A Round Off of the 22 NI Aeropress Champs

2022 NI AeroPress Championship. Photo Courtesy of Darren Dunwell

Coffee lovers from all over Northern Ireland gathered on Wednesday, Sept. 28 to witness this year’s NI AeroPress Championship where 36 competitors were given the chance to fight for the annual title. Hosted this year by Lucid Coffee Roasters, the competition, which has been running in Northern Ireland for several years now, is part of a much larger event known as the World AeroPress Championship, where winners from different countries get to compete against each other at a global level.

According to World AeroPress, the competitions are about “building community, making friends, and celebrating coffee,” which we saw the Lucid Coffee team and NI community absolutely nail last week!

For this reason, we were excited to support the NI AeroPress community for the third year in a row by providing some of our top products for competitors to use on the night of the event, as well as prizes for winners.

We provided Comandante as the official grinder, Felicita scales, kettles, Hario servers, thermal decanters and kettles and finally, Loveramics’ glassware to be served to the judges for tasting.

Grace Fairley, the Belfast-based artist who illustrated this year’s official competition poster, incorporated the use of bold neon colors and imaginative figures which we absolutely loved! 

What we love about the NI AeroPress championship is that participants do not need to have a background in the coffee industry to compete, which makes it more accessible to the average coffee lover. The only requirement is that you can brew a great coffee.

Home enthusiast Ben McKendry wins Best Cup. Photo Courtesy of Darren Dunwell

In fact, this year’s Champion was Ben McKendry, a home enthusiast that will go on to represent Northern Ireland at the world final in Vancouver, Canada this December. At Brewed By Hand, we are exceptionally proud to help make this happen. 

Rounding off the podium were Chris Allen of 28 Gilnahirk Cafe in second and Rachel Campbell of Bailies Coffee in third place.

Thanks to Stephen and Lucid Coffee for making this happen. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

Judges tasting from Loveramics’ Twisted Glass. Photo Courtesy of Darren Dunwell

If you are interested in learning more about the competition and how you can support it, check out the World AeroPress Championship website for more information.