini: Di awal bulan Juni, saya segera berdiskusi lebih lanjut dengan konsultan kopi Hendri Kurniawan saat Lia dan Francis dari 1/15 Coffee memberikan pesertujuan untuk bekerjasama menggelar acara unik ini. Lalu Tonny Arifin dari  Toffin Product tanpa diminta langsung menyanggupi untuk menyediakan perlengkapan mesin, grinder, dan kopi untuk keperluan kompetisi. Demikian juga Adi W. Taroepratjeka dan Michael Gibbons yang memberikan dukungan penuh untuk suksesnya acara ini termasuk Yudistira Bawono. Tak lupa Caswell’s Coffee dan Wien dari Qertoev yang sudah memberikan sedikit oleh-oleh buat dua orang finalis dan kopi untuk seluruh peserta. Jadi acara ini praktis hasil gotong royong bersama untuk para Barista Indonesia !.

Membuat event kopi seperti Latte Art Throw Down ternyata cukup menyenangkan sekaligus membuat deg-degan karena inilah hajatan pertama yang melibatkan banyak pihak. Namun untunglah semua pihak yang tak bisa saya sebutkan satu persatu dengan sukarela telah membantu demi terselenggaranya acara yang mungkin pertama kali diadakan secara terorganisir di Jakarta atau bahkan di Indonesia, mohon koreksi bila saya salah.

Juri. Tim penilai terdiri dari Ve Handojo, seorang travel writer, pengamat F&B, kritikus film, dan tentu saja penikmat kopi. Kami berdua pernah berkelana di Balikpapan dan Samarinda untuk meliput kuliner lokal dalam rangka penugasan sebuah majalah penerbangan nasional. Lalu Michael Gibbons, perwakilan Kopi Illy di Indonesia, dan  Universita Del Cafe (UDC) , sekolah Barista yang diakui oleh Illy sebagai yang terbaik di dunia. Terakhir tentu saja Adi W. Taroepratjeka, rekan seperjuangan yang saya percaya untuk menilaian kemampuan peserta karena rekam jejaknya yang panjang di dunia kopi. Inilah kombinasi  tim penilai yang  menurut saya sudah punya kredibilitas lebih dari cukup untuk menilai kemampuan latte art para peserta.

Show Time !. Acara dibuka terlambat sekitar 45 menit dari jadwal, salah satunya karena kendala teknis kelistrikan dan menunggu  kehadiran peserta dari Jogjakarta yang berjuang di tengah kemacetan kota Jakarta. Namun setelah dibuka oleh Mira Yudhawati semua terus mengalir dan dalam sambutan singkat, saya menghaturkan terima kasih kepada semua pihak yang telah mendukung keberadaan blog ini hingga bisa menginjak usia ke-4 tahun.

Teknis Kompetisi : Menggunakan sistem gugur dan di putaran awal saat ke-18 peserta bebas berkreasi dengan motif andalannya. Masing-masing dua peserta yang telah mengambil nomor undian berlaga dan juri akan memilih berdasarkan kriteria yang telah ditentukan, antara lain, motif, kontras dan bentuk yang simetris. Dari 18 peserta terpilih 9 orang yang harus mengambil undian motif yang harus dikerjakannya seperti angsa, tulip, atau rosetta/dobel rosetta. Selanjutnya pada babak final, hanya tersisa tiga finalis yang langsung berlaga dan sekali lagi bebas mengekspresikan keterampilannya dalam latte art kreasi mereka masing-masing. Pemenang yang disabet oleh Muhammad Aga berhak mendapat satu juta rupiah dan dinobatkan sebagai pemenang kompetisi ini.

Kompetisi Lain : Selain kontes latte art dengan cangkir, panitia juga menyediakan tiga buah piring untuk peserta yang “nekat” berkreasi di tempat yang “abnormal”.

Peserta : Sekali lagi ini adalah lomba yang pada intinya didesain untuk tidak terlalu serius sehingga juri, peserta termasuk penonton bisa berinteraksi langsung tanpa aturan yang kaku. Widodo sengaja datang jauh dari perbatasan Tangerang dan Serang, seorang home barista yang ingin memeriahkan acara ini dan saya sungguh mengapresiasi semangat beliau. Bukan hanya itu, kami sengaja menunggu kedatangan para Barista dari Jogjakarta yang berangkat sehari sebelum lomba dimulai dan rela sedikit memperlambat dimulainya acara ini. Buat kami, partisipasi mereka sungguh luar biasa dan lebih memberikan arti penting event ini. Peserta yang cukup banyak mengirimkan peserta tentu dari komunitas BUGS (Barista Underground Society)  sebuah wadah para peramu kopi yang sudah menunjukan kemampuannya pada ajang Throw Down kemarin.

Acara Tahunan. Saya belum bisa menjawab apakah acara Throw Down ini akan diadakan sebagai acara tahunan atau hanya berhenti di sini saja. Tapi yang pasti, kemampuan para Barista yang tampil kemarin sungguh memukau dan banyak menghasilkan karya dengan tingkat kesulitan tinggi. Adi dan Gibbons menilai kemampuan para peserta sudah banyak yang sudah membanggakan dan suatu saat saya sungguh yakin dan berharap mereka akan bisa membawa nama Indonesia di ajang internasional.

Semoga kami bisa menyelenggarakan acara sejenis atau yang lebih unik lainnya di waktu yang akan datang. Kepada semua peserta lomba, semoga Anda bangga dan bahagia menjadi seorang barista dan terima kasih sudah berpartisipasi dalam acara ini termasuk semua pihak yang telah memberikan dukungan. !

*  *  *

The Barista from Jogjakarta! : Rifky Munaida  (Kiky), the IBC 2010 in Jogja was one of the participants who came all the way from Jogja to participate in this event. Thank you for all the participants from Jogja who made the Latte Art Throw Down 2012 so much better!

The Winner: Muhammad Aga. : Eliminating 18 other participants and becoming the champion of the Latte Art Throw Down 2012, Aga works as a barista at Mrs. Field, Gandaria City mall in Jakarta.

Mira Yudawati : Thanks Mira, for making this event lively, as well as Mirza Luqman, our sudden MC for the final.

All the espresso for the competition was made by Doddy Samsura, the runner-up of the Asian Barista Championship 2012 in Singapore.

This competiton has proven that the latte art created by our baristas is something we can all be proud of. It’s possible that in the near future, one of these guys will bring Indonesia’s name to fame on an internatinoal competition.

Plate Art :  Making latte art in a cup is common, but on a plate? This one was created by Andrew Tang, including the one below, on a blind portafilter.

Using a blind filter on a portafilter, Andrew Tang – a barista from Singapore – showed his skill pouring steamed milk into a small hollow.

Crowded and exciting! : There was no official invitation other than the announcement on the blog, but the competition was witnessed by many patrons who came to see what it was all about, on the second floor of 1/15 Coffee. I’m hoping this can be an annual event and the same event can be held again next year.

Read another review from Ve Handojo “Cikopi Latte Art Throw Down”   & Pesta Seni Visual Kopi by Prast