It may have taken years of training, sacrifice and a return flight to Australia, but Indonesia has finally been represented at the World Barista Championships by Doddy Samsura of One-Fifteenth Coffee in Jakarta.

Indonesia'€™s arrival on the international stage comes at a time when newly established specialty cafes are gaining popularity throughout big cities like Jakarta, Bali, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

Beyond the Starbucks retail chains that shadow shopping malls, Indonesians are paying more attention to single origin coffees and alternative brewing methods.

'€œIt means a lot to represent Indonesia at the World Barista Championships here in Melbourne and to raise awareness of the emerging coffee scene in Indonesia,'€ said Doddy, who finished in 25th among 53 contenders at the prestigious international competition.

You might think that as the fourth largest coffee exporter in the world Indonesia would have a strong influence on the international stage, where industry accolades are presented and valuable trade partnerships formed. Strangely, it'€™s not. Until now, Indonesia'€™s voice has been absent.

'€œBy coming to this competition we wanted to say to the world don'€™t just treat Indonesia as robusta coffee exporters, we have great coffee available in this country'€, said Andrew Tang of Morph Coffee, who roasted Doddy'€™s competition coffee.

The World Championships, which have run annually since 2000, provide a platform for industry leaders to display their technical and sensory prowess while competing for boasting rights with other nations.

To have the opportunity to represent Indonesia, Doddy needed to claim victory in the Indonesian Barista Championships where more than 100 of the archipelagos most experienced coffee makers competed for the chance to represent their nation.

'€œI had to work really hard to get to the World Barista Championship,'€ said Doddy. '€œThe competition is becoming very serious in Indonesia'€.

Since forming in 2006, the Indonesian Barista Championships have had an important role in fostering the emerging specialty coffee scene and promoting a sense of artisan collaboration within Indonesia.

The Indonesian Championships were held in the five locations where the popularity of coffee culture has boomed in recent years; Bali, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandung and Jakarta. The champions of each city progressed to a national final with the winner crowned the Indonesian Barista Champion.

This year The Speciality Coffee Association of Indonesia sponsored the winner of the national competition to compete at the World Championships, which allows busy baristas and business owners like Doddy to take the
necessary time off work and develop their skills.

'€œAt these competitions I get to cherish my profession as a barista, cherish the coffee industry as a whole and learn more about coffee itself from others,'€ said Doddy.

The Association will also send the Indonesian runner up to compete at the 2014 Asia Pacific Barista Challenge
in Singapore and the third place competitor was sent to the ASEAN Barista competition in Thailand earlier this year.

At the World Championships in Melbourne, each competitor was required to prepare and serve four espresso coffees, four cappuccinos, and four signature beverages that test the barista'€™s creativity and combination of flavors. All this must be completed in less than fifteen minutes and matched to music.

For his espresso course, Doddy prepared coffee from a crop harvested by Classic Beans on the slopes of the Papandayan volcano in West Java where it was grown at an altitude of 1500 meters.

'€œWe were very lucky to have access to Classic Beans in Indonesia, who are raising the quality of green bean production in Indonesia while giving back to the farmers and educating the public,'€ said roaster Andrew Tang.

The Indonesian'€™s signature drink involved a lemon sponge flavored with the distinctive coffee of West Java.

Doddy told the panel of judges along with an audience of hundreds and circling media that it was an honor to showcase the coffee of his nation for the first time at the Championships. Following his performance, Doddy was quick to acknowledge the help of those who enabled him to compete in Melbourne, including his roaster who closed his business to travel in his support.

'€œI'€™ve got a great team behind me at One-Fifteen and the support of Morph Coffee. I'€™m also very lucky to have access to the coffee that I competed with,'€ he says.

Despite his gallant efforts, it was ultimately the American competitor Pete Licata from Kansas City who was crowned the 2013 World Barista Champion. It was a sweet victory for the American who was runner up in last year'€™s competition in Bogotá, Colombia.

Licata began his performance by focusing on the many people who affect our coffee before we ever get to taste it, including the farmer and the roaster. His signature drink was a chilled espresso shot of a Colombian '€œCup of
Excellence'€ coffee, served with palm sugar syrup, orange peel and lemongrass quinine.

Second place went to the Australian Matt Perger of St. Ali in Melbourne, who used a fine grinder to prepare a lightly roasted Colombian Finca Santuario coffee. In a risky and adventurous move, Perger asked the panel of judges to
assemble his signature drink themselves.

While Indonesia will hope to improve on its 25th position in future years, continuing to compete with world leaders will only increase competitive standards and awareness.

For now, the arrival of ambitious and talented Indonesians on the international stage has turned heads and points to a bright future for the emerging specialty coffee industry.

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