Bring It On . . . Again

Just putting the word out on the street, officially, that the next Smackdown is on for July 25 at 6:00 pm at Medici Guadalupe. Last month was a nice change of scenery, for Dallas, but I'm glad to be bringing it back home. In the future, SNS will hopefully be making some rounds around town . . . more on that one later.

Dan Streetman, United States Barista Championship Head Judge and Barista Guild of America South Central Regional Chapter Representative, will be facilitating a discussion on what it means to be a barista, what the role of a barista is and should be, as well as the place of the barista within the larger coffee community. The talk could be titled, "Barista, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 4 M's". I can't promise revolution, but I can promise some awesomeness.

As usual, they educational portion will be followed by a Latte Art Throwdown, in the usaully style . . . with milk and espresso. The theme for this months pour will be seven ounce TULIPS! The point of these theme pours are to challenge baristas to perfect and extend their repetoire, furthering the craft and artisanship fo the barista. So, time to start practising those tulips. Below is a video of how to pour a tulip. See y'all on the 25th.

Rock.

Dallas Breakdown

I'm back in Austin after an amazing barista jam in Dallas. Everything was pretty phenomenal, and we'll have some pictures to post on the Flickr page pretty soon. Heather Perry gave a wonderful "how-to" on basic espresso and milk steaming techniques, as well as encouraging everyone to join the Barista Guild of America. For more information on the BGA, contact our local chapter representative Dan Streetman at dan@cuveecoffee.com.

More than fifty people turned out to show everyone what Dallas was all about, and the support and enthusiasm from the baristas was astonishing. Dallas is starting the fire, Houston is pulling some tasty espresso, Austin is . . . still weird. All in all, Texas is kicking some ass, and I can't be happier about it.

I'll be posting some more on the upcoming SNS at Medici that will be held on July 31st. In the mean time, I hope to see some of y'all at Brown Coffee's Open House, or at Clementine's party on July 10. Late.

DFW Barista Jam Video

Here is a little video Ashlind put together for the jam . . . Start the Fire.

And that's the rest of the story . . .

More details on the Dallas barista jam have been coming in (okay, I'm actually making them up as I go along . . . but now we have a bunch of people!). The locale is a local cafe called Urban Dog Cafe, and it's so secret of a barista jam that it's not even on their website yet. It'll be held on SUNDAY (very important, as this is not on a Saturday) June 28th at 6:30 pm, with the throwdown starting at 8 pm . . . but get their early as we have a few special guest speakers.

Danny and Sherri Johns, owners of Whole Cup Consulting and facilitators of the Ultimate Barista Challenge will share some of their vast wealth of coffee business knowledge garnered from over 20 years in the business. Rounding out the educational portion of the evening is two time United States Barista Champion Heather Perry, elucidating the audience on some of the finer points of barista technique followed by a demonstration of what it takes to be Heather Perry(insert smirk here).

The same rules will apply as if this were a Saturday Night Smackdown, save for the sign up time, which will start at 6:30 pm, and the cut off time, which will end at 8:00 pm. The theme pour will be determined on site by the panel of judges, and the buy in remains $10. For any other questions refer to the rules on the right, or email me at SaturdayNightSmackdown@gmail.com.

Rock.

Ladies and Gentlemen . . . Start Your Engines!!

Something very exciting is happening in the State of Texas this month . . . Saturday Night Smackdown is being hosted in Dallas! That's right, we're taking this show on the road.

There will be a barista competition the last weekend in June, the Ultimate Barista Challenge, and we will be taking advantage of the opportunity to have everyone gathered around. The details are coming in slowly but surely, with two time USBC Champion Heather Perry making a guest appearance as our speaker, and some more surprises on the way . . . this is gonna be awesome.

I will keep you updated as more information presents itself, but for now, keep your weekend free for an awesome time in Dallas on June 28th.

The Most Successful

This past weekend brought about the beginning and the end of the most awesome Smackdown to date. One great presentation from Mike McKim of Cuvee Coffee, three delicious coffees from El Salvador, Sixteen talented and passionate baristas, one empty keg, and loads of great pictures.


Mike's presentation on processing methods was elucidating and exciting, especially when paired with washed, pulp natural, and natural processed coffees to not only see and hear, but also taste the distinction. A silent and anticipatory crowd hung onto Mike's words and savored Jose Antonio's fine work. A big thanks to Mike for taking the time to pass on a little more information that will help us all become better baristas.



Not only did we have a great number of folks show up for the educational bit, but they even stuck around for the free beer and latte art throwdown. This event had baristas from as close as Once Over Coffee Bar and Thunderbird, to as far away as Colorado Springs. The word is getting out! A sizable contigent from Dallas - the White Rock boys again - as well as baristas from Quacks 43rd Street Bakery, Clementine, unaffiliated (or over-affiliated in Tyler Wells case), and a fair number of coffee lovers made this event so much fun.


Thanks to everyone who showed up, thanks to everyone who competed, and thanks to everyone who helped me put this on. The Smackdowns are a success because of your participation. Just like the coffee world, we wouldn't be here if not for the baristas who are willing to put in the time and energy to grow their craft.

And now for the winners . . .
in no particular order the top six were . . .

Nathan Shelton from White Rock Coffee

Tyler Wells from all over the place

Ryan Van Eck of Caffe Medici


Deanna Durgis of Caffe Medici

Daniel Austin Reed of Caffe Medici

and the cash money went to ....

Jenna White of Caffe Medici!

It's on like Donkey Kong!!

May 30th is the date for this months Saturday Night Smackdown . . . same bat time, same bat place. Which for the sake of clarity means 2222b Guadalupe Street (Caffe Medici), Austin, TX 78705. We'll start sign up for the Throwdown at 5pm, first come first served and it stops at 30 people. This means a potential prize of $300 . . . holy cow!!

Cuvee Coffee's Mike McKim and Dan Streetman will be elucidating us on the finer points of coffee processing. They received some coffee from the El Salvador San Francisco Estate Cerro Las Ranas processed three different ways, Natural, Pulp Natural, and Washed. This promises to be eye opening.

There have been a couple of rule changes since the last Smackdowns, so be ready for a slightly altered format, and thanks for bearing with us as we attempt to perfect our art at perfecting your art. You can read the new rule posting by clicking the Rules and Regulations link on your right.

The two big changes are the creation of "theme pours", that is every competitor must pour into a predetermined cup size and design. The theme pour for this month is 12 ounce single rosettas . . . please remember though how varied rosettas can look and get creative. The second big change is in the scoring, half points are now given, and ties will be broken by Overall Impression scores . . . which rosetta is the most appealing and creative breaks the tie.

We'll have a pony keg of some tasty tasty beer (you know us) and we encourage you to bring a sixer of your favorite to share, or not to share. Here's to hoping the Dallas boys and the Houston boys come on down for the Smackdown in the ATX.

See y'all there.