International Coffee and Tea Festival introduces All Stars event

The International Coffee and Tea Festival (ICTF) is bringing four of the world's best baristas, brewers and latte artists to the United Arab Emirate to participate in the World Coffee Events’ All Stars activity, in Dubai, from 12 – 14 November. Barista Champions Hidenori Izaki, Stefanos Domatiotis, Christos Loukakis, and Gwilym Davies will display their coffee-making skills, demonstrate their winning competition performances, join coffee talk show interviews and compete in pop quiz contests. “We are extremely happy and privileged to host All Stars in association with World Coffee Events at the sixth edition of ICTF this year,” said Ryan Godinho, UAE's National Body Liaison for World Coffee Events and Special Events Coordinator. “This is the first time in the history of the show that we are introducing the 'All Stars' activity as part of our move to further engage the local coffee community and build a lasting relationship with our target market.” Izaki bagged the top prize at the current 2014 World Barista Championship (WBC), while Davies was declared the 2009 World Barista Champion. Domatiotis holds the 2014 World Brewers Cup Championship Title and his best friend and co-worker Loukakis was a 2011 World Latte Art Champion. Supported by World Coffee Events and the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), ICTF will also host the region's only SCAA-certified coffee training. Along with the training sessions, the yearly National Coffee Championships, which include the UAE National Barista Championship and the UAE National Latte Art Championship will be held at the event. This year the ICTF will also launch the first National Cezve/Ibrik Championship. Godinho said this is just the beginning of new entertaining activities to be introduced to ICTF in the coming years. Pictured: Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum accompanied by the Crown Prince of Dubai, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, visit the 2013 edition of the International Coffee & Tea Festival.