Join us as we kick off our inaugural tournament featuring eight highly caffeinated competitors. The action will be heated and the pressure intense, as they engage in furious battle to decide who will reign supreme.
Meet the Contestants
Our contestants have travelled here from all corners of the world, from Southeast Asia to East Africa to Central and South America. They have covered vast distances across challenging terrain to join us today. Let’s give them a rousing welcome:
- Crystal Ball: This internationally diverse team with members from El Salvador, Sumatra and Rwanda sports an intensity of 8 and expresses flavour notes of red apple, starfruit and butterscotch.
- El Salvador: Not to be outdone, this single-origin representative from the farm of Las Brumas near the city of Santa Ana comes out fighting with an intensity of 7 and notes of nougat, honey and toffee.
- Dream Factory: Hailing from the volcanic island of Sumatra and jungle terrain of Rwanda, this cross-continent contingent shines with an intensity of 9 and dreamy notes of apricot and cinnamon with a smoky aftertaste.
- Colombia: The Echaverria family from Finca La Camelia has sent its number one and intensity 10 fighter to defend their honour using traditional techniques that exhibit hints of malt and red cherry with a velvety finish.
- Brazil: Joining their South American neighbour, the team from Sul de Minas has made the long trek down from the highlands. With an intensity of 9, it aims to take home the crown with its nutty and buttery cocoa flavour.
- Lightning Bolt: A breakaway faction from Brazil has joined their Amazonian brothers from Peru to create this electrifying intensity 11 team packing smooth and fruity flavours of lychee and peach.
- Bold As Love: Distance couldn’t keep these two tag-team partners from Brazil and Sumatra apart and their passionate intensity 12 training has resulted in bold and silky notes of chocolate and caramel.
- Sumatra: Finally, from the volcanic slopes of Mount Leuser near the Port of Padang comes our Southeast Asian contestant with an intensity of 12, exuding full-bodied earthy notes of cedar and spice.
Competition Rules
This single-elimination tournament will pit two coffees each time in brutal head-to-head knockout matches. The winner gets to progress to the next round, and the loser is forced to go home with extreme regret.
To ensure a level playing field, each latte will be made with two capsules using a Nespresso Creatista Plus machine at the standard Espresso setting. Meiji 4.3 Deluxe Milk will be steamed using the same machine with 100gm added to each cup.
(Disclaimer: No latte art was harmed during the course of this competition)
Tournament Bracket
Each quarterfinal match will bring together two teams of equal or similar intensities, with a single-origin going up against a blend. There are no loser brackets and a loss results in immediate elimination.
Now that we’ve gotten the preliminaries out of the way, it’s time to start the competition.
Round One. Fight!
Quarterfinal 1: Crystal Ball vs El Salvador
Crystal Ball comes out swinging with probing punches of chocolate and biscuit, keeping El Salvador on the ropes and struggling to survive. The mild El Salvador manages to get in some jabs of caramel but is no match for Crystal Ball, who manages to deliver a knock-out blow.
Winner: Crystal Ball!
Quarterfinal 2: Dream Factory vs Brazil
Dream Factory starts out strong with an onslaught of bitter flavour, but is no match for Brazil’s complex footwork with floral and caramel notes. The powerful but easy-to-read jabs by Dream Factory is unable to overcome the agility of Brazil and they are soon counted out.
Winner: Brazil!
Quarterfinal 3: Colombia vs Lightning Bolt
So far, the fights have been one-sided and the victories have been decisive. But the cautious maneuvers between our two equally-matched contestants has resulted in a very cagey confrontation.
Each chocolate and strawberry punch from Columbia is met with similarly floral counter-attacks. The match goes the full distance, and the judges are forced to make a difficult decision with the verdict going to the South American.
Winner: Colombia! But only just barely.
Quarterfinal 4: Bold As Love vs Sumatra
Our last quarterfinal is equally exciting, with two heavyweights facing off each other. The robust and direct fighting style of Sumatra is countered by the flowing footwork of Bold As Love.
Sumatra stands firm with a balanced stance and throws direct hits laced with an acidic afternote, while Bold As Love uses fluid chocolatey movements to land punches spiked with mild pleasantly bitter notes. Again, this match goes to the judges to decide.
Winner: Bold As Love! By a split decision.
Tournament Semifinals
After a grueling quarterfinal round, here’s where our competitors stand as we enter into the semifinals. The international team of Crystal Ball will meet the single-origin Brazil, and Colombia will meet Bold As Love with both coming off energy-sapping fights that went the distance.
But there’s no rest for the weary, and our survivors must banish their fatigue, summon their inner strength and head back into battle.
Round Two. Fight!
Semifinal 1: Crystal Ball vs Brazil
Sticking to the same tactic that helped them advance, Crystal Ball takes the initiative with one-two punches packed with a robust caramel flavour. Brazil skillfully dodges with its lightning fast reflexes and launches smooth and fluid counter-attacks.
Crystal Ball is unable to sustain its powerful but energy-draining attacks and is gradually worn down by the constant pressure from its persistent opponent. The outcome is obvious by the second round, and Brazil manages a convincing win.
Winner: Brazil!
Semifinal 2: Colombia vs Bold As Love
After the bell rings to signal the start of the bout, both Colombia and Bold As Love circle each other carefully with neither making the first move. This continues for a few long-drawn minutes until the umpire issues a yellow card to both parties, warning them to start fighting or risk being disqualified.
This triggers an immediate flurry of bold and robust punches by Bold As Love, while are skillfully defended by the fluid and almost taichi-like movements of Colombia. But the continued onslaught is too much for Colombia to bear and it ultimately succumbs to the overwhelming aggression.
Winner: Bold As Love!
Tournament Final
What an exciting week it has been, with non-stop action and twists-and-turns by our world-class fighters! The excitement has reached its peak as we eagerly await the face-off between our two worthy finalists.
Final: Brazil vs Bold As Love
Brazil continues to rely on its cat-like agility that opponents have struggled to overcome. “Float like a butterfly” has been the strategy that Brazil has adopted throughout its illustrious career. Today is no exception, as it deftly and swiftly moves around the ring.
Bold As Love, on the other hand, has decided to completely change up their tactics and throw caution to the wind. Fighting aggressively but skillfully, they manage to breach the previously unbreachable Brazilian barrier to land punch after punch, ending the competition with a beautiful knock-out blow.
Winner: Bold As Love!
And there we have it folks, Bold As Love is our newly crowned champion of the Jewel Coffee Nespresso capsule tournament (Latte edition).
As we end our broadcast, here’s a lookback at all the exciting match-ups that we’ve witnessed this week, featuring Bold As Love’s journey to Latte dominance. Join us next time as our competitors battle it out for Americano supremacy.
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