They greet you with a smile, they juggle a dozen orders at a time and still manage to brew you a great cuppa to kick-start your morning or close out your day.
Now's your chance to call out your favourite barista from the Qantas Business Lounge or Qantas Club as part of the airline's quest to find its best barista.
The Barista of the Year competition, run by Qantas and its lounge coffee supplier Vittoria, will see each barista serving a total of eight different types of coffee – including an espresso, a short macchiato, cappuccino and a latte – to be assessed by two 'sensory judges' and one 'technical judge'.
The criteria include the correct volume and ratio for each type of coffee, the quality of crema/milk, taste and balance, presentation and service.
The winning barista from each state will be crowned as Head Barista for their lounge, Qantas says, while state finalists will also compete in the national final held at the Vittoria Coffee College in Sydney on June 16, 2015.
Travellers can also vote for a barista in the 'People’s Choice' category via Qantas' Instagram account, by taking a snap of their coffee and including the barista's name, then tagging it #QantasxVittoria.
As a side note, Qantas grinds its way through some 20 tonnes of Vittoria coffee beans every year for customers travelling across its domestic network.
So yes, your coffee may be just a drop in the bucket – but it's important to you, and so is the barista who pours it, so be sure to cast your vote!
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 Apr 2013
Total posts 143
Seriously... ANY barista who can make a decent cup from Vittoria (or Grinders... looking at you VA), deserves an award.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Mar 2014
Total posts 567
Couldn't agree more. Anyone who doesn't understand how bad vittoria is, is in no position to comment or judge on coffee. That's a fact all you arrow down clickers!
This is such a low hanging cherry for a lounge. Bring in actual barrista's with property coffee beans and run it like a cafe. People make buying choices based on good coffee and Australia's collective coffee literacy is improving constantly. I leave 10 minutes earlier and grab a good coffee on the way to the lounge. You can't get anything that remotely resembles a good coffee anywhere in Sydney airport. Yet a commercial supply come joint marketing arrangement with vittoria, aimed at tricking us into thinking it's good coffee, is chosen instead.
We're not fools, bring in some tattooed, bearded hipsters with attitude and good brew!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 Apr 2013
Total posts 143
God bless those hipsters. They're good for something.
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