The Prairie Coffee Project is a movement, a hope, and a passion to create a better understanding and appreciation of truly fine coffee. It is a group of specialty coffee roasters and cafés across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who put aside differences and competition in order to promote the art and craft of roasting and serving exceptional coffee. It is an ongoing discussion and collaboration of the techniques, tools and processes for making remarkable coffee. It is a place for coffee enthusiasts to learn more about all aspects of coffee, and to be inspired by and connect with the professional coffee community.  It is one more step on the journey toward better coffee.

One of the main activities of the Prairie Coffee Project is hosting an annual barista competition and coffee symposium. The Prairies Regional Barista Competition is an event where professional baristas have 15 minutes to prepare 12 coffee beverages and give a presentation to a panel of sensory and technical judges. The performances are evaluated on taste, technical merit and creativity. The top scoring baristas advance to the Canadian National Barista Competition.  To see photo’s from last years competition click HERE.Coffee enthusiasts of any kind, both professional and “home baristas” are welcome to attend this event held on August 6th at Fratello Coffee Roasters.  Admission is FREE and you will have the opportunity through out the day to sample coffees made from baristas/cafes from around Calgary along with complimentary food/snacks.  To top it off, Alley Burger (of Charcut) will be cooking their famous hamburgers to purchase from 11:30-3:00.   So make sure you come and cheer on your favourite baristas from your favourite cafes!

The Coffee Symposium, a new event for 2011, is presented along with the Prairie Regional Barista Competition. It is a series of hands-on workshops and  classes to teach coffee drinkers how to brew better coffee at home, how to taste and evaluate coffee, and how to better understand and experience the joys of complex, nuanced coffee.

Other events such as barista jams, coffee tastings, brewing courses and other gatherings will be planned throughout the year.   And the discussion and conversation around great coffee will continue online.

We want you to get involved.  We are going to need volunteers at these events.  Please sign up HERE if you wish to volunteer or HERE if you want to compete in these events.

This is a quick post to say congratulations to Joel May, one of our barista trainers at Fratello Coffee, for finishing 3rd place over all in the National Canadian Barista Competition.  This is a HUGE accomplishment for Joel & Fratello.  The competition was very steep this year and to even move on to the Canadian finals was great, let alone the top 3!!

This is Joel’s 3rd year in a row finishing in the top 6 in Canada.  We hope he is proud, because we sure are!

Get involved behind the scenes or just come out to cheer on your favoriet baristas.

This is open to all of the public and is being held at:

Fratello Coffee Roasters

4021 – 9th Street SE

Calgary, Alberta

Tickets are available for $5.00 at the door.   Entrance also gives you the ability to win the 50/50 draw at the end of the evening.

We’ll have a Hario bar set up, brewing the best from Fratello, P&S, Transcend and Square Mile

There will also be a silent-auction to raise money for Coffee Kids and The Mustard Seed.

Of course, there will also be a latte-art throw down…so, bring your bring your wallet

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.

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 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

See you guys this Friday & Saturday !

Here is a Schedule of Events for all compeditors

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.

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.  I don’t think it was because it was the finals versus prelims, I think it ‘s the old case of a little knowledge can be dangerous.  What I mean by that is that on Saturday, I was soo fucused on what I was doing that I had no time to think about much.  Sunday I was feeling a little bit better going in and then I said “Go”…  I think it cost me and chalk it up to lessons learned.

All in all, I had a great time, and I hope that others did as well.  I can hardly wait for my next chance to compete and attend an event like this.  Be it a Jam or official competition, I think it’s all great.

I would like to offer thanks to Russ, Chris and Jason Prefontaine for their support and the push.  John, thanks for your critical eye and excellent advice and support, next year?  Frankly, everyone from Fratello and Espuccino put a lot of effort into gettingthe place ready and helped me immensely and deserve a huge thanks.  

Cheers, Joel

This will be a great time for competitors & non-competing baristas to get together and hang out, talk espresso and have a latte art throwdown !

This will also be a Q&A time for judges and competitors and to demonstrate the format that we’ll follow at the competition.

Agenda:

3:00 – 4:00pm: Set up @ Cappuccino King. They’ll provide two 2gp machines and you’re welcome to bring your own coffee and grinder.

4:00 – 5:00pm: Introduction and meet & greet

5:00 – 7:30pm: Competitor routines, Q&A

7:45 – 9:00pm: Latte Art Throwdown. $5 buy in…Followed by pizza & beer

Barista Jam
Date: May 17
Time: 4 pm – 9 pm
Where: Cappuccino King Calgary