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I magine reading this in the news: an Aus-

tralian barista competing for the Nation-
als for the past seven years persevered
to finally win the World Barista Cham-
pionship (WBC). Come to think of it, it has also been
seven years since an Australian has won the WBC, the
last being Sasa Sestic in 2015. Anthony persisting for
years with one goal in mind is the epitome of what
champions are made up of. If that isn’t inspiring then
I don’t know what is.
Anthony was crowned the champion last month in
Melbourne and the first to lift the accolade at a home-
run event. This was his first time competing at the world
level, but no stranger to competing in the Australian
Coffee Championship for the past seven years, which
according to him, was a hard bridge to cross.
He was in awe of his fellow competitors, some of
whom were an inspiration to him watching them compete
on the big stage over the years. He felt grateful to be
sharing the stage with them, and at the same time really
confident of his presentation and knew it was spot on.
The theme of his routine was based on “trust”. The
trust that we consumers often place on baristas to have
an experience worth remembering. This is something
he is obsessed about and is very close to his heart—
Anthony’s words—not mine. His core focus remains on
upskilling in the barista category and his drive to serve
with a passion.
The fact that someone like Anthony realizes that
you can never know enough was really humbling to hear.
He is very meticulous in his approach, very structured,
and it doesn’t come as a surprise that he understands
and enjoys the art of learning. Undoubtedly, his team
at Axil Coffee Roasters had a big role to play. He was
mentored by David Makin, coached by Jack Simpson,
and his coffee was roasted by Matt Crowley.
Throughout the interview I was thinking of a quote
from Robin Sharma, “mastery begins with humility.” In
this interview, we speak about Anthony’s routine at the The fact that someone like Anthony
WBC expanding on the four key decisions he presented
to the judges, the talk of the town—cryodessicated milk, realizes that you can never know
the most important skill to develop for baristas, and his
plans going forward. enough was really humbling to hear.

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