uMhlanga coffee champ is ‘full of beans’
National Cup Tasting champion, Wenceslous Masawi will travel to Poland in October to compete at the World Cup Tasters and Latte Art Championships.
“TO me, coffee is love, coffee is passion. Everyday, people go to coffee shops with different moods and we are the people who fix them up with a caffeine boost.”
These are the words of Wenceslous Masawi, a barista from African Roots Coffee in uMhlanga, who was crowned the National Cup Tasting champion by the Speciality Coffee Association of Southern Africa (SCASA). Masawi, who is also an Accredited Speciality Coffee Trainer from Tanaka Coffee, entered the Cup Testers Championship in March, going up against coffee connoisseurs from across South Africa.
“They give you 24 different types of coffees and you have to identify the odd one out. The coffee varies from country to country and across flavour profiles. It’s similar to a wine tasting,” he said.
He will travel to Poland in October to compete at the World Cup Tasters and Latte Art Championships. Masawi started entering SCASA competitions in 2013, taking part in various categories over the years. His journey as a barista began in 2010 when he met his role model in the industry, Bernard Muneri.
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“I was fortunate enough to work with him at Nino’s where he invested a lot of time and money into me,” he said.
The successful barista said he started out as a runner, working his way up to the position of waiter, barista and then a manager, coffee consultant and national beverage trainer.
The taste champion, takes his coffee black, appreciating the pure coffee flavours.
“I prefer my coffee without sugar, I prefer it black, because that way I find it easy to pick up different flavours from the coffee,” he said.
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His favourite cup of coffee is brewed with a Cemix brewing tool.
Allan and Richard Hirsch, who are both coffee lovers, paid Masawi a visit just before lockdown to congratulate him on his win and find out more about the art of cupping – a method of evaluating different characteristics of a particular coffee bean.
“It allows us to compare different coffees and get a better understanding of them. It is a great evaluation tool for something that changes from coffee estate to estate, region to region or country to country,” said Masawi.
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