Roast Masters™ launched at The Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2019 from 1-3 March and showcased 24 of the world’s most legendary roasters who battled head-to-head for the coveted Roast Masters title.
Congratulations to White Label Coffee of Amsterdam who took home the title Roast Masters™ 2019!
THE ROAST MASTERS AMSTERDAM 2019 CONTENDERS
ASSEMBLY COFFEE
REPRESENTING: United Kingdom
COMPETING ROASTERS: Nick Mabey and James Wise
A coffee roasting company committed to driving and openly sharing innovation in the independent coffee industry. Assembly offers coffees that are unique in their acknowledgement of the various needs of a cafe, are uncompromising in quality and expedite ethical outcomes.
BACK TO BLACK
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Melanie Chardet and Inge Bulthuis
A specialty coffee micro roastery based in Amsterdam. Looking ahead to Roast Masters, Back to Black said “We love to roast awesome green beans and we love to make great coffee with it, so let’s get started!”
BELLEVILLE BRÛLERIE PARIS
REPRESENTING: France
COMPETING ROASTERS: Mihaela Iordache
Belleville Brûlerie Paris want to redefine the term ‘French Roast’. They source, roast and assemble delicious coffees to create stunningly balanced cups. Roaster Mihaela fell in love with coffee after attending her first cupping session at Belleville Brûlerie in 2013 and has worked in the industry ever since.
BOCCA COFFEE
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Still to be announced
Bocca were the first speciality coffee roaster in the Netherlands to manage the entire bean-to-cup process. Their aim is to make the finest coffees accessible for those who truly care and are committed to make a difference.
CAFFÈNATION
REPRESENTING: Belgium
COMPETING ROASTERS: Still to be announced
Starting off in 2010, Caffenation was a local front runner for light roasted coffee. Fruity and floral beans out of Africa has been their specialty since day one. For white coffees we believe in blending of two or three washed clean cup coffees.
COFFEECOMPANY
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Lucas de Gier
Stirring up Dutch coffee culture since 1996 with a relentless drive to keep learning improving on sourcing, roasting and brewing.
DUTCH BARISTA
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Björn Aarts
A high-quality speciality coffee roaster which perfectly combines craftsmanship and innovating technologies. Located at an Industrial plot at the border of Maastricht city.
FIVE ELEPHANT
REPRESENTING: Germany
COMPETING ROASTERS: Still to be announced
Five Elephant is a specialty coffee roastery, bakery and cafes in Berlin.
Their goal is to source the best coffees in the world in a way that is mindful of environmental impact and thoughtful of the social impact of the communities who produce their coffees.
GEARBOX COFFEE ROASTERS
REPRESENTING: Italy
COMPETING ROASTERS: Tommaso Bongini
Gearbox Coffee Roasters was born from an idea of Tommaso Bongini, quality control manager for Caffè Mokarico, his family business. His intent is to associate his two greatest passions, coffee and cars: two worlds so different, often with some common points.
GIRAFFE COFFEE ROASTERS
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Michael van der Beijl and Daniël Burghardt
Giraffe Coffee Roasters do their best to find coffees of the highest quality. Giraffe Coffee Roasters only select Arabica coffees with the most exceptional characteristics. With their roasting technique, the roasters strive to bring out the best in each coffee.
HIS MAJESTY THE COFFEE
REPRESENTING: Italy
COMPETING ROASTERS: Paolo Scimone
A specialty coffee roastery based in Monza since 2013. The passion for England and the Royal family is already evident from the name but under the surface, a pure Italian heart beats in its chest. This duality is well represented with the two house blends: Londinium and Modoetia. Paolo and his staff every week dedicates time to research and development about new roasting techniques.
LOT SIXTY ONE
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Still to be announced
A coffee lover’s paradise. Great tasting coffee that’s roasted fresh daily in Amsterdam. It all starts with buying the best quality green beans fresh from the current harvest season. Beans are hand roasted on our Probat roasters to celebrate the unique flavours of the coffee produced by the farmer.
MANHATTAN COFFEE ROASTERS
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Esther Maasdam and Ben Morrow
A Rotterdam based specialty coffee roaster from Ben Morrow and Esther Maasdam. The duo are excited to take to the stage and see Roast Masters as “an amazing opportunity for Rotterdam to be represented alongside such renowned global talent in coffee roasting.”
MOK SPECIALTY COFFEE
REPRESENTING: Belgium
COMPETING ROASTERS: Jens Crabbé
Founded in 2012, MOK’s sourcing, roasting and brewing style is focused on purity and clarity. The team currently roast on a Giesen W15 with cropster, showcasing coffees in two amazing cafés in Brussels and Leuven and also supply coffee to independent bars and restaurants worldwide.
OZONE COFFEE ROASTERS
REPRESENTING: The United Kingdom
COMPETING ROASTERS: Stevie McCusker and Roland Glew
Ozone is a global roastery originating from New Plymouth in New Zealand. Ozone are true hospitality experts and have a passion for good coffee! With a past in physics and chemistry has developed Roland’s passion for finding that perfect roast profile for each coffee he meets.
SCHOT KOFFIE
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: John Schot
Schot Koffie is a specialty coffee roaster located in Rotterdam. Schot Koffie are striving to build long term relationships with our coffee suppliers and customers. By working closely together, the team are increasing coffee quality year by year.
SPECIAL ROAST
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Bo Zwarts
Special roast is a label roastery. They create great roasts for private label, white label and no label coffee. Their focus is on quality and transparency. Special Roast believe every coffee deserves a well-crafted roast.
ST ALi
REPRESENTING: Australia
COMPETING ROASTERS: Still to be announced
Born and bred out of South Melbourne in 2005, ST. ALi has been synonymous with Melbourne coffee for 13 years. With ST ALi travelling across the globe for this exciting competition, the team are “Looking forward to throwing down with the best in the world.”
STOOKER SPECIALTY COFFEE
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Skip Roeland and Florian Hessel
Stooker Specialty Coffee roasts specialty coffee in Amsterdam and educates Barista’s in the Stooker Specialty Academy. Beyond Amsterdam Stooker sell coffee to independent cafés and customers across the Netherlands and to the UK, Poland and France.
THE BARN BERLIN
REPRESENTING: Germany
COMPETING ROASTERS: Jasper de Clerck
The Barn’s roast consistency is valued by their customers across globe. They strive to be quality leaders and a reliable coffee partner. Competing for The Barn is their Belgian roast super hero Jasper, who learned the trade in New Zealand and Australia before driving it to perfection in Berlin.
WHITE LABEL COFFEE
REPRESENTING: The Netherlands
COMPETING ROASTERS: Sebas Geistdorfer, Wouter Andeweg and Halil Turan
A small specialty coffee roaster from Amsterdam. Keeping it real since 2013 White Label Coffee will be bringing along their great humour and incredible roasting skills, this competing trio are some of the most skilled in the business.