In October, baristas and coffee professionals from all over the world came to camp at the first ever BGA retreat, Camp Pull-A-Shot. Held at El Capitan Canyon just outside Santa Barbara, California, more than 110 people showed up to set the bar for what a BGA retreat could look like. On hand were baristas, roasters, shop owners, and even coffee growers like Miss Aida Batlle, the reknown coffee farmer from El Salvador. It truly was an event that will go down in infamy, history was made, and the whole event was a complete success.
Many baristas came to be BGA certified, and many achieved that goal. Over the course of the weekend, the BGA welcome 73 new Level One certified baristas to the fold, and 14 new Level Two baristas to the fold. We currently have just over 125 Level One certified baristas total, meaning that more than half happened at Camp Pull-A-Shot, something weʼre very proud of. Baristas really put a lot of time and effort into the certification process, and it paid off for them with something they could take back to their shops and be proud of.

The labs that were offered were both Level One and Level Two labs, and many took advantage
of the amazing content already offered by the SCAAʼs Professional Development team. As well as a few new cutting edge labs created just for Camp, like the “Entering the World of Barista Competitions” lab, which was a roundtable that featured competitors like Nick Cho, Chris Baca, Sammy Piccolo, Mike Marquard and Dan Streetman. There was also the highly popular “Exploring Manual Brewing Methods and Extraction”, which I led, but included manual brewing pros like Eton Tsuno, Sarah Kluth, Trevor Corlett, and Daniel Thompson. That lab was made even better by a special presentation by Vince Fedele, the inventor of the Extract MoJo who gave a great presentation on coffee extraction, and how the Extract MoJo can be used to help baristas dial in manual brewing methods. Truly one of the most educational aspects of the weekend for many people. There were also labs on coffee farming, as well as a roundtable of growers/importers/roasters on the current state of coffee, which covered many of the challenges of the coffee industry as we know it.Another cool part of the Camp experience was that attendees were divided up into 11 teams, each with itʼs own chosen name and team captain. The Barista World Cup was a competition that featured lots of challenges related to coffee and espresso, and helped build proper teamwork and support. One such event, was that each team was responsible for working a bar shift at the BGA Bar in which the teams were in charge of creating a menu, brewing coffees and making espresso drinks, and providing all the key elements of customer service. The teams were then judged on the experience they offered to attendees, and counted towards the teamʼs overall total. When all was said and done, Team 2060 won the Barista World Cup, beating out a very feisty Team Heather Perry and a Team Cup Norris.

Attendees had some of the best and latest coffee and espresso equipment at their disposal over the course of the Camp, from Marco Uber Boilers, to La Marzocco Linea paddles, the BUNN Trifecta, and even the new KONE Filter for Chemex by Coava Coffee, who overnighted two especially for Camp-goers. There were great espresso machines by both La Marzocco and Nuova Simonelli, and grinders like the NS Mythos for attendees to play with. And play they did. There was ample time for attendees to get on the machines and make espresso.

For me, the Camp was made even more special by the fact that as much as I was helping train baristas in coffee and espresso, they were teaching me. They reminded me of what itʼs like to be at a level where youʼre just soaking up knowledge like a sponge. Attendees were so dialed into what was being taught, to learning new things. And at times, I can forget why I do what I do, but seeing these baristas who had invested so much time and money coming reminded me of what makes coffee special. Itʼs that no one knows it all, and thereʼs always something to learn. And seeing so many baristas meet each other for the first time not on Facebook or Barista Exchange was really cool. People putting faces to these names theyʼve known for so long. It was special to me in so many ways, I know I wonʼt forget it.The other things that made Camp Pull-A-Shot special were things like: Peter Giuliano playing the accordian for all Aida Batlle becoming the first coffee grower BGA certified. Gianni from Nuova Simonelli doing a keg-stand. There were yurts. Baristas jumping on water bottles, and everyone avoiding the bees, which were out in full-force for Camp. There were songs sung by the campfire, Sʼmores made, stories told, methods explained, and friendships made. Each barista was made to realize that from the grower to the barista, they were all connected to something so much bigger than their shop. And thatʼs what the BGA is all about. Itʼs all about connecting baristas all over to the greater cause of great coffee and espresso, a cause thatʼs fought everyday in coffee shops all over this country. Camp Pull-A-Shot 2010 will forever go down as the heralding of the Dawn of the Barista. And that makes all of us who were involved proud. See you at Camp next year!