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January 22, 2007
Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!
This past weekend I went to the Midwest Regional Barista Competition held in Kansas City, MO...or was it KS? I can't remember. Anyway...
I had no idea what to expect...would there be people walking around wired up on caffeine? How many baristas would there? Would there be much discussion on whether a shade-grown bean makes for good espresso? However...
What I found was a group of people who love their coffee, appreciate it's diverse forms, and are always designing new drinks to wet the pallete of coffee-lovers everywhere.
I must admit, when we first arrived at the venue of the event I felt like I was in the middle of one of those documentaries on the Food Network where they film the goings-on of an ice cream or gingerbread house competition. I knew these people were serious when we passed by a car that had "COFFEE" for his license tag. We then entered the building to find a group of people who are all about the hard stuff, I mean coffee beans.
The basics of the competition are as follows: They each get 15 minutes to prepare 4 shots of espresso, 4 cappuccinos, and 4 signiture drinks that they design themselves...there are 4 judges, thus, 4 of each. The signiture drinks were very diverse...coconut milk, thyme, honey, chocolate...the list goes on. Everyone there was watching quietly as each barista prepared their various drinks...after each part was done the audience clapped and screamed for them. It was pretty funny, but yet (I can't believe I'm going to say this), it gave me a motivation and passion for coffee that wasn't there before. It was great to learn more about coffee, it's people, if you will, and to feel like I was living out my own little Christopher Guest movie.
It was also a great time to take full advantage of incredible pun opportunities, as follows: some of the baristas hit the judges with their best shot, I had a cappuccino that I liked a latte, some of the contestants were e-steamed to froth their milk, and one of the competitors was very nervous and looked like he wanted out of the competition, but as I explained to some of the people I was sitting with...it was too late, he couldn't milk himself out of it now.
Well, I can honestly say that I am a part of the cult of coffee lovers everywhere, seriously, since I've been back I've done nothing but drink coffee. You might think that's not a very healthy thing to do, but with the exception of the shakes, my heart beating quickly, my hyperactivity being somewhat hard to control and the lining of my stomach deteriorating, it really hasn't been that bad.
| By Nathan Gemayel | 1:51 PM
Comments
So, now when people talk about barista conventions, you can just say "Bean there, done that."
Posted by: Neil E. Das at January 22, 2007 2:04 PM
very good...very good!
Posted by: nathanglo at January 22, 2007 3:43 PM
Scrimp,
You coffee geek!!!!! Ha, those things are interesting. These competitors spend SOOOOO much time training for Barista comps. It's weird how people have different passions in life. Mine is def not coffee, but I think it is cool that you have a new passion for coffee. It's good to have passion because most people don't. You would win one if you said your puns during the comp. Think about it......your jokes would shock those freaky judges! Did you meet Marcus? He is soooo cute.
mary el
Posted by: Mary Ellen at January 23, 2007 5:13 PM
nathan, that was a really fun blog entry to read...makes me want to go get a latte right now.
Posted by: emily harris at January 30, 2007 12:28 PM
Let's JAM
Posted by: Guess who at February 18, 2007 11:21 AM