FIRST EUROPEAN TEA CHAMPIONSHIPS HELD AT
AMSTERDAM COFFEE FESTIVAL
ESTA presented its first ever European Tea Tasting Championship and Matcha Latte Art Championship at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival on 5th April.
Competitors representing Belgium, Netherlands and the United Kingdom gathered together, having won their own competitions over the past six months and were joined by the winners of the ACF25 open championship which had been held earlier on at the Festival.
Tea Tasting Championship
Ron de Wit, Annabelle Maes, Mero Lam and Frans Van Den Berg awaiting the result of the Tea Tasting competition
The Tea Championships are a culmination of several years of work by ESTA in encouraging tea professionals to compete to improve their skills and passion for speciality tea, as well as in a fun way promoting the popularity of matcha in the coffee shop sector.
Tea Tasting Competitors preparing
The Tea Tasting Competition on the face of it is quite simple, the competitors have to taste a series of teas in a triangular formation and pick the odd one out. Sounds easy, but the difference is often so subtle that it takes really high sensory skills to taste the difference.
So, congratulations and well done to Frans van den Berg of Barista Brothers for winning a tough competition, having earlier qualified in the ACF25 Open.
Frans van den Berg
Matcha Latte Art Championship
Caitlin McArdle
Caitlin McArdle also qualified through the ACF25 open championship to become ESTA’s first ever European Matcha Latte Art Champion combining matcha whisking skills with latte art creativity to produce a beautiful cup of matcha latte. This drink is becoming more and more popular in café bars and coffee shops across Europe and we like to think that the ESTA competition which is now in its fourth year has played a part in that.
ESTA would like to thank the Amsterdam Coffee Festival for hosting our Championships, Wendelien van Bunnik for compering the competitions, Annabelle Maes and Annemarie Tiemes for their organisational skills, all of the volunteers for their hard work and our sponsors Brita Water Filters, Alpro, Hario, Kaori Tea and Spices and Mount Everest Tea for making it all possible.
The 2025 edition of Horecava in Amsterdam was a successful one for the ESTA Benelux Chapter as they hosted the Matcha Latte Art and Tea Tasting competitions, supported by Speciality Coffee Association and sponsored by BRITA.
The winners of the two competitions will go on to represent Netherlands in the European Finals to be held later in the year.
Willem Huisman of Brita presented winner Ron de Wit and the runners up with their trophies and prizes.