Posted by TheShot on 30 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Barista, Local Brew, Quality Issues
With Spring upon us, that means it’s time for the 2008 Western Regional Barista Competition (WRBC): ‘Attention to every detail’ at Berkeley barista contest - San Jose Mercury News. Starting this past Friday and ending today (check out their photo album), the 2008 WRBC performs a time-honored ritual to select a barista champ representing our [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 08 May 2007 | Tagged as: Barista
Many congratulations are in order for Heather Perry of Coffee Klatch in San Dimas, CA: Specialty Coffee Association of America Names 2007 United States Barista Champion. Heather entered the 2007 U.S. Barista Championship as a reigning three-peat winner of the Western Regional Barista Competition (or WRBC).
Yesterday at the 2007 SCAA conference, Heather beat out the [...]
Posted by TheShot on 19 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Barista
Congratulations again to Heather Perry of Coffee Klatch in San Dimas, CA. Over the weekend, she successfully defended her 2006 title at the 2007 WRBC: Western Regional Barista Competition March 16-18, 2007. Also placing were Kyle Glanville of Intelligentsia in Los Angeles (yes, you read that city correctly) and Chris Baca of SF’s own Ritual [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 26 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: Barista, Café Society, Fair Trade
Some of you may recall just how much the zombie children of the Fair Trade cult scare the bejeezus outta me. Ritual Coffee Roasters barista, Gabriel Boscana, wrote a much more tactful and civil approach to these single-issue customers in this month’s issue of Barista Magazine: FebMarch 07 - Certified Coffee Pusher. It was oddly [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 23 Dec 2006 | Tagged as: Barista, Beans, Fair Trade, Local Brew, Quality Issues, Roasting
As a former resident of Palo Alto for several years, a trip down Santa Clara’s Stevens Creek Boulevard conjures up images of discount mattress stores, Denny’s, and strip malls as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately, that’s commercial real estate in the Silicon Valley — regardless of the hidden gems tucked away in Northern [...]
[view full post]Posted by TheShot on 09 Sep 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Foreign Brew, Roasting
Here’s an update for the fellow home roaster geeks who have lamented the demise of Hawaii’s Ka’anapali Farm … from today’s The Maui News: Buzz over coffee has come back to Kaanapali. As reported here in March, I first spotted the return of the Maui Moka bean — easily my favorite bean stock for homemade [...]
[view full post]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 [...]
Posted by TheShot on 13 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Fair Trade, Local Brew, Roasting
Fair Trade, organic coffee drinkers unite!
This former Holey Bagel shop has earned an extremely loyal (dare I even suggest “partially blind”?) following in the central Haight district. On their front door, they boast themselves as the #1 coffee shop in San Francisco on the basis of their reviews on Yelp.com. So they must be fantastic, [...]
Posted by TheShot on 06 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Barista, Beans, Local Brew
The Petaluma Hot List
As I mentioned in a previous post, the 2006 Western Regional Barista Competition was held in Petaluma over this past weekend. Twenty-two baristas from across California and Hawai’i participated in the annual competition — many for their first time. In addition to bringing out some of the best espresso preparation the region [...]
Posted by TheShot on 05 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Barista, Beans, Local Brew
A barista championship in Petaluma?
Yesterday (Saturday, March 4) I attended my first SCAA barista competition. Held at the Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma, the Western Regionals are a competitive prelude to next month’s U.S. Barista Championship. (Petaluma: it’s not just world arm wrestling championships anymore.)
The annual Western Regionals covers competitive baristas across California and Hawai’i, [...]