Local coffee chop set for national recognition.
Independent coffee shop Six Eight Kafé was celebrating today as one of its baristas, Imogen Ludman (pictured) stormed into the UK national barista championship semi-finals.
The artisan coffee shop already has become a leader of the blossoming independent coffee scene in the Midlands, but now has plans to challenge the top coffee shops in the UK.
“Imogen has been working really hard, before and after work to perfect her routine”, said manager Hannah Smith, “and it finally paid off as she got through to the semi-finals. We are so proud of her. It is incredible since she is only eighteen years old and has only been making coffee for eight months. The final icing on the cake was that the regional heats were being held on our home ground at the Millennium Point”
The barista competition, held annually, sees the nations top baristas creating coffee drinks in front of a panel of judges who mark the competitors on presentation, taste, timing and innovation for their coffee drinks.
It’s not the first time Six Eight Kafé has come to national prominence as their barista Joe Beaver, won the Northern Ireland barista championships with a clean sweep of Best Espresso, Best Cappuccino and Best Signature Drink.
Early this year they were voted one of the top coffee shops in the Birmingham by a local paper.
The UK Barista Championship heats were held at Millennium Point between the 9th-12th February with the finals in April.