Bewley’s Barista Gary Hollywood has been crowned the Irish Aeropress Champion, beating off tough competition from 24 other top baristas from across the country at the Irish Aeropress Championships. Gary will now go on to represent Ireland at the World Aeropress Championships which will also be held in Dublin this June.

The final round saw the top three baristas on the night brewing up one cup of filter coffee to serve to the three judges. Each competitor was tasked with brewing their cup using the same coffee to come up with a winning recipe. Their creations were judged for aroma, flavour, balance and aftertaste.

Gary Hollywood said, “I’m over the moon to have been named Irish Aeropress Champion and I’m glad all the training with my colleagues in Bewley’s paid off. I practiced using various recipes altering amount of coffee, which grind setting I used, how much water I used and temperature of the water. After a few tries I landed on the perfect recipe and that’s what I served the judges. There was some really tough competition from finalists across Ireland and it really highlights how the Irish coffee scene is thriving.”

Mark Saunders, Brand Director at Bewley’s said, “We are all absolutely delighted with Gary’s win. It’s a fantastic result that underlines the expertise of our baristas in serving up the very best speciality coffee.

“We now have the Irish Aeropress Champion, the Irish Cupping Champion and the Irish Latte Art Champion at Bewley’s and we are very proud of their achievements. Gary will now go ahead to represent Ireland against 50 other national champions at the World Aeropress Championships and we look forward to cheering him on.”