First UAE National Aeropress coffee championship

The first UAE National Aeropress Championship will take place in Dubai on March 19, 2016.

The competition, which is open to all, challenges participants to make a winning cup of coffee using only coffee, water, and an Aeropress as the method of making the coffee.

The Aeropress is a coffee making apparatus (created by the inventor of the Aerobie Flying Disk), which uses infusion and pressure to extract flavour from the coffee.

National Aeropress competitions currently take place in 35 countries around the world. 2016 is expected to see a total of nearly 1,000 global competitors participating in their respective countries.

The first UAE competition has been organised by Dubai-based specialty coffee boutique Mokha 1450, and will take place at Dubai Coffee Museum, in the Al Fahidi District of Dubai.

All participants will be required to use the coffee supplied by the organisers, to ensure the competition is a fair test of technique.

The winner of the national championships on March 19 will go on to compete in the World Aeropress Championship, taking place in Dublin on June 23, 2016. The UAE champion will be flown, expenses paid, to the competition in Ireland.

Commenting on the Aeropress championships, competition organiser and Mokha 1450 co-founder and MD Garfield Kerr said: “We are very excited to be organizing the UAE’s First National AeroPress Coffee Competition.

“Any forum that brings the region's baristas together so they can share knowledge and learn, we will continue to support.”

A number of local companies are involved in the event as sponsors and organisers, including Brew Bar, Brewing Gadgets, Deshabita, Dubai Coffee Museum, Easternmen & Co, Mokha 1450, RAW Coffee Company, Taqado and The Barn.