blindfolded latte art competition.

from the september smackdown.
told in pictures because they are easier than words!

we had three esteemable judges:
cavason


august winner tyler wells:


and juan. he's awesome:


some nice people showed up.
like clancy rose and patrick hallett:

cameron. did you know he makes awesome movies?

andy pants, but he had to be there. the bosses required it.

justin, from medici. he doesn't like having his picture taken.

and some sweet folks from flipnotics came, too.
lisa and elliott!

the nice guys from white rock coffee:


meg, wife of douglas from waterfalls.


and many more:


and shortly after the photographer's camera died,
first place went to dan streetman and clancy rose of cuvée coffee:

and second place went cameron burr and ryan van eck, from caffé medici:

and third place went to jen hellow (that's me!) and jenée ovitt of once over coffee bar:


and then dan streetman told us a joke:


so much fun, you guys! many many many thanks to rob and jenée from once over for being delightful hosts.

much affection:
jen hellow

October News on the Status of the Smackdown

Hey everyone,

I know this hasn't been updated in a while, but I managed to pry myself away from my beautiful La Marzocco for a moment and I'm back on the computer.

Word on the street is that the blind folded tag team awesomeness that was the Smackdown at Once Over Coffee Bar was a huge success. An update from barista/photographer/all around awesome chick Jen Hellow will be coming soon.

If any of you have looked at your calenders recently you will have noticed that the schedule for this months Smackdown falls squarely on Halloween. Hmm. Now, I love coffee as much as the next person, but I don't want to miss stuff like this. So the Smackdown is officially-unofficially on the move for October.

A good friend and great barista Dave from Tuscany Coffee in Houston has put together an awesome latte art throwdown for charity on Friday, October 30. It's going to be lots of fun, and some sweet prizes have been donated, AND it all goes to benefit an amazing coffee charity. Below is a little info on the event and a link to Dave's blog for some more details and directions. I hope that all of you can make the drive to Houston to support a great cause, pour some sick lattes, and have a great time.

Rock.

Charity Latte Art Throwdown

Charity Event Details

Coffee Kids helps children of farmers go to school rather than work on the family farm.This event will help raise money to Coffee Kids by donating all cash raised from the function to Coffeekids.org! Even Coffeegroundz has committed a portion of the sales from the night to go towards Coffee Kids.Sponsors of the event will be listed as generous donors to Coffee Kids as well as be displayed at the event in levels of donation. Door prizes and competitor prizes will also be donated by charitable companies. Every ticket sold will have a name written on the back. After the event we will compose an email to Coffee Kids displaying all names of ticket donors!If you know of any companies who would love to make a charitable donation, please email me at tuscanycoffee@gmail.com