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PHOTO BY KELSEY SNELL PULL JOURNAL OF JAMS, COMPETITIONS AND BARISTA EVENTS REGIONAL ROUNDUP If the 2012 Regional Barista Competition (RBC) and Brewers Cup season has proved one thing, it's that the bar—seemingly impossibly high after 2011—has been elevated to unbelievable heights once again. Just when we think the level of talent and professionalism exhibited by baristas competing in these world-stage events couldn't possibly be exceeded, a new crop of artisans appears to do just that. The 2012 RBC and Brewers Cup year includes events in six regions: the Southwest, the Northwest, the Northeast, the Southeast, the North Central, and the South Central. The winners of each region receive automatic advancement to the semifinal round of the 2012 United States Barista Championship (USBC) or the U.S. Brewers Cup, both of which will take place during the annual Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference and Trade Show, held this year in Portland, Ore., April 19–22. This year's RBCs and Brewers Cup events varied in style and location, but not sophistication. Check out these accounts of four of the six RBCs and Brewers Cup competitions from 2012. Sadly, the South Central and North Central competitions took place too late for publication. SOUTHEAST REGIONAL: Craft coffee and the New South It's an artisanal age, and the South is not exempt as she fills her crumbling cigarette factories and warehouses with loft spaces, breweries, food truck kitchens, and farm-to-cup cafés. Liquid culture here has a fresh-ground Washington, D.C., where she's manager of the Eastern Market shop. "It's not just me. It's us," says Lindsey of her close-knit Peregrine family with owner, and past SERBC champ, Ryan Jensen at the head of the table. She is the second female to win the SERBC, following in the treads of Danielle Glasky, who won in 2009. First up on Saturday, Lindsey saluted the unique upbringing that creates a coffee's individual personality. "I just asked myself, 'Who am I' What is my passion? And what do I want to communicate?'" she said. Lindsey worked with Counter Culture's spicy, molasses-laced Baroida from Papau New Guinea. For her specialty beverage, Lindsey paired Baroida-drenched dollops of passion fruit-infused coconut milk with skewered wisps of ginger candy floss. She made the unlikely confection, inspired by a dessert she had in Israel this summer, in a bubblegum pink cotton candy maker during her presentation. Trevor Corlett of MadCap Coffee placed second, and 2011 SERBC champ Michael Harwood of Carrboro Coffee came in third. Brewers Cup winner Matthew Ludwikowski of Atlanta's Octane Coffee brewed a coffee he fathered from its El Salvadoran origin to the judges' mugs through a beautiful Chemex setup. First-time competitor Jonathan Bonchak placed second in Brewers and Bryan Duggan third, both from Counter Culture. Trevor brought his Central American Third Coast Blend to the judges' table—16 shots in 15 minutes. And Camilla Ramos of Miami's Panther Coffee, a fresh favorite in the SERBC line-up, brought a little taste of home. She took judges through a hazy Cuban cigar café by infusing her specialty beverage with cigar smoke. "Cubans take cigars as seriously as we take coffee, " she said during her final presentation. Comeback kid Lem Butler of Counter Culture was the last competitor of finals. He competed with Bonta—his pride and joy—which was the first-ever microlot to come from Papau New Guinea and solely to Counter Culture roasters. The Barista Guild of America (BGA) hosted a party at Batdorf & Bronson's Dancing Goats Coffee Bar on Friday night, so the weekend wasn't without barbecue and plastic pints of local Georgia beer. After all, this is the South. Community was the theme of the SERBC weekend as it usually is— Lindsey Kiser of Peregrine Espresso is no stranger to barista competitions. She's placed high in the Southeast region before. But this year, she took the title. face, and pour-over coffees and microlot espressos are the new Southern comforts. All the baristas at the Southeast Regional Barista Competition (SERBC) and the Southeast Brewers Cup competition in Atlanta February 10–11 proved that the region's specialty coffee community deserves some cred. This year's SERBC saw a change of pace. The competition moved to a two-day dash as the first round of 28 baristas and 15 brewers filled Friday, and the top six from each advanced to Saturday. It didn't take long for finals to hit its rhythm. The crowd shifted from brewers to baristas and lined up at the "fourth bar" in between for tastes from relieved competitors. Lindsey Kiser, 31, carried the crown home to Peregrine Espresso in 22 barista magazine and should be—with coffee people. A picture of this family in action was the Atlanta coffee community's reaction to the January fire that engulfed nonprofit café and micro-roaster Safehouse Coffee & Tea in Griffin, Georgia. The morning after the fire, two Batdorf & Bronson baristas set up a pop-up pour over bar outside the charred building to gather donations for the rebuild. Nothing says brotherly love like some salvaged V60s, a borrowed La Marzocco, and the winner's pot from SERBC's Thursday Night Throwdown that was donated to the guys at Safehouse. Portland's rally of good coffee and good company is sure to be reminiscent of the family ties felt during SERBC. —Kelsey Snell SOUTHWEST REGIONAL: Coffee by the Seaside The Southwest Regional Barista Competition (SWRBC) and Southwest Brewers Cup showcased confident competitors backed by qualified coaches. 2011 United States Barista Champ—and 2011 SWRBC Champ— Pete Licata made a judging cameo, seeking to enhance his understanding of competition from the judges' side. Several former competitors did the same, including Intelligentsia's Eden-Marie Abramowicz, who