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When you think ‘Gold Coast’, great coffee doesn’t immediately spring to mind. This weekend, however, is an exception. The pick of the nation’s baristas and specialty coffee professionals have descended on the sunshine state, with four titles up for grabs in the Australian Barista Championship.

The competition is part of the Food and Wine Expo at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, and gives specialty coffee some fantastic exposure across a larger audience.

Open heats were held today, with 13 baristas vying for four spots in the semi-finals in the new-format AASCA Detpak Australian Barista Championship. Allowing four from the open heats into the semis is a far more rigorous structure than we’ve seen previously and allows baristas from the traditionally strong states (yes, I mean Victoria!) an opportunity to get onto the big stage.

In the end, there were no real surprises, with some of the more competition-experienced baristas prevailing. The four to make it through were Con Haralambopolous, Simon James, Zoe Delany and Jean-Paul Sutton. The addition of these experienced and top class competitors to the list of state winners will see a very even and talented field assembled on “Super Saturday”.

Tomorrow’s competition of 10 baristas will be narrowed down to the five highest scorers, who will take part in the highly anticipated finals on Sunday. The winner earns a place in the World Barista Championship, being held in Atlanta, USA in April, so competition will no doubt be fierce. There are sure to be some amazing interpretations of specialty coffee.