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 .com.

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.

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