Ken and I are out the door to Coffee Fest Seattle today ”the big event begins tomorrow! Each of the three days of the show, October 4, 5, and 6, will start with the Latte Art Championship on the beautiful skybridge of the Washington State Convention Center. Barista Magazine is thrilled to have been the media sponsor of this event for more than eight years. As such, I am one of three judges for the competition at every Coffee Fest.
Last night, the American Barista and Coffee School in Portland, Ore., hosted a prep workshop for Northwest baristas about the competition. Even if these baristas weren’t headed to Seattle this weekend to participate in the contest, they were thinking ahead to 2014, when the autumn Coffee Fest event moves from Seattle to Portland ”whooo hoooo! So anyway, it was a great event, more than 75 people showed up for it, the American Barista and Coffee School generously supplied beer and food, and a good time was had by all.
All three of the Coffee Fest latte art judges ”Anna Gutierrez of Gourmet Source, Matt Milletto of the American Barista and Coffee School, and I ”talked to the crowd about what we look for in the drinks, and answered questions about how the competition works.
It was especially fun because longtime competitor, Junichi Yamaguchi of Japan was in town to shoot a video with Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup, and he was present at the workshop to pour sample drinks for the crowd.
