Thanks to Copa Vida, Homeland Creamery, Lem, and rest of the Counter Culture crew for setting up this event. Honestly I was shocked by the turnout (12 competitors and around 40 spectators). Scott and I had a quick review of the judging criteria and some test scoring. He has more experience than I do, but we still were within 0.5 point for nearly all of our scores. It was good fun and the winner took away $60, three bags of coffee (Aficionado, Toscano, Rustica), and a Counter Culture t-shirt.
As the evening wound down and before the winner was announced, I chipped in the $5 entry fee so I could try my hand at the WBC Nuova Simonelli Aurelia. You only get one chance and I was surprised how well it turned out (the pour looked like it might gush, but calmed down; I like the on/off toggle steam switch). Scott showed me no mercy on scoring. I think that Lem might have cut me a little slack seeing that I wasn't eligible to actually win anything (not that it would have mattered!). I placed in the middle of the pack and could not resist taunting some of the Counter Culture employees that I squeaked by them in the final tally. This prompted one (unnamed) competitor to challenge me for a little one-on-one the next morning.
I arrived quite late as usual at our Counter Culture get-together. Like the night before, I followed the rule of "one turn only" at the machine, which wasn't a problem since someone else had already dialed in the grinder. Nathan kindly took photos of the action:
Preparation: Counter Culture Coffee vs. Home-Barista.com(Yes, I know my shirt was "colorful". It was a birthday gift from my dad, and I've grown to like it).
Now before looking at the results, I should point out that my competition arrived long before I did and practiced a few pulls before the official round began. One would expect this extra time behind the bar would offer an advantage, but in this case it proved an opportunity for me to engage in some friendly banter that may have knocked him off his game (e.g., "Oh my, that didn't pour well at all! I feel really bad about this competition, like I'm kicking a puppy or something."
). Or at least that's his post-game analysis.
So without further ado, the results:
Results: Counter Culture Coffee vs. Home-Barista.com (click above for larger images)This was a pretty typical pour for me: A wannabee rosetta, more commonly known as the "blooming onion". My competitor's subsequent pours were better than his entry above, though they all exhibited the Brasilia look (i.e., two cheeks and a thong
). The talking smack - mostly on my part - continued. The Throwdowns will be the last Thursday of each month and I'm promised a rematch. I'm used to getting whooped when it comes to latte art, so I have no plans to practice and every expectation of losing.
Well, maybe not.
by nathan_ccc on Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:38 pm 
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