Event: Midwest Regional Barista Competition
Jan 12, 2009 St. Louis, coffee, events, missouri
In other Kaldi’s Coffee news, don’t forget they are once again hosting the SCAA’s Midwest Regional Barista Competition. Last year’s event, held at Third Degree Glass factory, was a huge success and this year’s is shaping up to be even better. Changing venues to the Soulard Preservation Hall, I’ve heard rumors that several baristas from local shops not represented last year will be competing. For coffeegeeks, this is exciting news, and I’m hoping it will add a new dimension to the local barista pool. However, with the depth of talent at the Crescent Kaldi’s, and two top five performances for them last year, Kaldi’s is still the local shop to beat.
Kaldi’s, however, has a formidable opponent in the PT’s Coffee crew who will once again be rolling in from Topeka, KS. Taking first and third last year, their barista, Pete Licata, took the the top spot before going on to receive second place nationally in the United States Barista Competition. (It seems Pete works for Kaldi’s now) Additionally–though not barista news–another strong showing for them would be like icing on the cake as they were recently named the 2008 Roast Magazine [Macro] Roaster of the Year.
As for the remaining spot in last year’s top five, it went to a barista from one of Kansas City’s top shops, The Roasterie. Like last year, their competitors should be good and relaxed for the event as, even when they aren’t bagging trophies, they prove they know how to ride in style.
Full details on the competition can be found at kaldiscoffee.com, but the general break down of the weekends events is as follows:
- Friday, January 30, 2009: Round 1: Day 1
- Saturday, January 31, 2009: Round 1: Day 2
- Sunday, February 1, 2009: Final Round
After the jump, check out Pete Licata’s winning performance from last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Kaldi's Coffee, Midwest Regional Barista Competition, Pete Licata, PT's Coffee, The Roasterie
SCAA Midwest Regional Barista Competition
Feb 10, 2008 Illinois, coffee, general food
SCAA Midwest Reginonal Barista Competition Round 1 Day 2 that is…
I’m not yet styling a DSLR like some of the other photo snappers I saw (McCracken), so while I’m sure some better shots will come out of the weekend, what I lack in quality I make up for in swiftness to the web.
On my initial quest for good cappuccino in St. Louis Ellie and I somehow found ourselves in St. Charles at Picasso’s Coffeehouse. Alex worked there, and he was the first person in the city I didn’t have to have a conversation with about what I wanted. He just did it right.
On the weekends we knew he was working we’d go after dinner. And then one day he was gone.
Honestly, I was pissed. It was like losing a dealer; until I found Goshen Coffee that is.
So then Matt tells me he’s hiring a new barista/sales guy for Goshen a few months ago. “Alex” he tell’s us. Ellie and I churn it over, put two and two together, and sure enough, it’s Alex…”Picasso” Alex…our Alex.
You’d be pressed to find someone more enthusiastic than Alex about coffee in St. Louis, and I personally find the whole thing pretty amazing because he was barely 20 when we first met him. He’s 21 now.
If you want a good shot of espresso go to Goshen when he’s working and have him pull the single origin yirgacheffe.
He’s from PT’s Coffee. PT’s is based out of Topeka, KS, but he is the manager of their store in Overland Park.
Where Alex seemed a bit nervous competing for the first time and didn’t talk much, Licata seemed a lot more relaxed about the whole thing. And he should be. Licata came in second at the US Barista Competition last year, and was therefore the alternate in the World Barista Competition in Japan.
Though I’ve never seen one of these competitions before I can only assume he did not perform as well as he must have at the national competition last year, because his latte art was a bit sketchy from pour to pour. Still you could tell he has skills, and although I didn’t stick around to see who made it to the finals tomorrow, I’d imagine he did fairly well.
Congratulations to everyone that competed though. I’ll be the first one to tell you your coffee sucks, but I can’t even pull a shot of espresso now can I?
But then I don’t have an espresso machine either
If anybody has about $1000 extra dollars to pitch in on a used Rancillio S27, I’ll be happy to practice my heart out and pull you a shot. Another $500 for a Mazzer Mini grinder would be cool too.
Thanks to David from Kaldi’s for the rule info. He made some sort of umami heavy specialty shot with mackerel and seaweed that was far to involved for me to remember. I’m curious what it tasted like.
And here’s the rest of the flickr photo set from Round 1 Day 2:
Tags: barista, cappuccino, espresso, Goshen Coffee, Kaldi's Coffee, latte art, Midwest Regional Barista Competition, PT's Coffe
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