NZ AeroPress 2025
WHAT IS THE AEROPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP?
The Aeropress Championship is a competition is an annual event that focusses around the brewer that we all know and love, the AeroPress. This beloved brewer has been well used for everyday drinking, brewing at work as well as in the specialty cafe environment.
The AeroPress is a unique coffee brewer originally invented by Alan Adler in 2005. His goal was to develop a simple, fast and flavour rich way of brewing coffee. The brewer has gained a cult following over the years, so much so that in 2008 a new competition was born. The World AeroPress Championship (WAC) began in Olso, Norway at Tim Wendelboe’s. This was always held as a friendly competition and casual event to have fun and brew great coffee.
HOW THE COMPETITION WORKS
Competitors that have registered are sent a bag of the competition coffee, with no information on what it is, they will then work with the coffee and develop a recipe to get the most out of it. Competitors can use their own AeroPress, water make-up, and accessories (as long as they are official AeroPress accessories, excluding kettles and carafes).
Competitors will have time backstage to prepare themselves, before making their way on stage for their main brew. 3 competitors will brew side-by-side before handing their cups off to be tasted by the 3 judges. After tasting the coffee, the emcee will ask the judges to pick their favourite cup, the one with the most spoons out of the 3 is declared the winner.
NZ AEROPRESS COMPETITION
In New Zealand our local AeroPress Competition (NZAC) began in 2014 and has been hosted by a number of local companies. This continued until 2016 where the competition was halted where the undertaking and costs of the event were seen as too much for the brands to offer. All was quiet until ACME Cup Co. in Wellington stepped forward and reignited the beloved annual event from the ashes.
The NZAC was back on and hosted at ACME Prefab Hall at the end of July. Tickets sold out immediately, the community was hungry for such an event. A substantial number of the competitors flew into Wellington specifically for the event. With recipes in hand, a host and a large list of enthusiastic sponsors (including us as one of them), we were ready for an evening of laughs, friends, new faces and tasty brews.
OUR EXPERIENCE AT NZAC
We put Kaffelogic forward as one of the sponsors of the event and put up a Nano 7 for the winner of the night. We had a smooth time with preparation and it was a seamless experience thanks to the meticulous team at ACME. We sent down our inventor Chris Hilder to judge, and Sean Ellis to assist and support.
As the crowds began to pool in Chris got his briefing and got to meet his fellow judges. Chris had been practising tasting with some fun in-house coffee throwdowns at the factory. He was nervous, but feeling ready. The competitors got briefed soon after, Frank (of Franks Coffee) had prepared what we found out to be the Maragesha, the same coffee that Honoka used to place 4th in the World Barista Championship in 2024. A treat indeed.
Names were drawn out of the hat and the roster was created. Those up first began their preparations. Chris and the other judges gathered themselves, spoons at the ready. The brewers made their way on stage. After an evening of anticipation and nerves, we were underway. There were a multitude of recipes, endless variations between competitors all brewing the same coffee with the same brewing. They all tasted vastly different. After the timer ended, their cups were gathered and brought to the judging table. Sip after sip the judges tasted, eventually being asked to step back. They were asked which their favourite was and on the count of 3-2-1, point! We had our first winner of the evening to advance to the next round.
This continued on into the night, along with catchups with friends and new friends. It was a fantastic experience and one that we would love to see come back year after year. We can’t wait until the next one! A huge congratulations to Javiera, you absolutely crushed it! We cannot thank the team at ACME enough for having us be a part of this event and we hope to return next year.
