Baristas show off their skills in last day of national competition
Coffee aromatics filled the Oliver Exchange Building 2 Sunday as the 2025 Canadian Barista Championships wrapped up its final day of a three-day competition.
Eighteen competitors from across the country – including five hometown heroes – were pulling espresso shots and steaming milk in hopes of claiming the top prize.
The winner of the championship will have the chance to compete in Milan, Italy for the World Barista Championship in October.
Santiago Lopez, a competitor and co-owner of the Colombian Coffee Bar and Roastery, said the event helps move the industry forward.
'We get to showcase the quality of coffee that we have in the city, and its good to just showcase the city in general,' Lopez told CTV News Edmonton.
'Over the last 10 years, the industry in Edmonton has really evolved … and now we have a bunch of different, good coffee roasters and people that really appreciate coffee.'
He said people are treating coffee as part of their morning ritual, rather than a commodity.
Each competitor was required to complete a 15-minute 'performance,' preparing four espressos, four milk-based drinks and four unique signature beverages. Every performance was evaluated by a panel of 34 judges.
But Lopez said the event wasn't just a competition.
'The intent for us all is to show other people in coffee, in the city, that we can get to higher levels, that we can push each other, that we're not in competition, that we're collaborators,' said Lopez. 'I think this tells everybody that we need to come together as a community to grow the industry in this city.'
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Tariff troubles for home builders
As CBC's Andrea Huncar reports, the trade war with the U.S. is slowing Edmonton's much needed home-building efforts.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Majority of Canadians support Palestine recognition even if Trump objects amid trade dispute: survey
A new Angus Reid Institute survey reveals that a majority of Canadians support recognizing Palestine as a state even if it complicates negotiations with the U.S. That support comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on July 30 that Canada will recognize Palestine as an independent state in September. Despite warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said Canada's stance could make a trade deal 'very hard' to achieve, 63 per cent of survey respondents say that Canada should go forth with the recognition even if Trump objects. The public sentiment unfolds against a backdrop of escalating trade talks between Canada and the U.S., triggered by a Trump-imposed 35 per cent tariff on Canadian imports not covered by CUSMA. Canadians who support Carney's decision outweigh 20 per cent of Canadians who think the nation should reverse course to safeguard trade relations. Another 17 per cent of respondents were unsure. Canadians double down on tariffs Meanwhile, public backing for Carney's tougher negotiation strategy is strengthening. According to the poll, nearly seven in 10 now support a 'hardball' approach to talks, preferring retaliatory tariffs even if they risk financial hardship at home. That figure rose from 63 per cent in July to 69 per cent in August. Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians also say the country should match the U.S. dollar-for-dollar on tariffs. Another eight per cent support a more measured tariff response, while just 18 per cent would prefer Canada hold back to avoid worsening the trade talks. Among those favouring tit-for-tat tariffs, the support holds firm. Nearly all in that group - 95 per cent - say Canada should stay the course even if it triggers another U.S. retaliation. About three-quarters, or 76 per cent, say the country should press on even if Canadians face higher prices or financial consequences at home. But as the trade battle drags on, Canadians are beginning to lose confidence in Ottawa's ability to manage it. While Carney's approval rating remains steady at 57 per cent, the number of Canadians who are unconfident in his negotiating team has now risen to 49 per cent, surpassing the 43 per cent who still express confidence. These numbers mark a shift from mid-July when Canadians were nearly evenly split - 46 per cent confident versus 45 per cent unconfident. Methodology The Angus Reid Institute (ARI) conducted an online survey from July 31 to Aug. 1, 2025, among a randomized sample of 1,333 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to region, gender, age, household income, and education, based on the Canadian census. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Scott Moe speaks out against AI-generated videos of him circulating online
Social Sharing Premier Scott Moe's face is a frequent sight on social media, but recently his likeness has been reported on dubious video ads for cryptocurrency schemes that he's never endorsed. The videos take Moe's voice and likeness, and use AI to produce a convincing video of him speaking. This is not the first time the premier's image has been used to advance fraudulent businesses. In March, Moe acknowledged similar schemes, which were using his face to sell cryptocurrency. On Aug. 1 Moe spoke out forcefully against the videos, and denied any affiliation with the websites mentioned in them. "I want to put it out there without question that when you see myself and quite likely any politician out there endorsing specific cryptocurrencies or things of that nature, that it likely and most certainly is a deepfake," he said. "You should just bypass it and move along. They're only there to hurt you." The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan (FCAA) issued a warning as well, advising people to not send money to entities that are not registered in the province. Under the 1988 Securities Act, individuals and companies need to be registered with the FCAA in order to trade or sell securities and other financial products in Saskatchewan. The FCAA has set up a website, to allow people to easily check the status of someone offering an investment. "Do not deal with any unregistered entities," said FCAA Securities Division Executive Director Dean Murrison. "Do not make investment decisions based on public figure endorsements." According to the FCAA, Scammers are creating fraudulent news and social media articles, commonly using deepfakes and other methods to imitate real media sources, including the CBC. LISTEN | What you should know about deepfake ads on social media: Anyone can be deep-faked in a scam ad. Even Ian Hanomansing 2 years ago Beyond verifying the investment entity, the FCAA encourages people to always seek a second opinion or seek professional advice about investments they see online. They should also never make an investment decision based on an endorsement from a notable figure. A global effort to fight deepfakes The rapid development of artificial intelligence tools has given fraudsters unprecedented new methods to develop fake videos of celebrities and politicians endorsing their products. Countries around the world are grappling with how to stay ahead of these scams. Denmark is considering a law that will allow people to copyright their digital likeness, allowing them to pursue civil cases if their likeness is used without their consent. Some AI observers are skeptical of that solution. Henry Ajder, an expert on deepfakes, says the copyright classification would compel people to proactively go after AI abusers, and not be able to rely on the government to police. "Copyright is treated as a civil right, not necessarily treated as criminal. So violating copyright is not something that the state is necessarily going to prosecute a perpetrator for," he said. "This is something that you would be expected to bring a civil case to." Nelson Godfrey, an intellectual property lawyer based in Vancouver, says its unlikely that Canada would follow the Danish route. "Trying to characterize someone's likeness as copyright is a bit of an odd fit. So to make it work within existing copyright legislation, certainly you'd need to figure out how ownership works, how authorship works, if there would be joint authorship or co-ownership of works," he said. "There's real complications when it comes to those things." Minister for Artificial Intelligence. The Ministry of Justice says it's working on criminalizing nonconsensual sexual deep fakes, which Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to while he was campaigning before the most recent federal election.
