Barista Magazine is your home for the worldwide community of coffee and the people who make it.
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/60686
said bone marrow. Laila and I order double scoops, while Sarah and Anna opt for flights: four small scoops of different flavors. We go about 15 minutes without talking about coffee for the first time all day. "I like the character of Portland, " " Anna muses. "I think that everyone who comes here from out of town (for the SCAA show) can count on something entertaining to happen that they've never seen before. Just then we recognize that the guy who was scooping our ice cream was on a recent episode of Portlandia—or so we think. The beard/ moustache/hipster chic isn't exactly a rare sighting in these parts. Anna sighs happily: "Portland's just kind of a special place. " It's getting later in the day, and we've got an eye on the clock as the departure time for Anna and Sarah's train back to Seattle approaches. We've got time for a few more stops though, we're sure of it. So we head to Coava. Laila was just here this morning; a local news channel wanted to do a segment on the finalists from the Northwest Regional Barista Competition since all six of them hail from Portland coffee companies. Folks in this town appreciate the skill level of the best baristas, and the mainstream local news—from the daily paper to the alt weeklies, to radio and TV stations—seem to go long between mentions of Portland's quirky coffee culture. So Laila spent the morning here at Coava with the guys because, you guessed it, she was the only woman in this year's final round. "They're all like my brothers anyway, " says Laila. And it's true, and it's not special to Portland. Anyone who has ever been backstage at a barista competition can attest that the feeling of community is palpable. Everyone wants to win for sure, but that doesn't mean they're not going to bear hug their buddy if he takes the title. Or she. "Heather is amazing," Laila said earlier. We were talking about the women who won the USBC in the past. Interestingly, it was a woman's game for a little while, with Heather Perry winning in 2003, Bronwen Serna in 2004, Phuong Tran in 2005, and Heather again in 2007. "She's not the kind of person who backs down on anything she cares about. I respect that." Walking into the industrial space at Coava in Southeast Portland, which is where 2011 NWRBC Champ Sam Purvis (who also is a 2012 NWRBC finalist), and 2012 NWRBC Champ Devin Chapman, who broke records this year for winning both the Northwest Brewers Cup and the NWRBC on the same day, both work, we're enveloped in hugs and coffee. Sam and Devin rush us, and Matt Higgins, owner of Coava, soon follows. We talk the guys into a late afternoon coffee break with us, and grab a table. We're not actively talking about the issues I brought Sarah, Anna and Laila together for right now—the conversation's not about being a woman in coffee, or being in the epicenter—the Pacific Northwest, and within www.baristamagazine.com 65 that, Portland—of Planet Specialty Coffee. Right now we're just smack talking, catching up. This group hasn't been together since the recent competition, and even though that was just a few weeks ago, there are lots of things to say. Watching the banter, the civility, the teasing, the respect, gives me the ending I didn't know I was looking for. This is a family that just happens to have more brothers than sisters. That's the way it swings sometimes. I'm grateful that Sarah and Anna and Laila are leaders in this industry, because they will swoop in to help a female newcomer if she needs it. But right now, looking around, and reflecting on this day we've shared within the oddness that is Portland, aka coffee Shangri-La, I realize that any number of people would, too. That's what Anna, Laila and Sarah have been saying the whole time: we're all in this together.