Barista Magazine

DEC 2012-JAN 2013

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MBC certainly brought their A-games. Daniel Pastor, for example, is not only a barista by trade, he's also a mescalier, which is like a sommelier but for mescal, one of Mexico's national drinks: A smoky liquor made from from the agave plant. His signature drink played up the similarities between the two beverages he loves. Erika Chagoya really embodied the growing professional-barista community in Mexico. I had seen her compete in the MBC a couple of years ago when I was first lucky enough to attend. But this year she really raised the bar. She not only visited the coffee farm where her competition coffee was grown in Veracruz, but she was also involved in nearly its entire journey from field to table, including roasting the coffee herself. This year's national champion is Alejandro Escobar from Café Etrusca in Mexico City. A very affable and knowledgeable barista, he has worked behind the bar for five years, and is the first champion to come from Café Etrusca. His signature drink used a siphon-brewed coffee that had rested for 24 hours, and he had the judges pour his espresso from the demitasse into smaller glasses, saying it would highight different flavors in the coffee. Arturo Hernández, one of the principle organizers for the event and owner of Café Etrusca, was ecstatic when Alejandro won. Arturo has been organizing and supporting the MBC for all 11 years of its existence, but a barista from his company had never claimed the crown until this year. His enthusiasm and support of the barista community in Mexico has been unwavering and instrumental to making it what it is today. The international judges who made the journey to Mexico had a fantastic experience—not only at the competition, but with a couple of side trips that really embraced the unique historic and cultural sites that Mexico City holds. The judges included Lucemy Valázquez from Puerto Rico, Edgard Bressani from Brazil, Tasos Delichristos from Greece, and Sonja Björk Grant from Iceland. After training and calibration concluded on Wednesday morning, with the championship beginning on Thursday, the judges clambered The megapolis of Mexico City holds multitudes of people and possibilities, and the rich and poor alike are o en caught in seemingly endless traffic. into an oversized SUV and headed northeast out of the city, driving to a more ancient city about 30 miles away. The towering pyramids and empty streets make a powerful impression when you come upon Teotihuacan. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a fitting name that means "the place www.baristamagazine.com 37

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