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PU LL: EV EN T S BIG CENTRAL CHAMPS DETERMINED IN THE RING IN A CONVERTED WAREHOUSE in northeast Minneapolis' Arts District, people gather every day to do battle. Punches are thrown and landed, fighters swap jabs, looking for weaknesses, and to become champions, men and women must take body blow after body blow before claiming the ring for themselves. Well, that's a normal day at Uppercut Gym anyway; for the last weekend in October, however, the typical, muscled folks you'd regularly find at Uppercut were replaced by battling baristas from across the midsection of America, fighting for the crowns up for grabs at the North Central and South Central Brewers Cups and Barista Competitions held under the banner of the Big Central Regional. Hometown hero Café Imports served as the host for the event, along with brewing-equipment heavyweight Wilbur Curtis, and the companies reigned supreme at the space they converted from a boxing ring to a barista competition arena. But it wasn't just coffee being served at the transformed Uppercut; local beer was available, as were very cool handcrafted goods from Minneapolis' own Forage Modern Workshop, along with other local crafts and leather goods, giving the event a very social air and making it a destination for interested locals. Another special treat? A $100 gift card to Minnesota's Red Wing Shoes was the prize in a daily drawing. Sunday's winner, Josh Wismans from Colectivo Coffee, was so excited that he immediately jumped in his car and rushed over to the Red Wing store in nearby Roseville to use his prize before heading home to Wisconsin. Josh almost didn't make it back to Uppercut in time to hear his name called again, this time for winning the North Central Regional Barista Competition. "It's unbelievable!" Josh exclaims. "This is the luckiest day of my life!" Tyler Rovenstine from Oddly Correct Coffee in Kansas City, Mo., won the South Central Regional Barista Competition. "I'm Training for all Segments of the Coffee Industry Grow your passion by building your skills: from sourcing to preparation. Sign up for a class today www.cofeesolutions.net Training Partner for Probat Burns North America 26 barista magazine The top six baristas in the North Central Barista Competition, which took place in Minneapolis and was hosted by Café Imports and Wilbur Curtis. The North Central Brewers Cup, the South Central Brewers Cup, and the South Central Barista Competition took place in conjunction. still trying to process it," he says of winning. "I wasn't expecting it. I can't believe I get to go to South America!" Both regional barista champions were positively ecstatic to win a coffee professional's trip of a lifetime: Origin Trip sponsor Café Imports will take these two along with all the regional winners, plus the United States and World Barista Champions, to Ecuador in the summer of 2014. Lorenzo Perkins from Cuvee Coffee in Austin, Texas won the South Central Brewers Cup, while George Burnett from Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters in Chicago took top honors in the North Central Brewers Cup. The U.S. Brewers Cup and Barista Championship will take place in Seattle, Wash., in April at the Specialty Coffee Association of America's annual conference. —Kenneth R. Olson