Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2012

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WORLD BARISTA CHAMPION 2012 espresso (the semi pulped natural), two judges had natural profile and two had washed profile. After they had a sip, I added the yellow bean to all of them because it just gives an herbal tea finish and highlights the flavors of the coffee. After the normal sips, I told them to switch drinks so they could have the whole experience: natural and washed profile. My reasoning behind this is (that) often, when you go to a restaurant with friends, you end up sharing different things to try different things. We are all friends, so why not (share) the coffee? SA: What experience did you want to create for the judges? RR: First, the coffee itself—it was fantastic. Second, parts of processing and roasting that we usually don't taste. I really wanted a way for the judges to have a different experience but still that was based exclusively on my coffee. Having them try the fresh cascara, mucilage, yellow bean, and first crack—and that these combined amazingly well and made the versatile semipulped natural coffee almost taste like a natural or a washed—was incredible and (gave them the chance) to taste everything. SA: How did you feel about your three performances—preliminary, semifinals, and finals? RR: (In the preliminary round), it was actually funny in a way because I was really happy that my stuff arrived, but at the same time I was the last competitor and during my prep-time I had to call technical because the grinder and the timer stopped working—which I have never done before! So no timer for the first round, so I was like, mmm OK, I guess I will just go with it. And I relaxed a bit and I was happy to finally be competing. For the semifinals I was somehow way more stressed out. I got really nervous. Watching the video (of my performance) that night, I realized I hardly smiled and was just really freaked out. (In the final round), I felt much better. I was much more relaxed, honestly happy to have made it into finals, completely secure about my coffee, and determined to enjoy it. I think yes, this (performance was) the best out of those three, and the judges seemed to enjoy it, which was also my intention, and also, I didn't go overtime! SA: So Raul: what do you want to accomplish in the next year as the World Barista Champion? RR: I would love to keep supporting producing countries and have crazy new projects and ideas. Obviously I love the idea of traveling and knowing new places and people, but I also don't want to lose track of reality and lose track of the roasting business. SA: You're already a seasoned traveler; what countries do you hope to visit for the first time this year, and which ones would you like to return to? RR: (I've always) wanted to go to Asia and Australia, so it's pretty amazing that it was just announced that the next WBC will be Australia. I would also love to go back to some African countries and Brazil. SA: Raul, what about your dogs? You love your dogs! Who will take care of them when you travel the world? RR: They will be fine with mom and dad. www.baristamagazine.com 51

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