Community is important for our team at Acaia. Every year, as part of our community support, we sponsor various local & international industry events and barista competitors.
Outside of coffee, I love wine, cocktails, niche perfume, and anything related to taste and smell.
Why did you decide to enter coffee competitions?
How was your experience during the competition? Did you have a theme to your routine? How did you build it?
As for themes, I always try to pick a personal theme. For the Brewers Cup, I used the theme of Champagne + blending. As someone who lives in the region, I felt it was nice to tie the parallel between the two things I love: coffee and champagne. As for CIGS, I focused on my journey in appreciating cocktails. I told a story of a moment of nostalgia, where a drink transported me back in time. I hoped to reproduce the same experience for my judges.
How did you use your sponsored Acaia products?
We offer barista sponsorships to support and encourage a more diverse lineup of competitors. There are many obstacles for competing baristas on both the national and international levels. We hope the program will help them on their journey and achieve their goals on a more equal world stage. Charity Cheung won the French National Brewers Coffee Championships this year.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Please introduce yourself.
I'm Charity, the co-founder of Moklair Coffee Roasters in the Champagne region of France. I've been working in the coffee industry for 3.5 years now! After graduating with a Masters in Public Policy, I realized I was no longer passionate about working in politics. I decided to focus on what I love: coffee.
Outside of coffee, I love wine, cocktails, niche perfume, and anything related to taste and smell.
Why did you decide to enter coffee competitions?
I wanted to learn as much as possible, meet people, and challenge myself to do something that scared me.
How was your experience during the competition? Did you have a theme to your routine? How did you build it?
It was great. I have been competing since 2022 when I won my first French Brewers Cup. Ever since I've been pushing myself to go back and work harder. This year, I won the French Brewers Cup again. I competed for CIGS (Coffee in Good Spirits) to challenge myself even more. With the support of many people, we won that as well.
As for themes, I always try to pick a personal theme. For the Brewers Cup, I used the theme of Champagne + blending. As someone who lives in the region, I felt it was nice to tie the parallel between the two things I love: coffee and champagne. As for CIGS, I focused on my journey in appreciating cocktails. I told a story of a moment of nostalgia, where a drink transported me back in time. I hoped to reproduce the same experience for my judges.
What are your thoughts after competing? Will you compete again and will it be in the same competition?
I probably won't compete again for the Brewers Cup! Despite the fantastic experience, I feel like I have achieved what I wanted, and the debrief with the judges from this year's final panel has been a hard one to swallow.
How did you use your sponsored Acaia products?
My three black Pearls were there for my whole journey. I used them for my open service, compulsory, backstage, and training. I haven't used another scale for competition, and I don't think that I ever will. The Pearls are beautiful, super precise, and easy to use.
What's coming up next in your journey with coffee?
What's coming up next in my journey? Be a pilot, let's say.
Thank you for the interview, Charity!