The BGA was present at Barista Nation last weekend in San Francisco, and I was happy to be a small part of it! BGA volunteers proctored 11 certification exams, hosted lectures and ran a Member-Driven latte art throw down at the end of the night. Over 250 attendees filtered in and out of the event throughout the day, making it the best attended Barista Nation yet. This is one of those great times where being a BGA member and doing my job as SCAA Membership Coordinator converge, and I was honored to lead a round table discussion with some formidable minds in the coffee community.

Along with fellow BGA members Sean Komescher, Alex Littlejohn, Todd Goldsworthy, and Sarah Leslie, we covered the topic: Standards and Expectations. First, we distinguished between industry standards and industry best practices. Many areas of specialty coffee – especially in the relatively newer realms of espresso preparation – actually do not have set scientifically backed standards. Many of the guidelines set by the Barista Guild of America are what are known as best practices. For example, the SCAA’s definition of espresso has been built by hundreds of individuals with expertise in the field of espresso, and has created a general consensus about what that definition should be. Still, the definition has not undergone rigorous scientific study, and so is not set in stone as an industry standard. While many coffee professionals may agree that it is a strong definition, it will continue to take some time for further evidence to support it.

So with that out of the way, we listed some items that do have some clear standards or best practices. We discussed brewing standards, water standards, cupping protocols, and espresso. Sometimes discussion of a standard came in the form of a question, “Does Specialty Coffee have a water standard?”. This brought the group to another question – if industry professionals don’t know about standards, are the standards useful? Does that make a person not qualified to create standard beverages? The room was attended with a wide range of audience, from professional cuppers to Level 2 Certified baristas, and the answers were just as varied. Some could not believe that there was so much flexibility in beverage preparation, while others contended that they created great beverages outside of the range of the standard.

Next, we discussed what was missing in our standards. The group proposed quite a list – from vetting espresso and grinder equipment, to cleanliness and maintenance, to customer service. They suggested creating a system to vet cafes and score them on quality and service, in order to distinguish quality cafés from average cafes. The biggest cause for discussion from what was missing was grind. While the group lamented the lack of a standard on grind size, they also discussed the myriad variables that make up grind size, making it a difficult thing to quantify and standardize. The group agreed that while the development of a standard would be helpful, there would be significant challenges to create one. Moreover, they repeatedly stated that often grind was the X-factor in preparing great coffee, a component that need to be worked to through trial and error during preparation. I personally had never heard coffee professionals use the word “algebra” so many times in one hour!

Finally, our group touched on how coffee professionals manage expectations of standards & service during our interactions with coffee drinkers. For the purposes of this write-up, I’d like to pose it as a question for discussion in our comments. How do we, as an industry, manage those expectations? Do we? Can average coffee notice a difference? What about a cafés best regulars?

For a full wrap up of the Barista Nation Event, visit: Sprudge's Report

For more information about SCAA’s standards and definitions, I recommend you visit: http://scaa.org/resources

For more information about specialty coffee consumers, visit: http://www.scaa.org/chronicle/2012/09/21/insights-into-consumer-purchasing-choices/  

The Big Central Barista Competition is over, and suddenly half the competitions building up to the USBC have come and gone. Hosted by Kaldi’s Coffee and PT’s Coffee, the Big Central combined the North and South Central into one massive Mid-American coffee brawl in Kansas City. A total of four competitions took place January 18-21, the North Central Regional Barista Competition, the NC Brewers Cup, the South Central Regional Barista Competition, and the SC Brewers Cup.

Held in a beautiful venue known as The Guild, featuring exposed wooden beams, a low arching ceiling and a magnificent chandelier, a total off 39 competitors vied for top spots in the regional barista competition, while dozens more baristas vied for the top spot in the brewer’s cup.  

The judging pool was deep with experienced coffee professionals, and boasted 6 USBC certified head judges as well as several experienced, top-finishing barista competitors.

Competitors from the NC and SC competed alongside each other in round one, and the top six from each region moved on to the finals round Saturday. Brewers Cup competitors also competed in their first, silent, round, co-mingled, although the finals for the NC Brewers Cup was held on Saturday after the conclusion of the barista competition round one, while the SC Brewers Cup finals took place on Sunday.

Kansas City citizens were beautiful hosts, and everyone enjoyed hospitality as well as KILLER BBQ.  The venue filled everyday with baristas, friends, families, customers and coffee professionals from around the region, although, naturally there was a very strong hometown contingent rooting.

There’s could never be enough space to highlight the performance of all the dedicated coffee professionals who competed last weekend. Each of them nearly perfected a personal performance highlighting unique and beautiful coffees and deserve praise for all their hard work on stage and off. Some were pleasantly surprised with success, others had to walk away knowing they’ll have to wait until next year for a chance at greatness.

The first round of the barista competition was fraught with tension as many routines went beyond the 15min time restriction, resulting in point deductions and a few disqualifications for those whose routine took them beyond 16min. While one might consider this to be a boon to the rest of the field, instead the anticipation grew until there was a palpable anxiety. It spoke to the desire of the baristas to fully communicate the ideas behind their coffee and their signature drinks, though, if the trade-off would be worth point deductions was unknown.

Brewers Cup competitors toiled in silence as they attempted to make the best of their “mystery coffee” with many attempting to hand-sort what they considered to be under or over-roasted coffee. 

The six finalist in the NCRBC: Scott Lucey Alterra Coffee; Tayla Strader Bow Truss; Charlie Habegger, Intelligentsia Coffee; Andy Atkinson, Intelligentsia Coffee;  Zaida Dedolph, Halfwit Coffee, and Josh Taves, Dogwood Coffee

The six finalist in the SCRBC: Nora Brady, Kaldi’s Coffee; Jacque DesMarais, Kaldi’s Coffee, Pete Licata, Parisi Coffee; David Fasman, Kaldi’s Coffee; Reagan Perehen, Parisi Coffee; Tyler Rovenstine, Oddly Correct

Brewers Cup Finalists HERE

Some of that amazing KC BBQ!

There was standing room only in the Guild during a serious and hard fought final round, and the intensity of the baristas on stage was infectious. Nearly every competitor improved in execution and there was no clear favorite from the spectator’s view.

The winners were Pete Licata in the SCRBC and Charlie Habegger in the NCRBC – two deserving champions of specialty coffee. Well Done!

For More Coverage, check Sprduge.com and also @sprdugelive on twitter for all the by-the-minute action.

Thanks for a tough and enjoyable competition. Congratulations and Best Luck to all the competitors. Thanks to all our Sponsors who helped the BCRBC become a success. Thanks to all the work from the SCAA staff who helped the event run smoothly – coordinating 4 competitions at once is no small task.

Stay Tuned for the NWRBC happing February 1-3!