MILAN – With the national championships just concluded, the world stage is back on the minds of competitors and the entire community that supports them. How better to be inspired for this test than by talking to those who have already taken the coveted first place globally? So we chatted to Matt Winton, winner of the Host 2021 World Brewers Championship. We share his full experience through his words.
Winton, first of all, we know you were an aircraft engineer: how did you get into the world of professional coffee?
“I think I always had a passion for coffee, especially growing up in Australia where it’s so easy to get amazing coffee. When I started to learn more about working with coffee and exploring this whole new world – I was hooked. It was amazing to dive head first into the whole industry, where it seemed like I could go in any direction I wanted. I especially loved being of service to people daily in the cafe.”
Actually, you started out in competitions in the barista category, taking part several times in national and world competitions… then you switched to brewing: can you explain this evolution that led you to the world victory in 2021?
Winton: “I love competing in competitions – it’s such a good way for me to learn and grow – and I love the whole scene surrounding them. I decided to take a year off Barista competitions in 2020, but I knew I wasn’t a very good brewer, so I decided to do Brewers Cup in Switzerland just to keep on learning. Once I started training, I realised how in depth a world it is, and how much I enjoyed it. The same skills of the Barista Competition helped me a lot in Brewers Cup, like performance, management, logistics etc, but I needed to learn all about how to roast and brew filter coffee! “
On the Host stage, you blended two coffee species together, Eugenioides and Arabica, a real novelty for the championships: what led you to this choice and how did you treat this rare coffee (starting from roasting and grinding)?
“I actually started with the Catucai as the base for my blend – I had this idea to blend from early 2020, and I found the Catucai in mid 2021, but I just knew I wanted to blend with something to layer the amazing flavours and character of the Catucai from Hacienda La Florida, in Sozoranga, Ecuador. I decided to team up with Sam Corra, from Ona Coffee, in Australia, very early on. He somehow stumbled across the eugenioides combination and got very very excited – this made me very keen to try it, and we found out that it was a magical pairing! “
Winton, can you tell us about the 5-pour method and the flowering approach you used on the platform?
“This was actually coming from Sam’s side. He used a very similar brew structure for his competition in 2017, and we realised it worked very well with this blend. All the other variables had to be there also, the coarse grind, the fast flowing filter and paper, and the application for this particular coffee. Essentially we did a 50g bloom, 70g next pour, then 60g for each pour after that, adding the next pour right as the water finished draining through. This gave us a really great cup profile, without any dryness, which we’d experienced with some other pouring structures. “
But the use of the kettle during pouring is also essential: can you tell us more about the trick you brought to the competition?
“Absolutely, there had to be a very fast flow rate from the kettle in order to kick up all the coffee in the bed, and “agitate” enough with each pour. A delicate pour just didn’t work. Using the more hard pours meant I could more easily brew 3 at a time also, as the time spent on each brew was less – but it did make it much harder to be accurate.”
What do you think is the real secret to winning the world championship?
“Your team, and your ability to perform under stress. Anyone can brew an amazing cup of coffee under the perfect circumstances, but to do it under pressure with so many variables going sideways – that’s skill.”
And what are you doing in Switzerland now? Did your professional career change course once you became world champion?
“I’m about to start a roastery now, in the coming weeks, which has been assisted by the win! I wouldn’t say my career changed too much – The week after I won, I was back behind the bar doing what I love – making coffee for people. It’s been a lot easier to achieve projects for me now, since winning. “
What should we expect in Matt Winton’s future?
“Probably another competition or two! Hopefully doing some good to bring people together, and share some amazing coffees.”
