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I WAS HANGING OUT WITH Pete Licata recently in the back of Seoul, South Korea's coolest new coffeehouse, and we started handicapping for this year's United States Barista Championship (USBC). We were drinking Stumptown Coffee at the Pancake Epidemic, and we were waiting for a latte art throwdown to start. Let's stop right there. So many things in that sentence are weird, don't you think? Or, at least, they're unexpected. What's 2013 World Barista Champion Pete Licata doing in Seoul? They serve Stumptown in South Korea now? Seoul has a strong enough barista community to support a throwdown? And just what is the editor of a coffee magazine doing making guesses about the USBC outcome? OK, that last one is easy: I did it because I'm human, and the USBC—which will be held with the U.S. Latte Art and Cup Tasters Championships, and the Brewers Cup, at the U.S. Coffee Championships event in Long Beach, Calif., February 19–22—is one of the whole year's most exciting competitions and gatherings of exceptional baristas. The other stuff going on that day, however, were things I wouldn't have guessed a year ago would be happening. Even after his reign was over, a WBC champ still has enough business going on to warrant a trip through Asia, where specialty coffee continues to grow exponentially— particularly in South Korea, Japan, and now China. An American roaster's coffee is not only offered at the small chain of Pancake Epidemic cafés, but it's prepared and served with the same precision and style it's known for stateside. Finally, though it's no secret café culture in Seoul is mushrooming, the Korean coffee culture is still more exclusive than inclusive—but even that's changing now. To read my snapshot of the Seoul specialty-coffee scene, which is solidly front-and-center on our industry's world stage today, go to page 28 of this issue. To find examples of how craft coffee continues to reinvent itself in unexpected ways, however, you can look at just about any page of this issue. Take the Caribbean adventure undertaken by 2014 USBC Champ Laila Ghambari, for instance, chronicled by Jon Shadel on page 36. When Laila agreed to travel to the island of Trinidad to train baristas at the popular specialty outfit Rituals, she had no idea the state of the local coffee scene. All Laila knew was that she would be helping the baristas better use the Dillanos Coffee offered by Rituals, which is sort of Laila's specialty: Not only does she work with Dillanos every day as director of coffee for her family's company, Cherry Street Coffee in Seattle, but she won the USBC and made the semifinals of the WBC in Rimini, Italy, in 2014 using coffee from the Sumner, Wash., roaster. The incredible energy and excitement the Rituals baristas possessed for specialty coffee both as a craft and a passion, however, astounded Laila. After the experience, Laila says she wouldn't be surprised to see the small island nation become a force to be reckoned with on the international coffee scene someday soon. You may also be surprised when you get to know our cover coffee professional, Andy Sprenger, a little better. Though Andy's reputation for humility almost exceeds his status as one of the most accomplished baristas in Brewers Cup history, the quiet grace with which he's building his Denver company, Sweet Bloom, and the epic dignity he brings to the role of small- business owner is unexpectedly inspiring, I think you'll find. We're thrilled to share this issue of Barista Magazine with you, which is, believe it or not, the last one before our 10-year anniversary volume is released in April. We never could have expected we would have the honor of running a magazine alongside the most inspiring community of people we've ever known, independent café owners and barista professionals, for an entire decade. We couldn't have predicted that at this point in time—with compelling trends blossoming daily; new challenges forcing industry leaders to dig deeper than ever before in their efforts to drive specialty onto new horizons; and indeed, the emergence of a new generation of industry leaders—we would feel not as though we were just getting started, but that we had another handful of decades in us, easy. Here we are in the second month of 2015, and we're ready to be surprised—we crave it. We love seeing what we thought was truth turned on its ear and reexamined. We welcome challenges and questions without ready answers. That goes for most people in specialty coffee, I think. The only thing I know for sure is to expect something even more amazing. It's coming—bring it. Publisher Kenneth R. Olson Editor Sarah Allen Art Direction Demitri Fregosi Powers Copy Editors Erin Meister, Chris Ryan Photographer Taco MacArthur Business Manager Cheryl Lueder Advertising Sales Sarah Allen 800.296.9108 Contributors Joel Bear Kirstina Bolton Stephanie Frommlet Dan Jensen Ben Jones Erin Meister Andy Reiland Chris Ryan Jon Shadel Shanny Sena Editorial Advisory Board Christopher Nicely Abel Alameda, Menotti's Coffee Shop Joshua Boyt, Metronome Coffee Lemuel Butler, Counter Culture Coffee Trevor Corlett, Madcap Coffee Company Roukiat Delrue, World Coffee Events Sonja Grant, World Coffee Events Gerra Harrigan, InterAmerican Coffee Heath Henley, Dose Coffee & Tea Jannicke M. Johansen, 3FE Rita Kaminsky, Linea Caffe Troels Poulsen, Kontra Coffee Daniel Streetman, Irving Farm Coffee Colin Whitcomb, Madcap Coffee Company Barista Magazine 4345 NE 72nd Ave. Portland, OR 97218 phone: 800.296.9108 fax: 971.223.3659 email: info@baristamagazine.com www.baristamagazine.com Barista Magazine is published bimonthly by Ollen Media, LLC. Subscriptions are $30 in the United States, $45 USD in Canada, and $60 USD for the rest of the world. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Postmaster please send address corrections to: Barista Magazine, 4345 NE 72nd Ave., Portland, OR 97218. ISSN: 1944-3544 Copyright 2015 Barista Magazine. All rights reserved. BARIST A M A G A Z I N E E D I T O R L E T T E R expect the unexpected 14 barista magazine