Barista and Brewers Champions!

This past weekend was the annual Speciatly Coffee Association of America Expo in Portland OR. This event is the annual event where there is a convergence of information for mainly shop owners and cafes, which includes everything from classes about tasting coffee, to a booths showing off the newest devices, and of course Barista competitions. I am surprised that I have not seen anything about these competitions here on Roaste, as Roaste is a sponsor of the World Barista Championship, and we just have a new US Champion crowned, which will compete later this year for the WBC. AND if that wasn't enough a certain roaster here won the Brewer's Cup competition, which is strictly a competition for making the best brewed coffee.

First to the meat and potatoes, the United States Barista Championship is like the name implies a competition for baristas. The compeition is made up of three rounds where the baristas make espresso, a cappuccino, and then their signature drink. The baristas are scored on a wide variety of areas not just how well their drink tastes, but other things like cleanliness, and speed. 

So without further ado the United States Barista Champion is Katie Carguildo! She is a coffee trainer for Counter Culture Coffee out of New York City and her signature drink was a play on the fermentation the coffee bean undergoes before it is roasted, and she used jasmine green tea, lemon juice, a nectarine, soda water, and white vinegar, topped with espresso and served the judges a sparkling beverage in grappa glasses. Pretty Cool! And I look forward to hearing more about her in the coming months at the World Barista Championship.

Now for something a little closer to Roaste, the Brewer's Cup! Andy Sprenger of Ceremony Roasters won the United States Brewers Cup AGAIN! He won last year too. I gotta say a repeat performance is very impressive and just like in any competition shows that Mr Sprenger has his craft down to a science and not just a good run! I gotta from the beans that I have gotten from Ceremony Roasters it doesn't surprise me that someone from that operation would be winning comeptions!

Further Reading:

http://sprudge.com/counter-cultures-carguilo-crowned-competition-champ.html

https://www.facebook.com/BaristaGuild

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/new-yorks-champion-bar...

http://www.freshcup.com/news_events_details.php?id=184#.T5bNolVFBRx.face...