Pacific Bay Coffee Co.

What a weekend! I truly hope that all who attended had a good time. We sure did.

Ben Perkins, our barista and first time competitor did a great job and came in at a very respectable 13th place out of 38. Well done Ben! We are proud. Check out photos of Ben here and the entire weekend (including our own Barista Stephanie fire dancing) here.

Some of the non-competition part highlights include:

• The Gaia Art Center was packed, we estimate over 1000 came during the weekend & Friday, March 28 was declared Specialty Coffee Day in Berkeley by Mayor Tom Bates.

• 38 competitors, 27 judges, 55 sponsors, and more than 100 volunteers made this event happen (it was completely sponsor and volunteer driven. Thank you to all those that helped make it all work!)

• Over 1000 cups of Clover brewed coffee (the company recently acquired by Starbucks) and many more espressos and cappuccinos were served free to attendees at the “4th Machine” (3 espresso machines are used in the competition, the 4th one is for the attendees to enjoy)

• $513 in tips from the 4th Machine was raised for Coffee Kids

• Baristas for Bikes/Bikes to Rwanda raised just under $3,187!

“The 2008 WRBC was a fantastic event not only for total funds raised for the organization but more importantly for building key relationships with cafes, roasters, and industry individuals that believe in our programs and want to help us to reach our goals.

The farmers in Rwanda are looking to us to bring transportation resources that will improve their coffee and in the end help in economic development.

We look forward to furthering the connections we made and completing the circle from consumer to roaster to producing farmer.

Thanks to everyone who helped us achieve such a success.”

Clara Seasholtz, Executive Director, Bikes to Rwanda

The weekend got great press too! Click on the links to read, hear and see the coverage.

Berkeley’s Specialty Coffee Day Declaration

KCBS Newstalk 740AM Radio (About the Bay with Mike Sugarman featuring John Laird, Pacific Bay Coffee / Jer Swigart, Open Door / Kerry Laird, Pacific Bay Coffee / Chris Baca, Ritual Coffee / Brent Fortune, Crema Cafe + Bakery / Ellie Matuzak, Coffee Solutions / Sarah Allen, Barista Magazine)

NPR KQED / California Report Radio (with Lisa Morehouse featuring David Latourell, Clover / Lisa Suela / John Laird, Pacific Bay Coffee / Kyle Glanville, Intelligentsia / Chris Baca, Ritual Roasters

ABC Channel 7 News (with Lyanne Melendez featuring Giovanni Sacco, Coffee Creek / Ellie Matuzak, Coffee Solutions / Keith Gerhke, Flying Goat / Kerry Laird, Pacific Bay Coffee / John Laird, Pacific Bay Coffee / Noe Castro, Guatemala 2006 Barista Champ)

Oakland Tribune /San Jose Mercury Newspapers (featuring Jared Truby, Verve Coffee Roasters / Kerry & John Laird, Pacific Bay Coffee

We still have a few event t-shirts and other collectibles - look for them in our Walnut Creek cafe while supplies last!

1st Place: Chris Baca “you are beautiful”

2nd Place: Kyle Glaneville

3rd Place: Heather Perry

The Queen leaves her pedistal.  And Ryan Brown is crying with tears of happiness for Christopher Baca.

4, 5, and 6 will be announced next week by Michelle Campbell and the SCAA

Join the Barista Guild of America at www.baristaguildofamerica.org and work on your barista skills with others just like you.

Donate to “Bikes to Rwanda” at www.bikestorwanda.org and help make coffee growers lives easier.

Thank you to John and Kerry for putting on an amazing event.

Thank you to Michelle Campbell for all her hard work.  Without her, none of this would happen.

We will see you next year!

Ryan Wilbur from Intelligentsia. He starts preparation on his signature drink.  Demands them to turn up the music while he prepares his capps.  The room is thumping.   He uses the dosorless mazzer. The espresso drips out and he throws them out.  He begins again.  He show the tech judges his good shots and resumes by steaming milk.  He pours and caramel heart.  The crema floats to the surface. 4 hearts served with pleasure and butterscotch sweetness.  Hip hop plays. He refills sparkling water for the judges to cleans there pallots. 

Espresso.  Lime, toasted almonds, and butterscotch. 

He is using a long cylindrical flute, which bells out at the lip.  He pours a cream on top of the espresso.  The crowd chatters and we can’t hear a word he is saying.  Shhhhhhh!  He uses a shaker and adds hibiscus flower and chocolate notes.  45 seconds remain.  He scurries to clean his station.  He calls time with 2 seconds remaining.  The crowd cheers.

Drew describes his passion to make coffee for coffee lover.  He will be using a Brazil and Ethiopian Blend.  He starts out with a capp, by dosing out all the coffee that may be trapped in the grinder. He tamps with incredible precision. Drew is a first time competitor and has come far within his knowledge.  He is incredibly humble and crazy guy.  He has learned from the best: Gabe, Ryan, and Chris at Ritual Coffee.  He serves his capp with shaky hands, but the rest of his body in incredibly relaxed.  He starts his espresso.

Orange, caramel, with a dark chocolate finish.  5 minutes remain.  The music picks up and Drew is on the final finish.  He moves diligently preparing his signature beverage.  His tamp is incredible.

Signature Drink. He has infused an orange zest, vanilla bean, which is inspired by his coffee and and ice cream that he had in Dolores Park in San Francisco. He makes the beverage with ice.  Sweat is dripping from his forhead.  He is shaking.  The crowd cheers him on.  He calls time with 1 second remaining. What a great job.  Go Drew.

Heather is from Coffee Klatch, which is in San Dimas.  Heather rubs her hands. Her blend is comprised of coffee from the Americas, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.  She describes her signature drink with smiles and stories of its creation. 

She begins with a capp made of organic milk, which adds a sweet butteriness.  Jana dives to eye level of her tamp, inspecting to see if it is off.  She instructs the judges of what she wants them to do.  She controls them, she is trying to own them.  She pours nearly perfect rosettas.  She says that she loves the sensuality of the capp.  The crowd cheers.  She clears all un-needed pitchers and begins the espresso.  7 minutes remaining.

Espresso.  Body with hints of berry.  The crema looks incredible: caramel and golden brown with flecking.  Jazz is her music of choice. She uses a Mazzer Major doser grinder, but is still able to have nearly no waste.  It is incredibly difficult to do. 

Signature drink.  Comprised of an almond cream that had heated and cookes for 24 hours.  The cream floats on top of the espresso and the back of the glass is spritzed with lemon rine.  The crowd cheers and she called time at 14:59.

Hello again!  This is Sean from Temple Coffee in Sacramento, Ca.

The Gaia Art Center is starting to fill up with chatter boxes.  Nick Griffith from Intelligentsia is scrutinizing the clean machine.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with this process, the details are what separate first place from second.  Nick is amazingly come and collect during competition.  His hands are like the stealth bomber: quick and incredibly smooth.  It looks easy to him.

Sarah Allen runs through all the sponsors: clap, clap, clap.

 There is a big round of applause.

Sarah explains the details of judging: sensory, technical, and head judges.  Brent and Lana will be the head judges.  Brent looks intense and stressed, but looks good in black.

Nick has 4 1/2 minutes set-up time left.  The audience is very quiet.  Chris Baca from Ritual Coffee Roasters inspects his station.  Move grinders to exact placement.  His personality in public is loose and inviting, but on stage he is calm, collect, and methodical.  He knows how important the details are if he is going to take down the forever reigning champion-Heather Perry.

Are judges are:

Brent:head judge

Lana and Jana Oppenheimer: technical judges

Andrew Barnett: sensory judge

Nick Griffith: 1st competitor

Begins his time. He uses a Rwanda, Brazil two bean blend.  He starts toasting almonds for his signature drink.  He pulls his espresso with a dosorless Mazzer grinder.  While waiting for his second round of shots-he cleans.

Vibrant acidity, beautiful mouth feel.  The crowd claps. He has 12 minutes left.

He starts his espresso for the capps.  The judges do a visual look at his just with intent.  They are looking for perfection.  The steam milk foam.  He pours a heart, and then another.  All hearts.  The crowd claps.  A little hip-hop, his music of choice.

He stirs almonds and they are toasty.  The smell fills the room.  I hope that this does not heart Baca’s presentaion.  Everyone with be tasting almonds.  Nick fills the waters. He shows the judges his shots of espresso for his signature drink.  He wanted to create a drink that could be enjoyed for a long period of time. Smell the aroma, “take a sip and enjoy.” 1 1/2 minutes left and he begins to clean his station.  The crowd cheers.  He calls time at 14:04.  He is satisfied with the cleanliness of his station. Next up, Chris Baca from Ritual Coffee Roasters.

Chris Baca: 2nd competitor

He is a big single-origin fan.  He will start out with capps.

Are you ready to see Chris Baca.  He pushes the red star.  The best thing he finds about training at Ritual is watching people fall in love with coffee.

 He will be starting out with a single-origin capp.  He preps his signature cheesecake drink and begins his capps.  He grinds out any stale coffee in the grinder.  He sets the portafilter on the counter for aromatics and to save the crema for the judges. He steams milk silky and very quietly.  The tech judges peer over his shoulders.  The espresso is golden brown.  He asks the judges to smell the coffee before he pours milk into the capps.  He pours them table side.  The judges will love this.  He speaks of the way the coffee was grown, expressing his ethusiasm for the bean.  He throws out some coffee and begins again.  He pours the espresso.

Espresso course.  Caramel notes with a lime finish.  The crowd cheers.  He doses shots for his signature beverage.  A cherry lime reduction.  Cream cheese, powdered sugar, for the meat and potatoes of the drink.  He floats the cream on top.  He rushes to clean up the station.  Calls time at 14:58. Next up, Kyle Glanville.

Kyle Glanville: 3rd competitor

Kyle is from Intelligentsia Coffee Roaster in Los Angeles.  The cowd claps.  He will be serving an espresso made up of 3 different Brazils: chocolate, winey, syrupy.  He speaks about his signature beverage just prior to starting the espresso.  His signature drink is actually warming in front of the judges, which is uncommon but a great attribute to the beverage experience.

Espresso is served, instucting them to swirl the cup to pick up the sweetness in the cup.

He adds more beverages to the signature drink. and then starts on the capps. He uses a dosorless Mazzer grinder.  I think, being a tech judge, that it gives the competitors a huge advantage on waste.  Next year, they will have to use the grinder supplied by the sponsors.  He pours rosettas with his shaking hands.  The crowd claps.  Brent, the head judge sips on them all and makes an assesment.  Kyle continues to modulate his signatured drink preparation.  He has 5 minutes left.  He fills the waters.

The signature drink.  He pours his espresso into long cylindrical flutes.  He uses cardomon and macadamia nuts, which are strained and added to the espresso and topped with ice cream. He serves them and the crowd claps and screams. 20 seconds remaining.  He call “time” at 15:00.  Next up, Heather Perry with her new hair cut.  I give it a 5 out of 6.  She means business.

Sean from Temple Coffee is here to announce the Finalist for the 2008 WRBC.

Clap for the wonderful host Pacific Bay and all the sponsors (i’m sorry, but there is too much love to list).

Awards for “Bikes to Rwanda.” Barista for Bikes is a non profit organization, which takes donations to provide bikes and maintenance For Rwandans. 

Thank you to the head judge Brent and Lana.

Lots of clapping for all the wonderful judges who sacrifice their time for all the baristas!

A thank you for all the baristi who participated.

Applause for the Laird family for putting on the best event.

Not in any particular order, the Top 6 who move to the finals. The official ranking of the Top 6 will be announced tomorrow.

1.Kyle Glanville from Intelligentsia

2.Ryan Wilbur from Intelligentsia

3.Drew Cattlin from Ritual Coffee

4.Heather Perry from Coffee Klatch

5.Chris Baca from Ritual Coffee

6.Nick Griffith from Intelligentsia

Best Espresso: Heather Perry from Coffee Klatch

Best Signature Drink: Heather Perry from Coffee Klatch

Most Promising Newcomer: Drew Cattlin from Ritual Coffee Roasters (I love you man)

Congratulations to all the finalist and newcomers.

I am taking a nap in preparation for the Ritual Coffee Party tonight.  See you there!

is a good thing.  Raising money for Rwandan coffee farmers to buy bikes, so they can transport their own coffee to market, cutting down the middlemen and increasing profits to those who work for coffee.  find out more here: http://bikestorwanda.com/

thanks to Pac. Bay for organizing this competition: i’ve had a good time. 

tunes: birdland.  <3 

esp: dry processed Brazil and Sumatra, washed Kenya and Ethiopian.  brought coffee cherries to eat.  neat!  are they good?  maybe i can scam one later.  honeysuckle and jasmine flavors, apparently.  esp. is totally pale and fast; ~ 10 sec. shot.  seriously? did i see wrong?  peach and apricot, fragrant fruits in the esp., she says.  yum.  if she pulls as good as she talks, Janelle Bel Isle could be a contender. 

capp: shots are slow and drippy, never evening out.  2nd set are much better, but a little fast.  crema is flecky, but looks light from here.  many-lobed rosetta, but no ring of crema.  texture is smooth and creamy.  2nd shot crema is nice and red, minimal flecking.  using Horizon milk, organic, to bring up chocolate and honey.  “dairy is an integral part of what we do as baristas.” foam is good, tight, heals instantly; at least, one of them does.

sig: macchiato twist. esp. pours nicely, dark, if a little uneven.  channeling? crema is bright red.  lovely rosettas on 2 oz. cups, with full ring of foam.  a little hand shake: next year, bananas.  anise extract, black strap molasses, milk.  this makes black licorice, which she doesn’t like, (me neither!) but she likes how they make this drink creamy and sweet.  served 12:25, setting, perhaps, a new record for speed.  impressive knowledge of origin coffees and their flavors, impressive speed and devotion to craft.  Especially for a first timer.  she is also invited to my imaginary afterparty.  see you there.

jazz. Heather Perry sounds like a tour guide.  She is guiding us on a tour of coffee.

capp: organic milk for sweetness and butteriness. esp is nice-colored and honey-thick, if a little uneven.  Heather Perry is our city on a hill.  offhandedly elegant rosettas. texture and thickness of milk look good.  served 7:01.  toasted almond and cocoa.  Heather Perry has clearly thought long and deeply about what she wants to convey with her speeches, and her points are impassioned.  her tone of voice, however, is  evenly modulated and rehersed, as if she’s reading from cards.  it’s a little unnerving.  because she’s reciting, when she goes off script she has to backtrack.  if that’s the worst anyone can say about her, she’s doing ok. 

 esp: Brazil Poco Fundo, natl. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Sumatra.  hints of berry. served 9:32.

sig: “Cindy’s Special” based on her mom’s favorite drink. Lemon zest, reconstituted figs, white and brown sugar for cleanness and molasses. warmed together.  cream in tiny cute pitchers, esp has good volume.  poured over fig syrup into large martiny glasses, the crema heals immediately.  chocolate flavor w/out actual chocolate? neat!  almond syrup forms a barrier between esp. and cream.  lemon peel “spritz” on the glass, to awaken senses.  interesting combination of flavors, textures and temperatures. served 14:45, time 15:00. 

It must be a high-pressure job, being Heather Perry, with the eyes of the world upon her.  neat to hear how she brought 3 blends and 5 single origins, so she could modify the blend on the spot.  clearly she’s still excited about espresso.  good to see a person maintain that level of excitement through so much work, time, and- new competitor!  whee!