# UKBC Finals



## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Wanted to go watch these again but it's just been announced they will be in Glasgow, so pretty inconvenient for a lot of the country.

Bit of a shame really, but I can see why they didn't want to do it at London Coffee Fest again after last year.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Its the final round of heats that are in Glasgow. Not the Finals.


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## Xpenno (Nov 12, 2012)

aaronb said:


> Wanted to go watch these again but it's just been announced they will be in Glasgow, so pretty inconvenient for a lot of the country.
> 
> Bit of a shame really, but I can see why they didn't want to do it at London Coffee Fest again after last year.


Why is London more convenient than Glasgow? Surely the middle of the country would be considered most convenient for the majority?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

UKBC Finals date / venue yet to be set

Keep an eye on http://scaeuk.com for details as they emerge


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## Geordie Boy (Nov 26, 2012)

aaronb said:


> Wanted to go watch these again but it's just been announced they will be in Glasgow, so pretty inconvenient for a lot of the country.


And so a city nestled in the south east corner of the UK is convenient for alot of the country?


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## Firochromis (Oct 26, 2014)

Geordie Boy said:


> And so a city nestled in the south east corner of the UK is convenient for alot of the country?


It is closer to the rest of Europe for a start


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

> ScotHot 2015 @ScotHot2015 · 1h 1 hour ago
> 
> We're extremely pleased to be hosting the finals of the @scaeUK UK Barista Champs at ScotHot, 4-5 MAR: http://bit.ly/1xQkmcQ #UKBC2015


From the @scaeUK twitter account


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Scotford said:


> Its the final round of heats that are in Glasgow. Not the Finals.


nope, finals too.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

I'm sure I've read information on the contrary recently. Oh well.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

The original venue for the finals fell through, so I assume they had to get something sorted quickly.

London Coffee Fest is doing Coffee Masters with DunneFrankowski instead so they couldn't revert back to the old venue either.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Xpenno said:


> Why is London more convenient than Glasgow? Surely the middle of the country would be considered most convenient for the majority?


Glasgow is full of bloody jocks too


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## rmcgandara (Feb 12, 2013)

Well they can't do it in London because London Coffee fest is after the world barista championship. So the finals couldn't be done there.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

rmcgandara said:


> Well they can't do it in London because London Coffee fest is after the world barista championship. So the finals couldn't be done there.


They cant do it in London because coffee masters is on instead, I suspect if the space was available the dates of the finals could be made to coincide like last year.

Reading the SCAE website though it looks like after their sponsor pulled out at the last minute they didn't have much choice.


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## oddknack (Apr 8, 2014)

Will they be filmed and available in the net?


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

oddknack said:


> Will they be filmed and available in the net?


I'd assume so, so there is that you are right!


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## rmcgandara (Feb 12, 2013)

aaronb said:


> They cant do it in London because coffee masters is on instead, I suspect if the space was available the dates of the finals could be made to coincide like last year.
> 
> Reading the SCAE website though it looks like after their sponsor pulled out at the last minute they didn't have much choice.


It might be a question of the chicken or the egg. What I see is wbc being before than lcf. Unless of course you know the details behind the scenes...

Anyway there's always the live feed.!


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Interesting issues at the SW round yesterday. Can't go into details, but it was all a bit ridiculous.

Machine choice is odd as well (although more a case of only one company willing to sponsor).

JP


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## rmcgandara (Feb 12, 2013)

jjprestidge said:


> Interesting issues at the SW round yesterday. Can't go into details, but it was all a bit ridiculous.
> 
> Machine choice is odd as well (although more a case of only one company willing to sponsor).
> 
> JP


I wish you could go on the details. we all like a bit of gossip!









it was bound to happen, completely different setup than the previous years, new sponsors, new machines/grinders etc.

R


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> Machine choice is odd as well


What's odd about it?


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> What's odd about it?


Odd in the sense that I doubt there's a competitor who would consider buying the machine for their place. Not odd in the sense that LS was reportedly the only company that wanted to sponsor the competition this year.

JP


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> What's odd about it?


PM me if interested.

Edit - can't delete this - meant to reply to the previous post.

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> Odd in the sense that I doubt there's a competitor who would consider buying the machine for their place. Not odd in the sense that LS was reportedly the only company that wanted to sponsor the competition this year.
> 
> JP


Have you used one?


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> Have you used one?


Not yet, but I've had feedback from those who have.

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> Not yet, but I've had feedback from those who have.
> 
> JP


Oh. I use one daily and have to say that whilst its not in the Synesso beast league, it is still an absolutely amazing machine.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> Oh. I use one daily and have to say that whilst its not in the Synesso beast league, it is still an absolutely amazing machine.


Do you think it's a competition level machine, though, given that WBC competitors will be using the Aurelia T3?

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> Do you think it's a competition level machine, though, given that WBC competitors will be using the Aurelia T3?
> 
> JP


Well, given that they're both very similar machines with very similar technology and innards, yes.


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Hmmmm...

Well I'm not going to the finals then.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Dates haven't been announced have they Flibster?

Nothing on the SCAEUK site that I could see


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Glenn said:


> Dates haven't been announced have they Flibster?
> 
> Nothing on the SCAEUK site that I could see


See the tweet I posted earlier.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Must have missed it?


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Glenn said:


> Must have missed it?





> ScotHot 2015 @ScotHot2015 · 1h 1 hour ago
> 
> We're extremely pleased to be hosting the finals of the @scaeUK UK Barista Champs at ScotHot, 4-5 MAR: http://bit.ly/1xQkmcQ #UKBC2015


^re tweeted by the scaeuk twitter account the other day, but you're right there doesn't seem to be an official announcement yet.

Edits: cant spell!


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Excellent. There has been a desire to hold it North of the border for a number of years now.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> Well, given that they're both very similar machines with very similar technology and innards, yes.


T3 is dual boiler; S40 is HX. Loads of other differences, including how the preinfusion works.

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

And? Both machines are very highly specced, of course they are different, but that is just it. Different.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> And? Both machines are very highly specced, of course they are different, but that is just it. Different.


OK, let's put it this way - it wouldn't be the first choice of most of the competitors. Then again, neither was the San Remo from the last few years.

The T3, on the other hand, is widely liked, even though it's not a common sight over here (and has its own issues in a commercial environment).

JP


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Plus you go to (world) finals and then get a completely different machine.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

aaronb said:


> Plus you go to (world) finals and then get a completely different machine.


At that level of machine technology, it is pretty easy to find your feet when it comes to switching machines. Plus, there will be machines available for intense practice for days before judging.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> OK, let's put it this way - it wouldn't be the first choice of most of the competitors. Then again, neither was the San Remo from the last few years.
> 
> The T3, on the other hand, is widely liked, even though it's not a common sight over here (and has its own issues in a commercial environment).
> 
> JP


But let's face it, the S40 and Verona aren't all that common here either.

I get what you're saying but at that level of quality, the machines are merely the baristas tools.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

It would have been more sensible to stick with LM, which most people have worked with. Then you wouldn't need to provide a load of machines for people to practise on. Money talks, though.

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> Money talks, though.


This.

I was actually chatting to a LM and La Spaz engineers yesterday and they both agreed that LM are a lot less reliable than they used to be compared to Spaz these days. Make of that what you will. I've never had any real problems with either.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

The difference in portafilter/basket/tamper size causes lots of challenges when switching from one to the other


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> This.
> 
> I was actually chatting to a LM and La Spaz engineers yesterday and they both agreed that LM are a lot less reliable than they used to be compared to Spaz these days. Make of that what you will. I've never had any real problems with either.


The Linea PB definitely doesn't have the same build quality as the original Linea..

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> The Linea PB definitely doesn't have the same build quality as the original Linea..
> 
> JP


Yeah, I found this when training on one recently. Its a touch more plasticcy. If you know what I mean.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

garydyke1 said:


> The difference in portafilter/basket/tamper size causes lots of challenges when switching from one to the other


That's the thing. At that level, its not going to be anywhere near as challenging as it would seem.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Scotford said:


> That's the thing. At that level, its not going to be anywhere near as challenging as it would seem.


Its an expense to purchase all the different sized bits. VST baskets aren't possible. Not everyone can travel to practice on an S40.

The LS portafilters dont sit comfortably in the Mythos one without tweaking . The portafilters dont sit on tamping mats the same way as NS ones.

I could go on..... (we have both machines here)


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

garydyke1 said:


> Its an expense to purchase all the different sized bits. VST baskets aren't possible. Not everyone can travel to practice on an S40.
> 
> The LS portafilters dont sit comfortably in the Mythos one without tweaking . The portafilters dont sit on tamping mats the same way as NS ones.
> 
> I could go on..... (we have both machines here)


I get what you're saying and fully understand the problems faced but any barista worth their salt will just get on and work around these issues.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

That being said though, I can see the UKBC turning farcical.


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Scotford said:


> That being said though, I can see the UKBC turning farcical.


No filtration on the machines at the SW round didn't help the cause.

JP


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

jjprestidge said:


> No filtration on the machines at the SW round didn't help the cause.
> 
> JP


You're kidding me?!!

Farce. Farce. Farce.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

The SCAE UK need to step up and sort this out. We are in the middle of the most exciting and frontier-pushing time for coffee we have ever seen and the top-flight competition is being marred. I'm moving back to Oz.


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

jjprestidge said:


> No filtration on the machines at the SW round didn't help the cause.
> 
> JP


Seriously?

Wow....


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Flibster said:


> Seriously?
> 
> Wow....


The filters didn't arrive. Competitors only realised when their coffees tasted less good than usual.

JP


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## jjprestidge (Oct 11, 2012)

Heard a bit more - temperature discrepancies between groupheads and no SCACE to measure properly at one point. They adjusted the cold water feed but had no idea exactly how much it changed temperature.

Final is in Glasgow at some food and drink expo. Moved from London Coffee Festival because that clashes with WBC in Seattle, which for some reason is much earlier this year.

JP


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