Jeremy Ho and Ben Put, both longtime baristas at Phil & Sebastian, took first and second place respectively at the 2012 Canadian Barista Championships, held this past weekend in Toronto at the Coffee & Tea Show.

In doing so, Jeremy becomes the first Calgarian to win the Canadian Barista Championships and Ben shows remarkable consistency in finishing second for the third straight year.  The difference in points between these two competitors was a mere 11 points.  Ben and Jeremy are truly world class, and we are extremely proud of their efforts and ultimate results.  Jeremy’s competition espresso was our Ethiopia Koke.  Ben’s competition espresso was Isaias Cantillo from Huila, Colombia.  At this point, we have run out of Isaias’ coffee for this harvest, but we expect to have more in the new year.

Jeremy will now have the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2013 World Barista Championships, which will take place in Melbourne, Australia next May.  Jeremy is one of the most passionate coffee people out there, and we could not imagine a better ambassador for our country.

The weekend was a great deal of fun.  It was a chance to connect with fellow coffee professionals across Canada, and witness a truly impressive level of competition.  The event featured 14 baristas from across Canada, all of whom competed in the preliminary round.  From those 14, the top six from the preliminary round moved on to the final round.

The six finalists then competed in the final round, after which the winners were announced.  The final results were as follows:

1. Jeremy Ho (Phil & Sebastian, Calgary)

2. Ben Put (Phil & Sebastian, Calgary)

3. Randy Hogg (Bridgehead, Ottawa)

4. Georgia Henry (Darkhorse Espresso Bar, Toronto)

5. Sameer Mohamed (Farenheit Coffee, Toronto)

6. Graham Bouvier (Fernwood Coffee, Victoria)

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A special mention goes to Cole Torode of Calgary’s own Caffe Rosso, who had enough points to make the final round, but due to a rule technicality the points awarded were re-evaluated, and he was no longer eligible to compete in the final round.

Many thanks to the Calgary support from our own Karine (who also designed the “Ben & Jer” shirts), Alex, Vanessa, Tara and Rob.