Barista Magazine

DEC 2014 - JAN 2015

Barista Magazine is your home for the worldwide community of coffee and the people who make it.

Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/425273

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 28 of 91

G R E E C E THE WATER GLISTENS in the early autumn light as the sun sets over the far horizon and the empty chairs and closed umbrellas cast long shadows over the beach. The mostly vacant resort on a hillside overlooking this long finger of the Mediterranean Sea will be filled 24 hours from now when some 160 coffee professionals represent- ing approximately 24 countries descend on this beach southeast of Athens, Greece, for the first ever Barista Camp Europe. Over the course of three nights and four days, the attendees will work toward earning certifications, attend classes and lectures, forge new friendships, and lay the groundwork for a new, more inclusive European coffee community. For an inaugural event, Barista Camp Europe was a smashing success, and plans are already underway for another installment next year. The fact that the whole thing was planned and executed in just a few months—from an initial suggestion from the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) board in its strategic planning meeting as an idea to forge a more connected barista community early in the year, to a prototype leadership summit of a new Barista Guild of Europe (BGE) in Frankfurt, Germany in February, to an official announcement in June at the World of Coffee in Rimini, Italy, to selling out attendance with a couple of weeks to spare—is flat-out amazing! Camp attendees had three tracks to choose from when they registered. Each track was supposed to hold 50 attendees, but all of them ended up with a few more. The tracks, named after ancient Greek gods, allowed for baristas from different backgrounds and skill levels to find educational opportunities that would hone and complement their abilities. They were Hera, which had modules on barista skills and sensory foundation; Poseidon, brewing inter- mediate and sensory foundation; and Demeter, sensory immediate. The foundation of the BGE and camp began with the god- father of the initiative, SCAE president Cosimo Libardo, and SCAE board member Yiannis Apostolopoulos. According to Isa Verschraegen, who works for the SCAE and coordinated much of the planning and execution of camp, Cosimo and Yiannis really spearheaded the initiative to start the BGE as a way to energize the baristas across Europe. They asked a few people to form a work group and challenged them to develop a barista camp. The group included Square Mile Coffee Roasters' James Hoffmann, Dale Harris from Has Bean, and Andrew Tolly of Harris + Hoole—all three from the U.K.; Kalle Freese from Freese Coffee in Finland; and Isa. When the BGE was officially announced along with the camp in Rimini, Isa said they were met with a little skepticism. With the early bird discount, Isa explained, the cost to attend the camp was 350 euros, and for that sum the baristas received lodging, three meals a day, all the classes, and transport to and from the airport. "We thought it was a terrific value," she said. "But it's still a big chunk out of a barista's wages." And with no track record to run on, sales of those initial tickets were slow. Dale said they sold a total Opposite page: The idyllic seaside just outside of Athens, Greece, was the backdrop for the first Barista Guild of Europe Camp, held in October. Athens has produced some of the best baristas in the world, including 2011 World Lae Art Champion Chris Loukakis, and 2014 World Brewers Cup Champion Stefanos Domatiotis, both of Taf Coffee. This page: 2007 World Barista Champion James Hoffmann (standing) has spearheaded the campaign to bring a Barista Camp similar to the ones held in the U.S.A. to Europe. 29 www.baristamagazine.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of Barista Magazine - DEC 2014 - JAN 2015
subscribe to email alerts