Starbucks 2015 Coffee Ambassador Cup

To all the Starbucks coffee aficionados out there, can you name this coffee:

It's Balanced, smooth and rich. The aroma, body and flavor are balances, with tastes of muts and cocoa brought out by the roast.

So whats your answer? Find out at the end of the article.

I felt like a student again when I attended the recent Coffee Ambassador Cup 2015 held last Sunday (Sept. 13,2015) at the Collegio San Agustin Auditorium, Dasmarinas Village Makati city.

Spearheaded by Starbucks Philippines to honor the outstanding Coffee Masters. On the 9th year, the competition includes a latte art and beverage preparation competition, in addition to the previous yeas challenges such as coffee quizzes and tastings. the best coffee master will be honored with the title, Starbucks Coffee Ambassador.

The competition started with a quiz bee with 16 coffee ambassadors (from 30 finalist) coming from different districts. It was categorized into different levels started with short, tall and grande. Jeremiah tops the grande round with 831 points, followed by Pao at 721 then Jason with 624 points. Three contestant from this round were eliminated making the last 5 finalist move to the Venti and the Ambassadors round.

At the Venti round the scores are back to zero with each of the finalist have to pick a coffee flavor and do an oratorical speech while creating a cup of coffee, coined as the Pour over Coffee tasting.

The next round was tougher, I think, the five finalist felt that they were competing for the Ms. Universe title where in each of the finalist should pick a question ask by a judge And bet you, the questions are tough. If I were on their shoes,  I might get stuck for a moment thinking for the perfect answer.

Questions are like how to build confidence for a new barista, dream job, how to apply what you learn in the community, aspirations and many more. I think Ana and Pao ruled this round.

At the awarding ceremony, Ranchell ‘Pao’ Legaspi from Starbucks Araneta Center was proclaimed as the 2015 Coffee Ambassador Cup winner. She will represent the country ( along with the 2013 winner) for the international competition.

This coffee experience took me to #Bali, #Sumatra, even #Veranda and back to my #House haha. Thanks @starbucksph

A photo posted by Rodel Flordeliz (@rodelflordeliz) on Sep 15, 2015 at 12:56am PDT

Here’s my take away from this event:

1. I’ve learned that the Dutch were the first one who trade in coffee
2. That you’ll spot a coffee master when you see one wearing a black apron,
3. That Starbucks doesn’t only offer Macchiato, Cappuccino, Americano. There are so many other variants that you can try that some names are even quite hard to remember. 
4. That this competition makes me see each Barista now differently. It’s definitely a job to be proud of. 

Kudos to all the participants and to all  the Coffee Masters! And by the way the answer to my first question is “House Blend.” Did you get it right?

What’s your favorite Coffee blend at Starbucks? Comment in the box below.