Melbourne International Coffee Expo

The Melbourne International Coffee Expo (MICE) is excited to announce that it will be putting up a $50,000 prize pool in a new competition taking place at the event 9-11 September at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.  

Australia’s Richest Barista Battle will be a knock-out format, fast-paced competition designed to exhibit the country’s incredible barista talent to the Australian coffee industry, and the public. The winner will walk away with $35,000, second place $10,000 and third place $5,000. The competition is a way for MICE to support the incredible baristas that support this industry, says Lauren Winterbottom, MICE Show Director.  

 “Australia’s baristas have had a challenging year, this is a way for us to give back to the community,” says Lauren. “We want to offer an exciting competition format, while giving them a chance to walk away with a significant amount of money that will make a difference in their lives.”  

The competition will take place over three days. The first day will see baristas go head-to-head in 10-minute mini barista competitions. Baristas will compete two at a time using the same group of judges, using a simple scoring system that will allow judges to immediately declare the winner from each round. They will prepare espressos, lattes, and alternative milk drinks. 

Half the baristas will move on to the latte art smackdown on day two. Each pair of baristas will compete for three rounds, mixing traditional latte art with their own creations. The coffee will be judged blindly, and the best winner of 2/3 rounds will go on to the finals.  

The final day will be a cup tasting competition. Over three rounds, competitors will see who can more accurately, and most quickly, find the odd coffee out of groups of three.  

Following these three intense days of competition, the winners will walk away with the $50,000 prize pool.  

Full rules will be released on Thursday 1 July when registration opens.