The award-winning barista, Tilly Sproule of Queensland’s Tim Adams Specialty Coffee has emerged as the champion of this year’s Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) Northern Region Barista Championship. This is her third win a row which is just an amazing achievement! The event took place at Fonzie Abbott, Brisbane from 23 – 24 September. More than 60 competitors and judges took place in the competition, with almost every event sold out.

Together with the runner up, Matt Holmes of Veneziano Coffee Roasters, and third place, Raihaan East of Di Bella Coffee, Tilly has now secured her place in the semi-finals of the 2018 ASCA Australian Coffee Championships, which will take place on March 2018 at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo.

“I’m so honoured to win the northern region title – again,” Tilly says. “I could not have achieved this result three years in a row without my team and family at Tim Adams Specialty Coffee. Their support is out of this world. I am so grateful I can be on this journey with them by my side.”

To win her three-peat championship, Tilly captivated the judges by presenting a jigsaw puzzle theme – a fun, personal and interactive way to share her view on the coffee industry. Like the puzzle, each piece of Tilly’s performance served a purpose.

“It symbolised the need to have each piece working and connected together to keep us united, learning, and moving forward,” she says.

For her espresso, Tilly used a washed Geisha from Rodrigous Sanchez at El Progresso in Colombia. She blew the competition away by creating her finest representation of this Geisha. She froze the coffee in dry ice then ground it to extract a sweet and clean espresso with “outstanding flavours.”

For her signature drink, Tilly used a “rockstar” natural Ethiopian from Areka. It was a chilled drink, combining cherry and pomegranate with an ice sphere, prepared using the Areka coffee as filter, and balanced with the same coffee brewed as espresso. Tilly described it as sweet, creamy, and refreshing.

Tilly currently works as a QLD Operations Trainer at Gloria Jean’s Coffees Australia. She takes her craft very seriously and plans to continue competing to become the next female world barista champion.

The Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) is Australia’s leading industry body dedicated to promoting and growing the specialty coffee industry. ASCA holds coffee events around the country. This ranges from casual smackdowns, to official regional competitions that feed into the Australian Barista Championship, Latte Art Championship, Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, Cup Tasting Championship and Brewers Cup. The winners of these competitions then travel internationally to represent Australian coffee talent on the world stage.