What a crazy day! 15 of Canada’s top barista’s competed today with the closest results today. We have yet to be given any scores, but the judges mentioned that these were the most talented barista’s to ever compete in Canada.
What we do know is that Joel May from Fratello Coffee has made it to the finals, and is ranked in the top 6 of Canada.
Tomorrow we will find out who will be the 2009 Canadian champion. It is going to be a very tight competition!!!
Stay tuned, and join us on UStream.com to watch this event live.
On October 14th, Fratello’s Joel May will be competiting again in the National Canadian Barista Competition. Last year Joel finished 3rd overall in Canada, so this year we are all cheering for him to become #1.
This is a very challenging competition that takes a lot of work and constant practice. Joel will be competing with barista’s from around Canada who have each earned the chance to compete for the chance to go to London England next year with hopes of becoming the World’s top barista.
Over the past few months barista’s have been competing across Canada in Regional Competitions and only the top 3 from each region are guaranteed a spot in the Nationals. Shaw TV did a feature on the Prarie Regional’s held at Fratello Coffee early September. Please watch this video which helps explain what the competition is about.
The top baristas in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Yukon will gather in Calgary on Saturday, September 12, 2009 to compete in the the 2009 Prairies Regional Barista Championships.
The second annual event, held this year at Fratello Coffee Roasters in Calgary, will feature 11 competitors from the prairies region. Each competitor has 15 minutes to prepare and serve 12 coffee beverages—four espresso, four cappuccino, and four signature drinks. Four sensory judges, two technical judges and one head judge evaluate each performance, including the taste of beverages served, cleanliness, creativity, technical skill and overall presentation of the competitors.
The top three scoring competitors earn the right to compete at the Canadian National Barista Championship, October 14 & 15 in Vancouver, as well as travel bursaries and a prize package. The public is invited to attend the event free of charge and enjoy beverages prepared by competitors at the complimentary espresso bar. The event will be broadcast live on Ustream. A link and further details can be found on the event website at http://2009prbc.com/
Also – this Friday September 11 is a Barista Jam – Open to all Professional Barista’s and coffee enthusiasts. We’ll be hanging out, pulling shots and warming up for the competition. There will also be a Latte Art Throwdown, $5 buy-in winner take all. P.S. beer will be served ;-)
On Friday, September 5, there is a Barista Jam to be held at Kawa Espresso Bar located at 1331 – 8 St SW. All Pro Barista and the home enthusiasts alike are welcome. There is a $5.00 cover for entry with all proceeds generated from the entry, competition and silent auction going to support Coffee Kids. This is a great cause and this is sure to be a great event. For more information on how you can become involved, you can contact Elyse at ebouvier@gmail.com. Otherwise we’ll see you there. For those who’ve never participated in a Jam with the inevitable Throw-down, it’sa ton of fun and an excellent opportunity to meet other coffee enthusiasts, and industry professionals alike. Plus Elyse has arranged for a couple of great DJ’s.
For more info on Coffee Kids, you can visit their website at www.coffeekids .org.
So I finally figured out how to post on this thing… Took me long enough… I wanted to do a short recap on my experience in my first Barista Competition at the 1st Prairie Region Barista Competition held here at Fratello and Espuccino. We had a great field of 13 competitors of which I’m proud to say I was one, competing over the 2 day event.
For many of us, it was our first experience in this kind of event and despite the fact that many Barista can pound out top-notch drinks at high speed, it’s a whole new animal when you add in camera’s, spectators, up to 50 people watching online at any given time, oh and a time limit, judges, and the necessity of a running commentary. You get the idea. It’s fun and scary all at the same time.
For myself, I’m pretty proud of how I did. I don’t think I actually slept all that much on Friday night as I was mentally reviewing my routine over and over (and over and over). Since I’d never done this before, I really had no idea what to expect. I took away a LOT of great lessons, many of which will now help me be a better Barista trainer. I also met some great people. This fact alone made the event worthwhile. In the end I finished 4th and I tip my hat to all of the competitors.
An interesting thing that I experienced was that of the two days. I was actually more nervy on Sunday than on Saturady. (Read the rest of this post)
Prior to the Barista Competition will be a Barista Jam, held at Cappuccino King.