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PU LL: E V EN T S THE SCAA SHOW FROM A BARISTA'S PERSPECTIVE THE ANNUAL SPECIALTY COFFEE ASSOCIATION of America's (SCAA) Expo is almost impossible to recap in its entirety. The wealth of activities throughout the weekend was too much for one person to fully experience, but each combination of lectures, classes, and competitions ensured barista edification. Beginning April 11, while carpet was laid on the show floor, the United States Barista Championship (USBC) was already underway. Spanning two days, round one flew by and advanced 12 baristas into the semifinal round to join the six regional champions to be showcased on Saturday. A barista champion for the second time, Pete Licata of Parisi Artisan Coffee in Kansas City, Mo.—the South Central Regional Champion—eased his way through the semifinal round, the finals, and to the first-place podium at this year's USBC. The competition celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2013. As a new head judge this season, I more fully understand the complexity of workflow involved in the baristas' presentation. It is no wonder most baristas bring a support team, something Katerina Babinski described as a "pit crew." In Boston to support her brother Charles, Katerina said she was blown away by the level of camaraderie and support among the barista community. Several others shared similar sentiments throughout the weekend, such as Northeast Regional Barista Champion Sam Lewontin, who with visible excitement related his opportunity to spend the first two days of the competition helping others backstage before his first appearance in the semifinal round. Meanwhile, a hive of activity surrounded the USBC stage: the premiere of the U.S. Latte Art Exhibition (won by Kenny Smith of Sunergos Coffee), the U.S. Brewers Cup (won by Erin McCarthy of Counter Culture Coffee), the U.S. Cup Tasters Championship (won by Erin Wang of Molinos de Honduras), Roaster Guild Roasters Choice Competition (won by Caitlin McCarthy-Garcia of Equator Coffee), and the BGA café. Beyond the activities hall, the show floor was full of industry goods and home to the U.S. AeroPress Championship (won by Andy Sprenger, who is a two-time U.S. Brewers Cup champ who just moved to Colorado to start his own roasting business), and a maze of classrooms prepped for industry education and discussion. Making its debut, the U.S. Latte Art Exhibition was a great success. Created by Patrick Burns of Palace Coffee in Texas and Skip Finley of competition sponsor Dalla Corte Espresso Machines, the format was fairly complex and based on the World Latte Art Championship guidelines. The goal was to pull off a professional event in the States so that the United States. could formally compete on the international stage in 2014. Sonja Grant of Iceland and Emma Markland-Webster of New Zealand were on hand to put the judges through their paces and insure a clean and effective first official foray into the World Latte Art Championship field. The Brewers Cup competition, now in its third year, brought a level of intensity from its competitors. Many went to great lengths to source coffee for the open service round. Jon Ferguson of Dogwood Coffee, for example, went to Panama before the Big Central Regional to secure Geisha from Boquete. For the U.S. level, he hand-sorted his coffee for defects, screen sorted the beans and combined size ranges to roast in batches, and finally mixed the batches which accentuated the desirable qualities to mix together for his open service coffee. Taking first place in the Brewers Cup, Erin McCarthy used the Esmeralda Geisha Leon lot in a Kalita Wave brewer. On a nearby stage, the U.S. Cup Tasters Championship pitted three competitors aganist each other in seperate time slots, with eight sets of PHOTO BY KENNETH R. OLSON The Activity Hall at the Specialty Coffee Association of America's (SCAA) show in Boston in April was home to more competitions than ever this year: the United States Barista Championship, the U.S. Brewers Cup, the U.S. La e Art Exhibition, the U.S. Cup Tasters Championship, and the Roasters Guild Roasters Choice competition. But grassroots events like the U.S. AeroPress Championship—which is completely independent from the SCAA—had their time in the sun, as well: In this photo, judges work to find a winner to send to the World AeroPress Championship in Melbourne, Australia. triangulated coffee to evaluate. The competitors were required to pick the cup that was not like the others in each triangle. The first person to identify the most correct triangulations in the least amount of time advanced. It moved so quickly that Cup Tasters seemed to be over before it began. Erin Wang placed first with the fastest time and eight out of eight correct answers. Set on the show floor at Bunn's booth, the U.S. AeroPress Championship also moved quickly. It drew an energetic crowd and creative modifications like Dut Goodman's copper-coil insulator made the competition even more interesting. Andy Sprenger won Most Innovative Method as well as first place in the competition, the awards a testament to his brewing mastery. In addition to the activity going on around the competitions and BGA Café, the Barista Nation satellite café was a first-of-its-kind pop-up designed to embrace the two focuses of the internationally acclaimed Barista Nation series: discussion and service. Several lectures were broadcast to the café classroom while roasters and baristas rotated on bar. At one point I witnessed two attendees querying Alexandra LittleJohn as to why the Verve coffee she made them tasted different than the Verve from the day before. Alex, who has been actively involved in Barista Nation as a speaker and sponsor, not only patiently and thoroughly answered their question, but also engaged them in the process of what she was doing. This kind of free-flowing education is what has made Barista Nation one of the most successful events in the industry. More than 3,500 people attended this year's SCAA event in Boston, not including exhibitors, and the feeling around the show floor had the usual family reunion feel to it. "It's always nice when we can come together in a central location," said Michael Harwood, who placed seventh in the USBC. "I look forward to it every year." —Michelle Foster LOOKING FOR MORE? Visit Barista Magazine's blog, for daily updates on coffee news and events. www.baristamagazine.com/blog 28 barista magazine