Pacific Bay Coffee Co.

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!

esp: 3 brazils: natural, citrus acidity, body, chocolate & winey notes.  after Marie’s performance, about 1/3 of the audience left and the room temp. dropped about 5 degrees.  Bad luck for the grind, buddy.  esp. served 2:10- nice.  notices the flavor difference at different strata: geolicious!

capp: overdoses considerably, barely tamps.  is this to bring out a richer flavor with full volume? classic white diner cups add a modest elegance.  esp. is rich and red, slightly pale, no flecking.  4 visually correct hearts, varying quality but impressive.  Devin’s cool, professional demenor matches his music.  served 8:45.

sig: crushed fennel seed steeped in original Strauss milk to bring out earthy esp. notes.  minouka? honey from New Zealand to round off the black licorice flavor.  fennel has steeped for appx. 5 min, and Devin steams the milk w/ satchel in.  milk over honey, esp. over to make a lovely parfait between the milk and foam.  Intelligentsia are consumately professional.  served 13:23, and Devin uses extra time for clean-up and a final pass at the judges’ water glasses.  Eat bananas? good advice.  Devin’s cups did not rattle.  I thought it was because Intelligentsia are consumate professionals, but now i blame the bananas. 

Man, Intelligentsia are good!  Both Devin and Kyle had well-thought out, measured, professional, very impressive performances.  The only person who might top that would be Heather Perry.

Oh, she’s next.  I am having a good day.

Judges: Sean Komescher of Temple, Robert Myers of Peets.

our Marie, grinning largely.  Element 114 espresso: 5 beans including brazils santa colombo and poco fundo and 2 Ethiopians, including ghimbi.  tunes: post-indie pop and acid jazz. Architecture in Helsinki, i think.

esp:  using Barefoot customized Reg Barber: stylish.  esp. is a little slow, but thick and dark.  crema is thickly flecked but thin, volume ~.75 oz. ‘1st sip has tang, then syrupy body and cacao flavors.  then citrus comes through.’

i don’t know where we got those big foot pillows, but, whichever sewing angel saw fit to bestow them upon us: thank you.  and whoever thought to bring them from the cafe: thank you. they are ridiculous, and i like them.

capp: several-lobed hearts, full thick ring of crema. foam looks thick, perhaps a little coarse. second set of shots are thinner and trickly: Marie tosses them. at 8:17, that’s a little bold. replacement shots are nice and thick. dedication! Strauss barista milk. adds sweetness, but doesn’t overwhelm coffee flavor. maintains visually correct art, heavy dark flecking carries through the milk. foam is indeed thick, but a little stiff. served @ 10:35.

sig: mousse w/ cherimoya, contrast cacao while emphasizing fig and citrus. using wild Ethiopian coffee blossom honey. averts disaster as tall ingredients tip. saved! the whipped cream charger is giving a little trouble, but surmounted. cute little beds of green coffee beans and auburn cherimoya seeds for classy glass of red esp. and white mousse. served 15:20- the price of remaking a shot.

barefoot staff and allies make up about 15% of the total population, i think. we are having a huge coffee party. this is different from daily life? no.

judges: Brian Cornelsen, Ed Whitman

J. gets into it with a little info about his store.  tunes: 90’s poprock & soft punk.

esp: 4 bean blend- brazil fazenda nat. process dried; woody.   geisha? vareital panama nat. process; bourbon varietal from colombia, washed. short volume, good red crema w/ strong dark flecked crema.  served 12:15.

capp:  2nd grinder esp. from Echo in Santa Rosa; also features Fazenda.  milk is original Strauss. both grinders are Mazzers. crema thin & broken. good texture foam & nice rosetta, not visually correct.  thin on at least one.  pulled together the visuall correct for the last capp.  crema held better for the last 2. 

sig: nuttiness of Cashueira? is brought out by Strauss.  sig is inspired by Italian coffee community.  espresso over ice: scandal!  but he’s bringing the temp. of esp. down by mixing w/ honey-infused cream.  “basic philosophy about using local and preferably organic items.” almonds are local, honey is CA wildflower honey, and Strauss is Strauss.  nifty little hand-mixer to whip the cream.  creaminess as contrast to nutty espresso.  shaken, not stirred.  sorry, and stirred.  whipped.  anyway.  crushed almonds on top.  season to taste!  served in wine glass, the flavors of the drink are captured and the aromas sent upwards.  time @ 14:17. 

acknowledges the contradiction of focusing on local sourcing in the coffee arena, but his point stands.  earnest and professional, clearly dedicated to his craft.  enjoys the unpredictability of non-homogenized Strauss milk.