Newcastle Barista is cream of the Costa crop in the North

A Newcastle barista is officially the best barista in the North of the UK after winning Costa’s Barista of the Year 2013 regional heat. Rob Herald, who works at Costa in Market Street, Newcastle, created Espressos, Lattes, Cappuccinos, Flat White Coffees and his own speciality drink to wow the judges and win the North heat, which took place at the Costa Academy in Edinburgh. He will now compete against other regional finalist winners in the Champion of Champion Finals in London next month in a bid to be crowned the best Costa barista in the world. The 27 year old barista from Newcastle city centre, who has worked in the Market Street shop for the past three years, not only demonstrated his coffee making skills by creating a variety of perfect coffees but he also created his own drink, the Cocoa Hot Shot, after being inspired by The Costa Foundation’s work with coffee-growing communities in South America. The Cocoa Hot Shot contains a small shot of South American Ristretto coffee with milk, chilli and cocoa powder. Rob said of his regional triumph: “I’m really shocked to have won the North heat – it was a fantastic experience and I met some excellent baristas who created their drinks to incredibly high standards. It was a challenging but rewarding day and I’m overwhelmed to have reached the final stage. “I’m very much looking forward to heading down to London to meet the other finalists, and I’m also going to be thinking of ways that I can expand on the formula for my Cocoa Hot Shot.” The Champion of Champions Finals will be held at Vinopolis in London on 23 October. If Rob is crowned the champion he will win a ten-day trip for two with spending money to a country of his choice with a Costa connection. The Costa Barista of the Year competition first launched in the UK in 2006. It operates on a global scale where contestants from all of Costa’s 28 international markets can compete for the ‘Champion of Champions’ title. Previous Barista of the Year finalists including 2012 finalists Rob Pound and Victoria Stewart have helped to influence future Costa drink ranges working alongside Costa’s drinks innovation team to develop the Chocolate & Orange Mocha Latte drink, launching this September.