When the ranking for the 2013 United States Barista Championship had been announced, the finalists looked just exhausted, so we wanted to give them some space to be with their friends and family, and decompress. Since then, I’ve been able to chat with all six of them about what was going through their head during the final round of the 2013 USBC. Today through Saturday, we’ll be posting these short Q&As with each of the six finalists, one per day. We hope you enjoy getting inside the heads of these coffee masterminds as much as I did.
PETE LICATA
PARISI COFFEE
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
Sarah: Congrats on winning the USBC again, Pete! How do you feel like the final round went down?
Pete: I felt that my performance was very good, and was what I had intended to achieve. At the same time I was unsure if what I had planned would surpass the other finalists. They were all so solid!
Sarah: This may seem like a stupid question, all things considered, but would you change anything about your performance in the final round?
Pete: Considering that I won I don’t think I would change anything. I would probably speak more fluidly and dance more.
Sarah: The coffee you sourced from Cafe Imports was some crazy good stuff! Tell us about it.
Pete: I was using a very fresh crop coffee from Arnulfo Leguizamo’s La Primavera farm in Colombia. I sought this coffee because of Arnulfo’s farming practices and intentional methods to bring out characteristics in the cup. After cupping, the decision to use it was incredibly easy!
