Suspiciously appearing on the day that Zell himself visited.
Less
More
His name is Styles. Of course it is…
Customised tampers for each Intelligentsia Venice barista.
Tim
so guess what’s up…. Cut Chemist.
Deaton
what?
Tim
get onto it. you heard it here first.
Deaton
Chemex?
Tim
Uhh… Not quite.
Article in the Evening Standard
I have to say, not the worst coffee competition pun I’ve seen in a newspaper. I think the Oregon Post said something along the lines of “They Came To Foam, To Grind, To Win.” Uhh… they did?
Over the last five weeks, I’ve managed to be at not one, not two, but four separate barista competitions - namely, The United States Western Regionals, The United Kingdom South East Regionals, The United Kingdom Championships and The United States Championships.
Very few people have in their lives the opportunity to taste the drinks, experience the technique, and be witness to the calibre of barista skill and talent that I’ve managed in just over a month. And let’s take a little look further back…
I show up to work each day met by two of the World’s most highly regard coffee professionals, who offer to brew coffee, then impart vast tracts of knowledge over a thoroughly-enjoyable paid working day!
Back from there, I was fortuitous enough to spend a great amount of time as the housemate of the reigning World Barista Champion, having preceded this by being his barista competition coach and his tasting ’sounding board’. Can I show up to the roastery, and taste a World Championship Contender’s espresso and cappuccino day-in and day-out? Uhh… Yeaaahhhh, I can probably manage that.
Back further still, and I’m in New York City for the weekend to check out Ninth Street Epsresso’s new store, and sip shots at El Beit. I’m on the Greyhound to Washinton DC for CoffeeFest and watch Justin Teisl take out the Millrock title.
So I’m just like, the luckiest guy ever, right? Well, no.
Problem the first - I’m broke. This costs a lot of money in flights, hotels and lost earnings. Problem the second - loved ones are sometimes relegated to secondary positions, and that has it’s effects. Problem the third - I have the patchiest, least coherent resume in the business, and that’s not a great thing.
Obviously all these things are my choice, and I don’t regret any of them, but the next time someone says - “Man, you are sooo lucky tasting all that espresso”, I’m gonna drain their bank account, hit them with a bad bit of jet lag, keep them up in a roasting works training competitors for hours, and hours, and hours… Then remind them just how lucky they are.
