Coffee artists grind toward national title
Posted by TheShot on 11 Apr 2006 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Barista
And the winner is…
The Charlotte Observer posted an article today covering the final rounds of the 2006 U.S. Barista Championship, held yesterday on the final day of the annual SCAA conference: Charlotte Observer | 04/11/2006 | Coffee artists grind toward national title.
For all those who scratched their head thinking, “A quality coffee conference … in North Carolina?!,” it should come as little surprise that no Carolinas baristas made it to the finals round on Monday. However, three of the seven finalists came from one of my favorites in the U.S.: Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago. Bay Area coffee drinkers may recognize Intelligentsia Coffee as the bean supplier to Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery. However, the difference in espresso preparation and equipment between Specialty’s and Intelligentsia is like night and day.
Matthew Riddle, a graphic designer and barista at Intelligentsia, was ultimately selected as the 2006 U.S. Barista champion at Monday’s finals. Matthew’s fabulous cash and prizes included a $1,000 check and a trip to the World Barista Championship in Berne, Switzerland.
Also included in the article is a photo of local coffee luminary, Andrew Barnett, owner/roaster of Santa Rosa’s Ecco Caffé and judge at the 2006 USBC. (Andrew also served as a judge at the recent Western Regional Barista Competition.) You can check out more photos of the competition at the Charlotte Observer photo gallery.
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[...] The article takes the local angle on the recent U.S. Barista Championship, where Alex McCracken, head barista at St. Louis-based Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co., placed among the top 25 last month. Andrew Timko, director of coffee at Kaldi’s, explains the barista competition format and how the state of the barista art — and customer expectations for it — have been elevated in recent years. [...]
[...] Also worth noting is that Matthew Riddle of Chicago’s Intelligentsia , winner of this year’s US Barista Championship, came in third place. [...]
[...] Since Fair Trade’s origin, some professionals in the coffee industry have said that something is better than nothing, while others have long stated Fair Trade is worse than nothing at all. Perhaps one of the greatest statements on Fair Trade’s shortcomings came this year from Chicago’s Intelligentsia, one of America’s premiere specialty coffee roasters and home to the 2006 U.S. Barista Champion. Intelligentsia found enough problems and inconsistencies with Fair Trade that they opted to define and pursue their own alternative certification system, called Intelligensia Direct Trade™, and no longer do business with Fair Trade. Yes, it turns out that there are many alternatives to Fair Trade — just without a commonly recognized “brand” label. [...]