Hello, my name is Muhammad Ilham Jivaresta and I am Binusian 2024 with a Student ID 2440053081. I am a 5th Semester Student in Business Hotel Management Major at Binus Bekasi, and I will tell my story about my first Competition in my Coffee Journey. At SIAL Interfood Expo there was a Coffee Competition name Indonesia Coffee Art Battle (ICAB) that was held by the same event organizer Krista Exhibition that held SIAL Interfood Indonesia, this Competition has been running for 4th Years

First I knew about SIAL Interfood because I helped my girlfriend Helvira Maharani who was participating in a cooking competition at this event, after I helped her, I was given a Flyer on November 5 2022 by my friend who is an alumnus of Binus about this event that SIAL Interfood has a Coffee competition with the category Manual Brewing, after that I immediately gave this flyer to Ms. Rachel and tell her that I wanted to take part in this competition.

After I received the news that I was allowed to take part in this competition, I was immediately excited to find out and practice how to make good coffee, but after I registered, there were problems with the event organizer because they gave little information about the competition that I would be running. , like they said the equipment would be provided by them but they didn’t provide the brands and equipment that would be provided, that some rules were also not clearly written by the Event Organizer, so I did the exercises blindly and followed what I had learned myself and I got from the Cafe and Bar course in my 3rd semester.

Jiva practice at the CoffeeShop Lab Business Hotel management Bekasi

The problem created by the event organizer made me confused and asked about a mentor who would teach me, but there really wasn’t an official mentor who taught me from Binus, so I looked for a method from YouTube and asked my friend how to do the competition, and In the end, I bought equipment such as paper filters from a sponsor brand that I had never tried and coffee beans from the sponsor that sponsored my competition, so I would know how the roasting profile of the sponsor’s roastery was.

When I practice, I always come to the Lab and invite my friends and girlfriend to try my brew, by looking for a good recipe when I try the paper filter that I just tried, because this new paper filter has a slower flow rate than paper filter which I usually try, which makes my coffee often over extract with the recipe I have. My friends and girlfriends always give me feedback on every recipe change I make, and I make them on the 6th, 7th and 8th of November every day.

Until finally I felt surrendered to this competition because I had a dead end from the recipe and technique that I was doing, and that resulted in my mentality not being enthusiastic about this competition again, until finally on November 9, 2022, I came to SIAL Interfood to accompany my girlfriend to follow the competition. While there, I focused on accompanying my boyfriend to take part in the race until I couldn’t think about how my race would be tomorrow, November 10, 2022, and while I was accompanying my girlfriend, I came to the stage where I would be competing and re-registered to feel the vibes from that stage. where I will take part in the race there, until finally I finish accompanying my friend to the race and go home at 8 pm.

On the night I was going to take part in the competition, I was confused about doing the exercises that night until finally, my friend who told me about this competition came to my apartment to help me do the exercises and give me input that was useful for me, I did the exercises from the clock 9 pm to 2 am to get the recipe and find out the character of the coffee that I will brew tomorrow, and during practice, I get a lot of support from my friends and my girlfriend and my friend who is a Binus alumnus who helps me in my race practice tomorrow.

And the next day I came at 6 am to JIEXPO Kemayoran where SIAL Interfood will be held on November 10 where my competition will take place, I saw and came to the stage I was accompanied by my best friend and girlfriend when I was doing the competition, there I tried to analyse the equipment provided with what I did during practice yesterday and continued until the preliminaries race started. At that time a random pick was made of 24 participants in a battle between 2 people and they were eliminated if they lost, in the first round I got 4th place to appear.

When it was my turn in the preliminary round I was contested by someone and advanced to the seat that had been provided, when I advanced to that seat, I felt doubtful and afraid of the performance and results I would get, but in this round, I was grateful because my opponent in this round didn’t come and I won the preliminary round by reason of the opponent walking out, and at that time the atmosphere on the stage and the chairs became warm and full of laughter because I didn’t believe that I could continue in the round of 16 in this way, so I have started to calm down and ready for the next round. Before I started the match, I also bought water that I would use at Indomaret at JIEXPO and I bought only 2 bottles because I wasn’t sure I would continue until the final, to the point that my girlfriend and best friend scolded me for being pessimistic there.

Jiva at the competition

After I entered the next round, I waited for the Big 16 round to start by brewing Kerinci coffee beans which were processed naturally in that round, I already felt I would win because I already knew the character of the Coffee Beans with my recipe which used 1:16 with temperature 91C and 18 coffee beans with 3 pours in the first pour of 30gr and the second pour of 130gr and the last one was 280gr, and when the competition started at 13.00 WIB, I stepped forward and was faced with my opponent who is a barista who works at a cafe in Alam Sutera for 2 years. As I progressed, I felt scared and nervous until I spilled a little water from my kettle, and when I brewed coffee on the stage, I did it seriously and thought I was brewing for the people I consider important at Cafe Behome which is usually I do, I set my workflow so that it takes no more than 7 minutes to brew this coffee.

When I brewed it I took it seriously until my coffee was finished, and when I tried it before it was given to the jury, I felt I would fail because I thought my coffee was too bitter and more than what I usually drink, and finally I felt resigned and I wasn’t sure about my results, until finally when the jury judged the results of my brew and my opponent’s, I didn’t dare to see and hear the results that the MC would talk about, and when I heard my name being called, I immediately felt disbelief and was shocked. it was full of weirdness and happiness, and I was immediately uneasy because I meant to go to the next round of brewing Toraja Coffee.

After that, my friend immediately calmed me down because in the second half my girlfriend was on other business, and I immediately got some fresh air and bought water that I would use next, and at that time my friend and my best friend convinced me that I was able to get to the finals.

During the top 8 round by brewing Toraja coffee, participants were given knowledge about the coffee to be brewed, by trying the coffee cupping, and I found out the taste I would get with the recipe and the variables I would do, then I discussed with my friends how I going to brew this coffee, and they said to do your best and just do what I usually do. At that moment my name and that of my opponent were finally called, and I was up against a barista who had participated in many national coffee competitions for years. When I heard that, I felt that could I do and beat him? and finally I appeared on stage to brew coffee. the. When I brewed the coffee, I looked for and made coffee by increasing the temperature variable and the pouring technique which was slightly slowed down on the second pouring, to aim for the sweet taste of the coffee. by increasing the temperature to 92 Degrees Celsius, I finally finished brewing and tried it, but I felt a little astringent from the coffee that I was brewing even though the taste that came out really stood out from the taste that I cupped it, until I gave up on the results because I didn’t like the taste of coffee which I brewed.

And during the judging, I was afraid to hear the result of my brew and my opponent’s, until I said we should end this round and go home empty-handed, but when the MC named the winner in the round with a score of 3-0, I was so shocked that my name that was called at that time, my friend, best friend and girlfriend, were very proud and happy when this was announced, and at that point, I knew I could make good coffee and I had the right to fight and know the values I have.

In the end, I entered the quarter-finals and the top 4 of the match, and I would brew the Kerinci coffee beans that I had brewed before, and I was paired with the Barista who worked at the Cafe who won 1st place in Indonesia this year when I appeared I felt confident myself because I brewed these coffee beans before, but at that time I did exactly what I did before, and until finally the announcement in that round, I lost and entered the Final Lower bracket, I was confused about what was wrong with my brew at that time. at that time, and after I continued to the Lower Bracket Final, I immediately played again with only 15 minutes of rest from the round I did, and this round was the 3rd and 4th place in this competition. In this lower bracket final round, I brewed the same coffee, namely Kerinci Natural, and I did the same thing again, but I raised my temperature slightly to 91 degrees which was 90 degrees before, and finally, the announcement was made in that round, and I lost and got 4th place.

Jiva got the 4rd place at the competition

At that time I was sad and disappointed in what made me lose. and finally, I got the anomaly and the reason why I lost at that time, knowing that when I brewed in those two rounds, the air conditioner on that stage felt colder which made my brewing temperature drop quickly because I made the temperature I was using tight and it went down quickly so that the temperature of my coffee was under-extracted, and at that time I should have dared to raise the temperature by 95 degrees Celsius but at that stage, I didn’t dare for fear of burning the coffee that I was brewing.

But that happened only briefly and when I found out why I lost, my girlfriend and friends supported and supported me well and celebrated my position as 4th place and managed to become 4th place out of 24 other participants who are experienced baristas, and I am a first-year student. the only one who doesn’t have experience as a barista and got 4th place, and finally I’m grateful I got that position it proves I can and I’m capable of doing more than just a hobby to produce 4th place in this coffee competition.

And in the end, I couldn’t get the position I got if there was no support from the Binus Business Hotel Management who helped me to take part in this competition and the materials they helped with, as well as my friends and girlfriend who helped convince me to take part in this competition, and also Ms. Rachel and Chef Nurul, believe in what I will do, and also the people who are my customers while I am at Behome Cafe to try the brews and coffee that I make which make me believe and believe in trying to do a competition to test how good I am. I have so much ability, and thanks to Sir Agung Gita who always asks me to make coffee and evaluate the coffee I make, and Sir Ganang who introduces coffee to me and teaches me the basics.

Until finally I got a trophy and got a prize from the competition as well as the lessons I got,

“By testing what we can and daring to get out of our comfort zone, we will get experience and lessons that we won’t get from only just reading books”.

Jiva served coffee for Prof. Meyliana at Business Hotel Management Bekasi

Thank you,

Muhammad Ilham Jivaresta – 2440053081