September 17, 2009
Filed under: Uncategorized — canadianbarista @ 12:31 pm
Just recovering from a great weekend in Calgary. So many things to mention. First of all, hats off to Fratello Coffee who turned over their entire operation to the event. Basically we were in the warehouse, but with the drape, and chairs, you sorta forgot that you were sitting amongst warehouse racking. The best thing about the facility is that everything was there. Photocopiers, printers, bathrooms, kitchen, LCD screens, dishwashers etc.. everything for us to use.
Yes it was crowded, and yes the lighting wasn’t as good as we would have liked it to be, but most the baristas commented that it was nice to be in a facility that actually involved coffee… it felt.. authentic.
Andrew Legg the emcee/actor/comedian/and a kick-ass barista in his own right, did a stellar job as emcee. In case you missed it, Andrew may have made coffee history by organizing the first live internet streaming broadcast of thumb-wrestling for schwag.. it was a great moment.
Head judge Andrea Piccolo was universally lauded for the job she did steering the ship. In what turned out to be the most competitive region in Canada, Andrea managed to lasso and wrangle the judges, keeping them focused and calibrated. This was essential as the margin between 1st and 5th was only 30 points. Fantastic job Andrea…
Volunteers… we can’t thank you enough. From bussers, to runners, to dishwashers, cameramen, timekeepers, station cleaners.. none of this works without your support.
But the best thing of all was the fact that we had competitors being judged by rival cafes, roasters, etc.. Noone doubted the integrity of the judges, and their ability to remain objective, despite having a competitor of their own in the contest. This was mostly due to the fact that everyone just wanted the region to pick the best and the brightest, to send to the nationals. A strong performance in the nationals would mean that the entire region would benefit from the media coverage/publicity.
No wonder that the top six in the Prairies had the highest average score in all the regions.
Let’s see if the other regions can get it together in time for nationals.
For all the scores, go to http://www.canadianbaristainstitute.com
Okay.. I have three weeks to prepare for nationals now… If you want to volunteer, let me know. We can always use the help