September 2nd, 2010 by Ken
The MBC and the Mexican Latte Art Championship (with berths on the line for the World Championships in Colombia in 2011) are underway today, and the Mexican Coffee Expo trade show floor opens up today too.
First up this morning were the first six competitors in the Latte Art Championship. Six more will compete tomorrow before the finals on Saturday.
Aquiles Gonzales Pereyra was the first competitor of the day.
Aurora Aleli Monero from Cafe Passmar pours her first drinks.
Perennial emcee Jose Arreola congratulates Aurora after her performance.
As it is the first latte art championship for Mexico, some kinks are still getting worked out in the system. One of the benefits for the SCAE-format for the competition is the immediate score tabulation and display to the competitors and audience, however, for this first round, scores are announced immediately following the next competitors performance.
Luis Mendez competes while Aurora waits for her scores.
The judges display Aurora's (terrific!) scores.
Remember, you can watch the competition live here: http://www.competenciamexicanadebaristas.com/Competencia_Mexicana_de_Baristas/En_Vivo.html
Hey, and while you’re watching or in between competitors don’t forget to take some time and work on your 3-5 minute video submission to win your free trip to the Barista Guild of America’s Camp Pull-A-Shot this October!
September 1st, 2010 by Ken
The Mexican Barista Championship and Mexican Latte Art Championship begin tomorrow.
The new round of national barista competitions for the 2011 World Barista Championship that began in July in Puerto Rico continues with the 9th Annual Mexican Barista Championship.
Looking north from the hotel, site of judges' training.
I arrived in Mexico City about one in the morning and awoke to a beautiful day. Today is a day of judges’ training and calibration for both the barista and latte art competitions.
Jose explains the score sheet to a volunteer judge.
The usual suspects, Mexico’s own Jose Arreola and Guatemala’s Rouki Delrue, are leading the judges’ training for the MBC, while Iceland’s Sonja Grant and Germany’s Steffen Schwarz are heading up the latte art calibration.
Also serving as judges are Allegro Coffee’s Mike Strumpf from Colorado and some fellow who goes by the name of Stephen Morrissey from Intelligentsia Chicago.
Mike, Stephen and Rouki discuss espressos served by last year's national champion Fabrizio.
Judges calibrate scoring in advance of tomorrow's competition.
Mike tastes Fabrizio's espresso as other judges write down their scores.
The competitions officially get underway tomorrow. They will both be held nearby at the convention center which is also hosting the largest specialty coffee show in Mexico. It will be an interesting time, so check back for updates as the competitions progress, and I will try to post as often as I can. Adios for now.
August 27th, 2010 by Sarah
We’ve been talking a lot about Camp Pull-A-Shot, the Barista Guild of America’s first annual retreat, which will take place October 18–21 at the beautiful El Capitan Canyon in Santa Barbara, California. This event—which will feature incredible educational opportunities for baristas of all skill levels, as well as the kind of merriment and commeraderie the barista community is known for—is a long time coming. Baristas have been asking for their own version of the Roasters Guild Retreat for many years, and now, here we have it.
Marcus Boni and the SCAA have been diligent in their efforts to keep costs down, and I, for one, am totally impressed at the final price-tag: $550 for BGA members, which includes your lodging and all meals and all educational seminars. Seriously, folks: I wouldn’t urge you to smash your piggybank or hound your boss for sponsorship unless I thought this event would be amazing and worthwhile. You’ve just got to be there.
One of the cabins at El Capitan, where Camp Pull-A-Shot takes place in October.
OK, OK I know there are some of you out there who are still having trouble finding the funds to go, and for you, we have something special: a chance to win an all-expenses paid scholarship to Camp Pull-A-Shot! That’s right: domestic airfare and registration to camp can be yours, thanks to the generosity of the BGA and Marcus.
We at Barista Magazine are handling the actual contest to see who wins this awesome scholarship—here’s how it works:
VIDEO COMPETITION FOR BGA CAMP SCHOLARSHIP
Enter to win an all expenses paid trip to Camp Pull-A-Shot, the Barista Guild of America’s first annual retreat. Submit a video (3 minutes maximum) telling us why you feel you deserve a scholarship to Camp Pull-A-Shot. Tell us why it’s important to you, what you hope to get out of the experience and how you hope Camp Pull-A-Shot can help you become a better barista and coffee professional.
Submit videos to sarah@baristamagazine.com from now through midnight October 1, 2010.
Videos will be posted (with editor’s discretion) on Barista Magazine’s Facebook page, our blog, Pasteboard (baristamagazine.com/blog), and on the Barista Guild of America’s blog. The contest winner will be determined by YOU—cast your vote at Barista Magazine’s Facebook page. All videos will be available for view in the days following October 1 for comprehensive viewing. This is going to be sweet!
August 27th, 2010 by Ken
Well, this guy might know what he's doing. But the rest of you? Not so much, says Giorgio Milos.
So I read this story from Salon a couple of days ago, and I just can’t resist posting a link to it here. Apparently we Americans are huge disappointments as baristas. Who knew? Of course the story is a bit over the top (Ok, maybe a lot), but it was still entertaining to read, if for nothing else the letters to the editor that follow. Basically, the story follows Giorgio Milos, former Italian barista champion and trainer for illy, around New York City, and documents his disappointment from one café to the next.
Give a read (if you want) and let us know what you think.
August 26th, 2010 by Sarah
Just heard from Marcus Boni about a few things concerning the 2011 Regional Barista Competitions schedule and new costs. Most important thing to note is that NO regionals will take place until 2011 — there’s been a rumor that the Northwest Regional Barista Competition will be taking place at Coffee Fest Seattle (October 28–31) but IT AIN’T TRUE! Just try to be patient… the dates will be released soon, hopefully in a few weeks, so check back here for more details.
Meantime, you can set aside the registration cost for your 2011 regional competition. Prices go up this year to$150 if you’re a Barista Guild of America member. Not a member? Well, you can either pay $300 to register OR become a BGA member for just $45, then take advantage of the $150 registration price. Kind of a no brainer, n’est pas?
Ignore the arrow: clicking will not help you. But do commit the new regions to memory.
But if you’re itching for a barista competition fix, clear your schedule next week so you can tune in online to watch the 9th Annual Barista Championship of Mexico! As anyone in the barista competition community knows, Mexico continues to be more and more of a force to be reckoned with as the years go by; in London last June, 2010 Barista Champion of Mexico Fabrizio Sencion dazzled the judges and attendees alike by taking a coveted spot in the semifinal round with an outstanding performance.
Fabrizio on stage in London at the World Barista Championship last June. He was incredible to watch.
Barista Magazine Publisher Ken Olson will be in Mexico City next week to cover the event—he’s super excited about it! He’ll blog about it right here on Pasteboard. And be sure to catch the live action online!
August 21st, 2010 by Ken
The Roasters' Guild welcome banner flies above the Skamania Lodge entrance.
I rode up to Skamania Lodge yesterday to drop in on the 10th Annual Roasters Guild Retreat. As always, there were numerous activities underway. A weekend-long competition pitted randomly assigned teams against each other in the “You Guatta Love It” challenge. In the contest, teams are to develop a blend from a variety of submitted Guatemalan coffees representing six of the most famous coffee growing regions in the country. Teams are required to use no fewer than two regions’ coffees and they can’t use less than 20 percent from any one region.
Teams work on perfecting their competition blends in the outdoor roasting pavilion.
Of course, course work is part of the weekend activities too. Classes are offered on cupping, green coffee grading, grinding and particle size and more.
A cupping session helped teams devise their competition blend components.
And no one attends the Roasters Retreat without a healthy appetite for socializing after the day’s events are over.
Attendees learn about particle size and grinder technology.
The attendees all seemed quite interested in the event’s activities and sessions, and they were obviously enjoying the chance to meet new coffee folks and work on teams with them.
But I have to admit, for me, the most exciting part of the day was talking to the SCAA’s Marcus Boni about the Barista Guild of America’s upcoming Camp Pull-A-Shot. The event will be held just outside of Santa Barbara, Calif. from Oct. 18-21, and it too will feature team competitions, social activities and tons of learning opportunities. It’s going to be a blast!
And stay tuned to Barista Magazine‘s blog and Facebook page, we’re going to have some exciting news to announce regarding the camp in the coming days…
August 18th, 2010 by Sarah
Brent just emailed me about this today, and it’s an awesome thing to share with all the United States coffee roasters out there. So remember the amazing Slow Food event in San Francisco not too long ago? When all those roasters and growers and baristas came together to educate the general public (granted, the fairly top tier Bay Area foodie general public, but still…)? Well, it was a totally killer event, with tons of education and success. In fact, the coffee bar set up for education was so successful that it established a new template for the espresso and brew bars you often see at U.S. Barista Championship events, and also this past year’s World Barista Championship in London.
Here, Guatemalan coffee producer Edwin Martinez discussed coffee with a visitor to the Slow Food Coffee Pavilion in 2008. Photo courtesy of stumptownpanda@flickr
But ANYWAY. The point is, it was awesome that the people putting Slow Food together recognized that copffee deserves to be its own category in such an event—too often in these kinds of bigger events and situations, coffee is still just an afterthought, considered a condiment like mustard or relish.
So anyway, this will be the first year of the Good Food Awards, which was launched by San Francisco-based Seedling Projects.
From the website:
The Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced. We grant awards to outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients. We host an annual Awards Ceremony and Marketplace at the iconic Ferry Building in San Francisco to honor new Good Food Award recipients and also organize a month of events and tastings to support the wider community making good food.
In its inaugural year, Good Food Awards will be given to winners in seven categories: beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles and preserves. Awards will be given to producers and their food communities from each of five regions of the US. The Good Food Awards seal, found on winning products, assures consumers they have found something exceptionally delicious that also supports sustainability and social good.
Yes, coffee!
HOW TO ENTER
From now through September 15, coffee roasters are invited to submit their goods for blind tasting. Three finalists will be awarded and one overall winner will be selected from each region of the United States. To enter, basic product information must be submitted through the Good Food Awards website, and a $10 processing fee will be charged. All products must be self certified by the producer/roaster as meeting the criteria of social and environmental responsibility outlined on the form. Confirmed entrants will be invited to mail samples for the blind tasting.
JUDGES
In the coffee category, the judges are:
Andi C. Trindle, Coffee Buyer and Trader for Atlantic Specialty Coffee
Benjamin Kaminsky, Director of Quality Control for Ritual Coffee Roasters
Chris Davidson Trader & Relationship Coffee Specialist for Atlas Coffee Importers
Edwin Martinez, Producer for Finca Vista Hermosa in Guatemala
George Howell,Founder & President of Terroir Coffee Company
Andrew Barnett, Founder of Ecco Caffe
Tony Koneicy, Founder of tonx.org
Brent Fortune, Owner of Crema Coffee + Bakery
Jason Long, Green Buyer for Café Imports
Peter Guliano, Director of Coffee Counter Culture Coffee
Tal Mor, Head Roaster of Four Barrel Coffee
AWARDS CEREMONY
Good Food Award winners will be announced on January 14, 2011, at an evening event for the food industry hosted by Alice Waters at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. And on January 15, 2011, all Good Food Award-winning products will be showcased at a public marketplace tasting.
Winners will receive a Good Food Awards seal to place on their product, an invitation to participate in the ceremony and marketplace tasting, and connections to the network of national buyers who seek our foods that meet the Good Food Awards criteria.
So go enter this, U.S. specialty coffee roasters, and get your craft out there! We’d love to hear about your experience, so please keep me posted! sarah@baristamagazine.com.
August 17th, 2010 by Sarah
I grew up spending my summers riding horses at camp at the Walking G Ranch in Plumas County, California. The girls slept in a bunkhouse, and the boys had a cabin on the other side of the pond. We had chores in the barn in the morning, we’d ride trails til the heat set in around 2, and then we’d head to Antelope Lake to water-ski and tan (this was the 80s, after all). I didn’t know it at the time, but when I look back on those summers, I realize now that the only thing missing was a cold one.
The back of my Walking G camp tshirt. We also had trucker hats with the leggy G.
I’m sort of kidding. Camp is such an awesome place to be—for the people, the activities, the craziness, the hook-ups, the cabins crammed full of bunk beds, the mess tent, all of it—that it’s already perfect, sans beer. But I’m betting there’ll be some cans poppin in the evenings this October at Barista Camp, which honest-and-truly is a real thing, that you can go to, and have the time of your freakin life.
YES! Yesyesyesyesyesyes!! After years of wondering when baristas will finally get their own version of the Roasters Guild Retreat (which is, btw, taking place this coming weekend), Marcus Boni and the SCAA and Barista Guild of America have come through big time, with what is officially being called Camp Pull-A-Shot, and takes place October 18–21 in Santa Barbara, California, at this totally beautiful and amazing looking place, El Capitan Canyon.
It’s not gonna be all panty raids and pie eating contests though—there’ll be some serious learnin’ going on at barista camp! In fact, Baca said it best in his blog post: “It will definitely NOT be a bunch of cool baristas running around partying all day telling each other how cool they are. It WILL be focused and educational with multiple classroom and hands on learning sessions each day.” Well put, Baca.
Here’s the schedule (subject to change)…
Monday, October 18
Arrival at camp/Open registration—12–7 p.m.
BGA Level 1 Certification Test—3–5 p.m.
Orientation for Beginning Level Baristas—5–6 p.m.
Opening Reception & Dinner—7–9 p.m.
Barista World Cup Team Competition—9–11 p.m.
Tuesday, October 19
Breakfast—6:30–8 a.m.
Breakout session #1 (“Intro to Espresso, Part 1″ for Level 1 baristas; and “Espresso Bar Efficiency & Workflow” for Level 2 baristas)—8–11 a.m.
Breakout session #2 (“Intro to Espresso, Part 2″ for Level 1 baristas; and “Beginning Basics of Coffee Farming” for Level 2 baristas)—11:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m.
Lunch—1:15–2:15 p.m.
Group session #1: “Exploring Manual Brewing Methods and Extraction”; “Entering the World of Barista Competitions”—2:15–4 p.m.
Breakout session #3 (“Intro to Customer Service” for Level 1 baristas; and “BGA Milk & Latte Art” for Level 2 baristas)—4–6 p.m.
Break/Jam time with instructors/Free Swim—6–7 p.m.
Dinner—7–8:30 p.m.
Barista World Cup Team Competitions—8:30–10 p.m.
Wednesday, October 20
Breakfast—6:30–8 a.m.
Breakout session #4 (“Intro to Cupping” for Level 1 baristas, and “Grind, Dose, Tamp, Extract” for Level 2 baristas)—8–11 a.m.
Breakout session #5 (“Intro to Coffee Brewing & Extraction” for Level 1 baristas, and “Exploring Espresso Equipment” for Level 2 baristas)—11:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m.
Lunch—1:15 p.m.–2:15 p.m.
Group session #2: “Beyond the Beverage: Exploring the role of the barista as a true service professional”—2:15–4 p.m.
BGA Level 1 and Level 2 Certification Tests—4–7 p.m.
Break/Jam time with instructors/Free Swim—7–8 p.m.
Dinner—8–9:30p.m.
Barista World Cup Team Competitions/Closing Ceremonies & Awards—9:30 p.m.–midnight
Thursday, October 21
Breakfast—6:30–8 a.m.
BGA Credentialed Examiner Certification—8 a.m.–12 p.m.
Depart camp
Pretty cool, huh? And don’t be fooled by the word “America” in the Barista Guild of America—this camp is open to any barista, anywhere on the planet. And hey, even though you’ll drop some dough on that plane ticket, the cost of the actual camp is incredibly cheap for all that it includes: lodging, all meals, roundtrip airfare transfer from LAX only; and most importantly, ALL COURSES.
The price tag is as follows:
$575 for BGA members in quad occupancy cabins (2 sets of bunk beds per cabin) or $750 for non BGA members (and, uh, since it only costs $40 to become a BGA member, you’d be foolish to pay this price)
Or if you’re too good for bunk beds, $1050 for BGA members, single occupancy cabins with a queen bed
One more option: $550 (BGA members) for a double occupancy safari tent with shared bathroom. (Think glamping)
Pretty nice for a tent, n'est pa?
So go, go, go and sign up today!! This event is just around the corner—October will be here before we know it!
August 10th, 2010 by Sarah
I’ve been following Klaus Thomsen’s Facebook updates from throughout what sounds like a very busy and very enjoyable trip to Brazil recently. He’s got some awesome photos up on the Coffee Collective’s Flickr, and I’m posting here to urge you to check them out!
Klaus showing some baristas in Brasil how to pour latte art.
I went to the Coffee Collective’s blog page to see if Klaus had written anything about the trip yet—hopefully soon, Klaus?—and saw instead that Jordan Barber, a barista originally from Oregon and who had until this summer been working at Grumpy in NYC, will soon be closing up his summer vacay in Copenhagen, where he has enjoyed working for the Collective.
Jordan went over to London for the WBC, along with the other members of the Collective, to help out at the WBC Espresso Bar.
Makes me think about other people I know who have done interesting things with their summer vacations, such as Jolene Holland, a barista I met at Coffee Fest Minneapolis who, after working at a cafe in Chicago for a few years, was getting ready to go back to school this fall and wondered what she should do for her summer break—so she came to Portland, where she has been working at Water Avenue Coffee and Coffeehouse 5.
I snapped this photo of Jolene and her friend, Kasey, who works for PTs, at a party during Coffee Fest Minneapolis.
I’m interested in hearing about what other people have been up to, coffee wise, this summer… please let us know! Email me at sarah@baristamagazine.com to share your stories!
August 5th, 2010 by Ken
Fans of the University of Washington should have a chance to visit the new Intelly shop in Pasadena on Jan. 1, 2011.
Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea opened its third Southern California store yesterday. Located in Pasadena, most famously known (to me at least) for being the home of the Rose Bowl, the shop once again shows Intelligentsia’s willingness to experiment and deviate from its previous models to create a new space.
From the LA Weekly:
It’s a beautiful space: painted a dark cornflower blue, bare lights strung from the rafters, the walls of the former Wok ‘n’ Roll excavated to show off exposed brick, coffee beans in bags colored a Soviet-era red stacked on the shelves, and high tables in the front waiting for the requisite clutter of porcelain and MacBooks. Walk toward the back, past the Synesso machines heating neatly overturned cups and the obligingly tatttooed baristas pulling shots, and you’ll find a long bar made of Douglas fir reclaimed from the 1886 building, and, farther back, additional seating in the form of church pews from Cairo, Illinois.
The location will offer alcohol (wine and beer) and “small plates, a dinner menu and charcuterie from caterer Matthew Poley (Heirloom-LA).”
Meanwhile further south in San Diego, Reuters reports that Starbucks is rolling out something new too. Iced drinks called “Refreshers” are the lastest offering from the mammoth chain, and while Starbucks is well known for roasting their coffees as dark as a Horta’s home, these new drinks feature unroasted coffee. From the story, “It’s coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee,” Starbucks’ vice president of global beverage Julie Felss Masino said. Hmm…. and that’s a feature not a bug?
