Barista Magazine

OCT-NOV 2012

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BIG SKY BARISTA JAM BEFORE WE GET INTO THE AWESOMENESS that went down at the Third Annual Montana Barista Jam, held in late August, can we agree that baristas are just about the most fun people to hang out with? Admittedly all of us here reading this magazine might be a little biased, but really: Baristas are a classy, hilarious, intelligent group of gents and ladies. These people inspire us to create the Montana Barista Jam year after year. A particularly high point of the 2012 event was the geographical spread of locations from which participants hailed. We were graced with attendees not only from our great state, but also from both Wyoming and North Dakota! It's incredibly encouraging to see people willing to travel to spend some quality coffee time together. Another of my favorite parts of the event was the roaster exposure. With hundreds of specialty coffee roasters around the country, great ones can easily slip past you with a slight reference here or there, but when they make it to the cupping table, taste is king. Side by side by side, coffees and roasters took a spot at an enormous cupping table, and every attendee of the jam got to enjoy something—if not lots of things—new. And it was unanimous this year: Verve Coffee Roasters out of Santa Cruz, Calif., stole the show with their strawberry and floral-rific Panama Elida Estate. The crew at Verve was also nice enough to send stickers and t-shirts for prizes. In the future, we hope to develop our planning with some democratic methods. We're hoping for more feedback, polls, etc., in finding out what people want to do and see. Our sights are set on continuing to evolve the jam, to keep in touch, and to keep brewing. The great folks at Able Brewing, Aerobie, Chemex, Baratza, and INDIANA'S ON THE MAP WITH FIRST-EVER BARISTA JAM WE AS BARISTAS have come to realize that in order for specialty coffee to succeed further, consumers must understand coffee as more than just a drink. It's a culinary experience. The goal of Indianapolis' first-ever barista jam was to do just that: educate the public. And what is a better way to do that than by offering them free coffee? On July 29, the Indy Coffee Association (ICA) hosted a barista jam at SoHo Café and Gallery. We had spent months planning and trying to decide what we wanted to accomplish. We mostly wanted to educate consumers, and to share with them our passion for coffee. And since we're fun-loving baristas at heart, we wanted to incorporate a latte art competition as well. The location's ambiance was incredible. Sculptures and paintings from local artists were placed around the room, surrounding multiple tables where coffee and brewing devices were available to try. We offered mini- lectures and discussions, none longer than 15 minutes, and we gave away door prizes in the form of donated coffee. Representatives from the local coffee shop LuLu's Coffee and Bakehouse talked about the process of opening a shop, from design elements to dealing with homeland security. Bunn sent its magical Trifecta brewer and gave a demonstration. Local cafe Bjava Coffee and Tea conducted a tasting of three different milling processes using coffee from one farm. And Wes Kerlin, who is a founding member of the ICA, brought an antique siphon brewer collection, dating back to World War II to show to the curious crowd. After all of the great demonstrations, the latte art competition began. There were nine contenders ranging from seasoned veterans to a teenaged newcomer. After the milk had settled, and a perfect rosetta was poured, Jonathan Driggers, Madison Swords, MJ Tribble, Terra Souza, Stormy Cri en- den, Krista Johnson, Sco Stevenson, Ian Marquez, and Keaton Ramm gather around the cupping table at this year's Montana Barista Jam. Avogaderos Lab Supply were our key equipment sponsors, not to mention the glorious custom tampers (a continued annual support) from Reg Barber. The roasters we love for their help were Temple, Noble, Verve, Intelligentsia, Ritual, Batdorf & Bronson, and our local favorite, Revel. Thanks also to Off the Leaf and Harper and Madison, two great cafés that opened their doors for the Montana Barista Jam 2012 activities. Until next year! —Nathan "Lenny" Howes Barista Andy Gilman of Bjava Coff ee & Tea pours la e art at the fi rst-ever Indianapolis Barista Jam the winner—Brian Thayer—was presented with a beautiful tamper from Prima Coffee. The whole night was a huge success, with around 150 people in attendance. There were shop owners, baristas, kids, customers, artists, and even some staffers from a certain global coffee company who were curious to see what us independent coffee nerds were up to. It didn't matter where you came from or whom you worked for. All that mattered was that you loved coffee and wanted to learn more about it. The goal of the Indy Coffee Association is to educate consumers and support our local businesses. If you're in the Indianapolis area, or want to check out the shops that are a part of the ICA, visit http://www. indycoffeeassociation.org/ for more information. —Andrew Mulder www.baristamagazine.com 23

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