|
Who's Online |
|
We have 30 guests online |
|
|
Home  Articles North West Regional Barista Competition 2005 - Part 1
|
|
North West Regional Barista Competition 2005 - Part 1 |
|
|
|
|
Monday, 07 November 2005 |
written by Kyle Larson of Stumptown Coffee
Day One(Judges Training)
After a long day and night, both of driving and karaoke, the alarm on
my cell phone wakes me from my slumber on the floor in the spare room
of Bronwen Serna’s house. Ms. Serna was kind enough to offer a
potential judging candidate shelter in Seattle, because her house
happens to be within a hop, skip, and jump from the Zoka
roastery, the location of the judges certification class. Both
disheveled and bleary eyed, I make my way to her kitchen to boil some
water for my morning salvation, a French press of El Salvador
Kilimanjaro. After a few minutes of anticipation, my comrades
Bronwen and Stephen shuffle into the kitchen, and we all sate our
fogginess with a small cup of coffee. I peer over the judging
guides, making sure that every last detail is being stored in my head,
because I know there is a test coming up. This is a test I want
to pass.
My time as a competing barista has been relatively short compared to
others, but now I feel like it is the time to hang up the tamper and
learn more about evaluating competitions: judging. The most
important thing I took away from being a barista competitor was that
training for a competition is an educational experience. It
forces a barista to learn about their blend: where the coffees
come from; how the coffees are roasted; how to extract the coffees in a
blend; and the service aspect. So many details I probably would
have never picked up on until I started training for the barista
competitions. Now I am taking the next step of a former
competitor, learning to judge the barista competitions and passing on
whatever knowledge I have to the future flagship of this espresso
industry. That is, if I pass the test.
After a rendezvous with my friend and co-worker Lizz, who is an amazing
barista that also wants to learn more about evaluation, we make our way
to the Zoka roastery. Once inside the headquarters of one of
Seattle’s leading coffee roasters, we meet up with friends and new
acquaintances. Brent Fortune and Tracy Allen are leading the
certification class, and are pretty quick to get down to business once
pleasantries are exchanged between us all. The first thing that
strikes me about this class is that it is composed almost completely of
either working baristas, barista trainers, or former barista
competitors. Inside I kind of smile to myself, thinking that this
is where the competitions need to go in terms of judging, baristas
critiquing other baristas. With my pen and paper I sit back
and begin the ride of judges certification.
Brent and Tracy are no bullshit. They get right into definitions
and technical knowledge. Needless to say, this barista is
impressed. The technical knowledge impresses me, but what makes
the best impression is the element of respect they heavily
promote. Every coffee roaster is different, not so much better or
worse, but different from one and other in terms of philosophy.
Sitting around the table of judges certification are employees from
most of the Northwest’s heavy hitting coffee companies: Batdorf and Bronson, Zoka Coffee Roasters, and Stumptown Coffee Roasters;
yet at all times, I felt we had genuine respect for each other and what
our respective companies were trying to do within the industry.
After a long discussion on what it means to be a barista, which is a
lengthy conversation from stools of dive bars to proper judging
classes, we moved on to technical evaluation. We broke off into
two groups and judged quasi-competitive baristas. My barista was
the infamous Nick Cho,
who prepared a signature beverage whose base ingredient was Reese’s
Peanut Butter cups(sidenote to Nick: It was a tasty drink, mostly
because I was raised on Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and I only
wish I could have given it a ‘6’). The potential judges switched
position from sensory to technical judging. Sensory judges are
responsible for taste of the espresso based drinks served in a
competition. Technical judges are responsible for the execution
of the espresso(dosing, waste, tamping, etc.). I found technical
judging to be the most difficult, but enjoyed it, because as a former
competitor, those were always the judges I feared the most. A
fellow potential judge, Chrissy Hoag from Dog River Coffee in Hood
River, Oregon, and I, coined the term “sneaky barista”, which is
defined by competing baristas trying to hide their coffee waste. It was
a fun and informative exercise, with Brent sharing his wealth of
judging knowledge with all of us. I was so grateful for Brent and
Tracy’s outlook on judging.
Of course, in any certification class, especially one that lasts eight
hours, there is a written test. Because of my recent night’s
activity of karaoke into the wee hours, my fatigue had enabled me to
misinterpret that the test was open notes. Until five minutes
before the test I had been writing a small novel of little details on
my notes sheet because I thought we would be able to use. Then
Brent and Tracy reminded us it was not an open note test. I
turned to Chrissy and asked her if it was cool if I could copy off of
her. She laughed, but I was serious. It’s one thing to be
hands on, but written tests always throw me (SEE: Kyle’s SAT
scores). Brent handed me a pencil and a test and said
“Begin”. Frantically, I filled out the sheet. Lots of trick
questions, but I filled out the answers and hoped to god I had beaten
Brent and Tracy’s ruse. Fast, faster, and fastest; I was the
first person to turn in my test to Mr. Fortune and Mr. Allen, a
telltale sign that one has failed a test.
A true test would not be unless we handed out our tests to other
students of barista judging to correct. As we moved through the
incorrect/correct answers, I scrambled while correcting because I had
fallen prey to Tracy and Brent’s trick questions. What a
humiliation it would be to fail the written test. I had flash
nightmare of being fired from my job for being an idiot who is fooled
by trick questions, an image of Tracy and Brent laughing and pointing
at me was somewhere in there as well. After the correction period
we were passed back our papers, and then the verdict was handed out.
I PASSED!
Tomorrow I would get to judge the best of the best in the Northwest. A huge honor. |
|
|
|
|
Subscribe |
Keep yourself updated with our FREE newsletters now!
|
|
|
|
|
|
