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They came. They saw. They extracted.
The medal-winning Barista is a relatively new phenomenon,
and the idea of Barista championships is getting more
popular. But apart from the machismo of serving the
perfect macchiato, there’s a serious purpose behind
these competitions – promoting quality coffee.
Now, if you don’t mind,
I need to get back to perfecting my wand technique.
While we haven’t seen any of
them quite come to blows, Barista competitions are fiercely
contended. The idea took off in 2000, with the inaugural
World Barista Championships in Monte Carlo – the
2003 competition was in Boston.
A few facts first. Despite single–handedly
conceiving the speciality coffee market, America has
yet to make top three in a final. Instead, Scandinavian
entrants have dominated the competition – Norway,
Iceland and Denmark are particularly strong.
And ‘world’ really does
mean ‘world’ – with Baristas from India
and Russia making the top six. (First-time-entrants
Russia even hired a coach – coffee guru Luigi Lupi.)
But the 2003 winner – and custodian
of the golden tamper – was Paul Bassett from Sydney.
Paul’s already visited Matthew Algie in Glasgow
– and steered our Managing Director David Williamson
to the finest cup of coffee on his recent world tour.
So how do you get to be world champion?
Each region holds a qualifying round,
with a total of 24 Baristas making it to the final.
There, they have 15 minutes (the, ahem, ‘performance
period’) to make four espressos, four cappuccinos
and four ’signature‘ drinks.
The contestants choose which drinks
get judged – so it’s OK if one or two don’t
quite make the grade. But the Barista isn’t measured
by the taste of their drinks alone. Oh no. Judges are
looking for presentation of the coffee, technique and
personal presentation of the Barista.
Judges award points for all-round
perfection, including the quality of the contestant’s
banter. (Baristas are kitted out with a microphone so
that they can talk to the audience.)
Then there’s the equipment.
All that’s supplied is an espresso machine and
a grinder. Everything else must be provided by the Barista
– from coffee and milk, through to cups and a CD
to play during their slot.
It’s a serious business –
the competition organisers describe the event as ‘…the
Olympic Games for professional coffee makers’.
Albeit without the lycra, isotonic drinks and perfectly
honed physiques. So the rules are pretty strict about
coaching from the sidelines or help fetching equipment
and supplies. Both are grounds for disqualification.
But it’s not just rulebooks
and ristrettos. The idea is to promote quality and creativity
in the coffee business – as well as sharing new
ideas. And even if it does get a little po-faced, the
end result – better coffee – has got to be
a Good Thing.
This article originally appeared
in Fresh 14
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