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Ken is getting his beauty sleep right now, after a late night partying with this guy:

That’s the very handsome and amazing Luis from the Salvadoran coffee council, by the way. Luis is one of the biggest advocates of the barista craft, involving his organization through sponsorship in the Nordic Barista Cup, the WBC, zacharyzachary, and elsewhere. Luis sees great importance in establishing and supporting relationships between producers and baristas. He and his organization hosted a big, rowdy barista group from Norway, Denmark and Sweden for an extensive tour of El Salvador’s coffee growing regions last February, by whatever mode of transportation it took to reach the cherries.

Luis is so awesome.

Ken and I were Skyping this morning and he reported that once again, La Marzocco proved that they are incredible party planners with an all-out bash in Tokyo last night to celebrate barista champions from around the world, as well as La Marzocco’s 80th anniversary, an accomplishment that deserves much respect. Their parties are always so much fun. I wonder if Guido and Lorenzo are available to plan our wedding…?

Anyway, Ken was beat and deserved some rest, but he’ll be posting a ton of photos from the finals later on. He and his traveling companion — his dad, Bruce — are staying in Tokyo for a bit to see the actual city (not just the inside of a convention center!) and I think they’re also going to a national park and to Nikko, so stay tuned for photos from those adventures, as well.

Over and out.