As the proud Media Sponsor of the United States Barista Championship since 2005, Barista Magazine has always compiled and produced a beautiful printed program that serves as a guide, collectors item, introduction to the Regional Barista Champions and the Regional Brewers Cup Champions, all the party info for the SCAA show, and much more! 2013 is no different. This year’s Official United States Barista Championship.U.S. Brewers Cup Event Program is at the printer right now! But we thought we’d give you a sneak peek at some of the most popular content in the program, the Regional Barista Competition Champs and Regional Brewers Cup Champs profiles.
So without further ado ¦
EDEN-MARIE ABRAMOWICZ
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL BARISTA CHAMPION
INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Years you’ve been a barista?
About 5 years.
What’s your official job title with Intelligentsia?
I am the educator at our Silver Lake location, so I do training and quality control.
Oh my gosh, you’re going to Kenya! Can you believe it? Tell us why you’re excited about it!
No, I cannot believe it! I am so excited to hang with everyone and, uh, Kenya?! This is my first trip to a coffee producing country so I am counting down the days until I can pick my first cherry.
Why is it so cool that Café Imports does these origin trips for baristas?
Baristas make tasty drinks and act as translators for the coffee. Giving us the amazing opportunity to learn more and see more about where our product is coming from just provides us with more to share with our customers and staff. It’s a priceless experience!
Are you the competitive type? Do you or have you competed in other things?
I would like to say I am not competitive but I grew up with an older brother so everything was a friendly competition. Other then that I was a competitive dancer most of my life and what fewer people know is that I was on chess team and our varsity math team in high school.
What would people be surprised to learn about the coffee scene in L.A.?
I think the most amazing thing about the L.A. œscene is how supportive the coffee family is. Regardless of company [we work for], we all see other and support each other on the regular. I personally love getting off work and having so many great coffee bars to choose from to go hang out at!
