Caffeine hit: Battle of the baristas for coffee lovers

Beth Godfrey was one of the hopeful competitors at a speciality coffee championship in Belfast

Coffee lovers from across Northern Ireland gathered for a caffeine-fuelled competition this week.

It is for connoisseurs of a speciality coffee and a heat took place in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter on Wednesday with 36 competitors battling it out to produce the best cup.

It turned out Ben McKendry made the best cup and he will now represent Northern Ireland at this year's world final in Canada in December.

Our high streets are full of coffee shops and whether it is a flat white or frappe, consumers are spoilt for choice.

But Nadine Reading says Northern Ireland is still 10 years behind the rest of the world.

"In the past couple of years the coffee scene has developed astronomically, it just keeps getting bigger," said Nadine, who took part in the championship.

"We're still able to improve so more speciality shops are popping up and more people are drinking coffee.

"People who drink instant [coffee] are generally just drinking it because it's all they've ever known, whereas a good foothold is to get yourself a good medium roast.

"It allows you to save money because your coffee will stretch further, it's fresher, you develop your taste palette and you can also say you're supporting farmers."

A panel of industry experts vigorously tasted and scored each brew

Now in its 14th year, the World Aeropress Championship sees 3,000 competitors from 60 countries demonstrate their recipes, each one unique.

Operating much like a handheld French press, the Aeropress coffee maker was invented in 2005 by retired Stanford University engineering instructor Alan Adler.

The simple piece of kit is now a kitchen staple in millions of homes.

To operate, the brewer adds ground coffee and hot water before plunging the liquid through a filter. Simple enough? Apparently not.

It is the variables that make all the difference - water temperatures, coffee weight and grind size, brew time and even how long you stir can all dramatically alter the final brew.

• How the world came to run on coffee

• The coffee trend from America causing a froth in NI

• What does a $75 cup of coffee taste like?

Adam Henry, who travelled from Coleraine for this year's regional heat, said he wanted to experience "a more intense coffee environment".

"I want to test myself against other baristas and coffee lovers and see where I rank.

"Compared to Coleraine, the coffee scene in Belfast is a lot bigger and a lot more intense.

"Up home you'd have a lot of ones that are just there for a coffee and a bun.

"There's maybe three or four of us trying to home in on really high-grade coffee, trying to show people how good coffee can be."

Hannah Harry said she wanted to compete to show speciality brewing did not have to be so serious

This year's heat brought a large crowd of spectators, who watched the competitors mathematically approach the task in hand.

The winners of each round made it through to the next knockout stage, each one more meticulous than the last.

"There's a real intensity within this industry which I don't feel is actually reflective of what goes on day-to-day," said Hannah Harry.

"I wanted to compete this year and let people know you don't have to be so intense about it.

"It definitely comes from a passion and a need to prove that working in hospitality is a career and not something that is like a stepping stone to your next job in adulthood."