Barista Competition: why we should give a sh**

[another_jim]

Real miracles are easy to miss. Like a change in the weather, they happen slowly and all around you. You have to step back to take notice.

We're currently having an espresso miracle; and one of its key components is barista competitions. The value of these competitions has been challenged, mainly in terms of its lack of mass audience appeal, and its inability to raise the overall level of espresso in the run of the mill cafe. But this criticism misses the very simple essence of what is going on: the best baristas using the best coffees win. And anybody wanting to improve their espresso, who has the least bit of a clue, is looking at the winners to see what they are doing and what coffees and prep equipment they are using.

So what's so special about the best baristas? HB has recently been privileged to get two extraordinary documents, James Hoffman taking about his winning performance at the WBC and Micheal Perry talking about Heather's runner up finish. You can also see excellent video of their performances. James and Heather are not like the superb Italian professional baristas of the past. These, having done it for a career, could pull flawless shots in their sleep. Compared to them, Heather and James are inexperienced. But they are something no classic italian barista ever was: complete coffee people. They know how to cup, they've travelled to producing countries, they are the key players in selecting, roasting and blending the coffees they will use.

How has this affected espresso in general? If you are looking at the corner cafe, you won't see it ... yet. But take a look at who's scoring high on Ken David's coffee review, take a look at what blends the hobbyists are using and talking about, take a look at what single origin coffees are getting the buzz, and you'll see them being used at the barista competitions, These have become the proving ground for great coffee. I only know the US scene, here small and medium roasters like Terroir, Paradise, Klatch, PT's, Intelligentsia, Counter Culture, Zoka, and apologies to any I've left out have hugely raised the level and variety of espresso. It is no accident that all of them are heavily involved in these competitions.

The effect on equipment is slower, but I think you'll see it happening there too. Baristas can choose their own grinders, and we'll probably see more and more that are designed for both single dosing and superb grind quality. If people see the competitors choosing to use the same small group of grinders, market acceptance will follow. Under the current format, machines will be the slowest to change. Without LM's support, these competitions would have never gotten off the ground; so they are deservedly the major machine sponsor. But even there, Greg Scace's and others work is making the requirements more transparent, and other companies eager to sponsor are also producing machines to the mandated standard.

That's the miracle: The best baristas using the best coffees on the best equipment win. Everybody who wants great espresso is looking and imitating. And first at the top flight operations, then in general, espresso improves. It's so simple, it's easy to miss.

[HB]

I'm not sure I agree with your premise. It may be that barista competitions are benefiting from roasters/baristas response to discerning and outspoken consumers, not vice versa.

[jesawdy]

I'm not sure that he was asserting that competitions were driving the change, but that we should care because the competitions may be becoming a better forum to affect change to the mass market cafe, consumer or home espresso scene. My take away is that there was a shift upwards in the quality of the barista competition, the barista's knowledge and skillset, and the quality of the coffees used (the best baristas using the best coffees win).

Personally, I doubt the shift upwards was directly a result of only the competitions themselves. I also don't think it is only because of a shift in the quality of roasters/baristas/enthusiasts/consumers and their knowledge base. I like to think it is a reciprocal relationship, the competitions created a reason to discuss, share, experiment and further coffee in the coffee community, on-line and otherwise, which led to better competition performances, espresso coffees and baristas.

Certainly, James Hoffmann's win this year is unique, using all SO coffees. What was also unique is that James' is pretty much an independent.... sure he had help, but he wasn't backed by some powerhouse roaster or equipment sponsor (of course Coffee Klatch and Heather Perry seem to be a pretty "mom and pop operation" to me, kudos to them as well). I like to think of James as a "home-barista" that went nuts. It is certainly nice knowing that the current WBC Champ has been an HB member, follower and contributor for quite sometime. Also, James seems to be very accessible, with his on-line presence at his blog (jimseven.com) and elsewhere. He was likened to being "open-source" on another blog (link), I like that analogy.

[another_jim]

I think the Barista competitions prove state of the art practices and tastes. Basically, I thought that Terroir didn't know anything about espresso when they came out with the North Italians Daterra, and that it was undrinkable. I started working with it after it won the WBC 3 years ago. I think this, in microcosm, is what the competition does.

[PaniniGuy]

I'm not sure I agree with your premise. It may be that barista competitions are benefiting from roasters/baristas response to discerning and outspoken consumers, not vice versa.

Maybe - just maybe - there's a kernel of truth to that in the PNW and a few other regional pockets as with an operation like Stumptown which are operating in something resembling a cafe culture. But I can tell you first hand that is not the case here in between the coasts.

1) There simply aren't enough outspoken consumers to influence what any given coffeehouse serves or what a given roaster creates
2) There are plenty of places that continue to serve crud that regularly post improving year-to-year sales - and not just the chains
3) Too few people actually understand what a coffee's potential might be

The pursuit of quality espresso from a commercial standpoint comes from a passion on the part of the roaster that involves quite a bit of faith that working at origin to create better beans will end up as a sustainable business. Nobody is getting rich on this at the moment as even when there are profits, those monies are immediately reinvested to bring other regions up to snuff. It's passion driven from the top down.

Which is not to discount there's competition between the roasters themselves for bragging rights.

Once a roaster has invested the time, money and energy to improve the quality of beans and processing, they've got to find coffeehouse owners, supermarkets and restaurants willing to buy. For the restaurant or supermarket it's not that big a deal - it's simply a question of cost of goods vs. margin vs. inventory turnover.

Not that simple for the coffeehouse owner as it's not just the beans - which are 2x-3x as expensive as what can be procured from the local roaster using C-grade beans. It's also the expense of lots of training and better equipment to properly showcase the quality of those beans.

It's been regularly proven that consumers are reluctant to pay more than a dime above Starbucks even though the costs of producing a superior brew are much greater than that. Which is why few coffeehouse owners bother to improve.

One chef might choose to use only great ingredients while another uses lesser ingredients but because it has a trendier bar it can outlast the quality-focused establishment. Achieving financial success in foodservice is almost always simply the ability to sell more volume at a higher margin.

Lots of quality-focused places with passionate owners go under every year because consumers either don't get the difference or don't think it's worth paying extra for. Doesn't matter if its food or coffee.

Go spend some time on Chowhound and visit the "Chains" forum. And remember that these are people who consider themselves foodies. It's heartbreaking.

Just like with a restaurant, one coffeehouse may use a good roaster and train appropriately for quality while another uses crap beans, pulls 9 second poorly dosed shots from broken grinders, but employs a few PBTCs with "physical assets" and huge MySpace followings and does twice as much business despite the suckiness of the actual product.

No. Quality espresso is not yet a consumer-driven business, at least not in the United States. The way better shops make it through the first couple of years is by education and word-of-mouth. You almost have to drag people up with you, they don't often come voluntarily until you connect the wiring to the light bulb in their head. And so few consumers drink straight espresso that you can make a strong case that your milk supplier is as important as your roaster.

The closest thing I can think of is artisanal pizza. All of a sudden woodburning ovens are popping up all over because people are actually either a) paying attention to crust, or b) falling in love with the romance of oven-baked pie. Either way there's a story to tell and you can develop regular customers and good word of mouth. At the same time, for each consumer who converts to the church of woodfired pizzas despite paying an extra $2 for the privilege, 50 consumers will convert to cheese filled crusts at a chain or some new hideous combo 2-for-1 coupon deal at their local delivery shop.

That's just who we are in North America. You can make it as a quality operation, but you have to be a bit insane to do so because it's a much more difficult climb.

It's not the 0.0005% of consumers who enjoy good espresso who are influencing anything. It's the passionate people at the top who keep asking, "what if" who are making a difference.

Sorry to have taken 1000 words to reply to a one sentence assumption on your part, but as a shop that encourages its baristas to compete, we have a pretty strong opinion on this.

[Ken Fox]

I'm not sure I agree with your premise. It may be that barista competitions are benefiting from roasters/baristas response to discerning and outspoken consumers, not vice versa.

No. Quality espresso is not yet a consumer-driven business, at least not in the United States.

Those few of us on the consumer end who are passionate about good coffee benefit from the rapidly improving availabilty of fine coffees to home roast or otherwise use in our homes. Since many of us do not live anywhere near a good cafe, this is what we are able to do, to source good beans, for use in our homes.

Certainly there is the odd barista (James being a notable example) who has had an effect, at least in drawing attention to which beans they are using, which of course, were discovered and brought to market by someone else (e.g. a roaster or bean importer). One could give credit to several American barista contestants, when in fact this credit is misplaced, and should really be given to people like Miguel Meza of Paradise Roasters, importer, master blender and roaster, whose gifted hand is behind the coffees used by several of these baristas.

On the whole, however, I think baristas and barista competitions have had very little overall impact on what we home baristas are doing in our homes. Having wasted untold hours of my life reading this and other coffee boards over the last decade, most of what is new and novel and useful in my own home espresso preparation and bean sourcing, has not come from baristas.

Rather, it has come from other passionate home users and in some cases from industry professionals who maintain contact with the home enthusiast community. Barista competitions and baristas have contributed at most, 1%, to my own personal coffee adventure. Maybe these baristas have given the coffees a little higher profile, but in all honesty, 99.9999% of people who drink coffee have never heard of barista competitions, baristas who participate in them, their cafes, or the coffees they use.

Undoubtedly, barista competitions are useful, however the usefulness accrues largely to the high end cafes themselves, by providing staff motivation and also a leg up on marketing.

ken

[another_jim]

It's true that you can find the great coffees without ever hearing about barista competitions; but that doesn't mean they aren't related.

There's a story going round that all the top roasters of these "super-specialty" coffees are asking whether anyone is actually making any money yet doing this. So far the answer seems to be "Not me, how about you." If you look at the alliances buying auction coffees, where the players are a lot more apparent than in relationship coffees, then look at who's heavily involved in the competitions, it turns out to be the same group of people. In many ways, this is a group of coffee people with well established businesses doing it for the love of coffee and the glory of bragging rights. But they need to also make money, or at least not take too heavy a loss, for this niche to grow.

I'm being an optimist. I'm hoping the PR that events like the Barista competition or record auction prices is creating enough PR to widen awareness and sustain this market. I'd hate it if, in three years time, we were all saying that these were the good old days, because not enough people now are buying these better coffees. I'm hoping that lots of people are lining up right now to buy the coffees and blends featured on at the WBC.

[Psyd]

one coffeehouse may use a good roaster and train appropriately for quality while another uses crap beans, pulls 9 second poorly dosed shots from broken grinders, but employs a few PBTCs with "physical assets" and huge MySpace followings and does twice as much business despite the suckiness of the actual product.

And strip clubs will always make their money selling six dollar beers and four dollar sodas. Some of them are doing it selling a four dollar coffee. I'm not sure that this is an equitable comparison, but I do know what you're getting at.

In the argument that no one is getting rich, that can't be too awful true, someone is making more money off coffee, especially with these $100+ per pound and $50 per pound coffees. I can't believe that it costs ten to thirty times as much to produce, so that means a good-sized chink of profit somewhere. I'm guessing it's happening somewhere between the grower and the roaster, but I'm not inside enough to even pose a guess as to where. Usually, the cost of doing something different and better is expensive, and only the 'upper' consumers participate. Eventually, everyone wants in and the costs begin to drop, and it becomes somewhat ubiquitous. This always happens with electronics, will it happen with coffee? Is there any point in the future where we will see a decent coffee drop below the two dollar range? Of course there are examples, I mean the average. Say, a double capp.

[Ken Fox]

It's true that you can find the great coffees without ever hearing about barista competitions; but that doesn't mean they aren't related.

There's a story going round that all the top roasters of these "super-specialty" coffees are asking whether anyone is actually making any money yet doing this. So far the answer seems to be "Not me, how about you." If you look at the alliances buying auction coffees, where the players are a lot more apparent than in relationship coffees, then look at who's heavily involved in the competitions, it turns out to be the same group of people. In many ways, this is a group of coffee people with well established businesses doing it for the love of coffee and the glory of bragging rights. But they need to also make money, or at least not take too heavy a loss, for this niche to grow.

I'm being an optimist. I'm hoping the PR that events like the Barista competition or record auction prices is creating enough PR to widen awareness and sustain this market. I'd hate it if, in three years time, we were all saying that these were the good old days, because not enough people now are buying these better coffees. I'm hoping that lots of people are lining up right now to buy the coffees and blends featured on at the WBC.

Jim,

I'm not disagreeing with you. I have no problem with importers, roasters, or cafe owners using barista competitions as a way to motivate their staffs, market their coffees, or promote their coffee houses. If this helps us to improve the selection of great coffees available, then everyone benefits.

What I do have a problem with is ascribing the improvements in fine varietal coffee availability primarily or even marginally to baristas or barista competitions. The improvements in coffee that you reference are occurring higher up on the heirarchical chain than at the barista level. The baristas may well be part of the promotional apparatus, but they are not the cause of it. They are analogous to the actor you saw in a movie who crops up later as the TV spokesman for a product being advertised. Hopefully, that pitchman actually likes the product that he is promoting, but in any event, it was the idea or production of someone else, his boss or the owner of the company that is importing, producing, or selling it.

ken

[King Seven]

I like to think of James as a "home-barista" that went nuts.

Haha!

Sadly I think there are a fair few people who know me that would probably agree.

I think in the UK the benefits of competition have been in exposing a lot of cafes and coffee houses to the idea of genuine speciality coffee. And whilst it seems terrible to say I think a few people have had a shock to the system when it has come down to an independent evaluation of their coffee in a competition setting. Now they are looking for better, now they are tasting their own coffee with a more critical eye and little by little the good stuff is spreading.

[mogogear]

There is the possibility that we all are little too close to the "bean"........ we congregate here for a reason.

Having been in the food-service business for over 20 years- Chefs bemoan the same apathy on the part of the masses....... food really ranges the gamut from Michelin and more stars than you can ever want to greasy spoons the world over. Organic , macrobiotic, vegan,.......... and Big Mac's that still outsell them all. People don't always flock to or even care to flock to what is the best. They are willing to accept mediocre and poor because they are in a hurry and live in a disposable world-

People own granite laden kitchens with more gadgets than is even reasonable- do most of them even use their Wolf and Viking ranges to cook on? And those appliances really cost big money! I try to only buy espresso at the only 2 shops in Portland that I really -really like( when not making my shots at home) As much as a fan as I am- I still buy many on the run in airports , campgrounds( yes - campgrounds!) after business lunches, hotel lobbies and *$'s - they all suck most of the time- but they kept the headache away. They are inferior but fare no worse than the cardboard I was served on my last flight.......

It is a big ship to turn and it will be incremental at best to get the public to slowly stop patronizing inferior shops and vote with their billfolds. Convenience is a tough roadblock to tear down in the "lowered expectation" world.

Maybe like the change in the auto technician field ( and others) in the last 30 years... shops that only have Licensed or trained baristas ( and display that fact at the door) could give somebody a heads up that the person behind the machine is capable of knowing what they serve and making changes when things are not right. On Their own! You could have barista's all trained and competing and owners that care enough to pay a "trained / licenced / certified barista more and the awareness in the consuming public will still lag far behind.... it just takes time. The commitment to the higher pay and better beans has to start making a difference to owners or there is little to incent a shop to "be better". How to keep the publics attention.........

So, we and the barista's are in line behind many many chefs and other food professionals. Don't give up- all of the venues and efforts on behalf of a better coffee experience will slowly turn the ship - but we will need them all and perhaps more efforts like them to make the day ours.

I drag my soap box with me - sorry to spout on so

[OlywaDave]

I'm not sure I agree with your premise. It may be that barista competitions are benefiting from roasters/baristas response to discerning and outspoken consumers, not vice versa.

Dan, Dan, Dan...

Not to discount "outspoken consumers" or anything but I think is very possible that it is a synergy thing. Both sides seem to have an uncontrollable enthusiasm, passion and energy for quality these days. Regardless of how it started they could possibly be fueling each other's fire at this point.

[Dan Streetman]

hey I think this is a great thread.


I don't think we have to look at the way coffee passion has spread as coming from a single origin. It has definitely been fueled by passionate people on all sides. There are many people who have contributed to my knowledge and passion over the past 4 years, and I don't think I could tell you how many were consumers, or roasters or baristas etc.


However I am seeing barista competitions slowly affect coffee culture in Texas. After our first regional this past June, many people now have heard of the competition. Also shops see another coffeehouse in the news, because their barista won, and want to get the free publicity themselves.

I agree that while barista competitions aren't on the level of awareness that we all want them to be. They are being paid attention to by the people who matter.

It is easy for us to say that many of the baristas who compete are only carrying the banner of the employers, or roasters etc, but what other banner should the be carrying? who is it that probably inspired them to take this coffee the way too seriously in the first place?

the fact that the baristas are competing, and being exposed to baristas from other cafes, roasters, etc. only means that their passion, knowledge and experience grows. Hopefully that translates to a better cup of coffee for you the next time you frequent their coffeehouse. It also promotes the barista craft as a profession, and not a job for some minimum wage PBTC that we all seem to loathe. We all understand that it takes someone who cares about the coffee behind the counter to get a great shot of espresso, or perfect cup of coffee. Why don't we work together to make being a barista a more viable profession for people.

I can probably go on but I have to get back to work.....

[OlywaDave]

Nicely put...

[Jasonian]

Well said, Dan.

I have one thing to say about that, though.

"Free Publicity"? Man, there's so much fine print involved with that.

It's not about the publicity for a shop. It's not about the single origin being used, or the nifty tamping technique, or the technical aspects of the winner's performance.

It's about the coffee, and spreading the gospel, and sharing it with colleagues.

Competitions light a fire under the bellies of everyone involved, and this translates into a more intense passion, and hopefully, an overall improvement via the trickle effect.

[Dan Streetman]

Jason,

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was however more trying to highlight how some coffee shop owners look at it. Many of these don't "get it" yet, but if they get involved they will be more likely to be interested in how to make their coffee better.

Most business owners are interested in profit first, and they need to see that a better product =higher profit.

[Jasonian]

Jason,

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was however more trying to highlight how some coffee shop owners look at it. Many of these don't "get it" yet, but if they get involved they will be more likely to be interested in how to make their coffee better.

Most business owners are interested in profit first, and they need to see that a better product =higher profit.

Indeed. I don't need to tell you how much of an uphill battle that is.

[cannonfodder]

I think we are missing one important point (at least it was the point that jumped out at me). The slow change in the type of coffees that are used, there has been a shift from the deep chocolate cookie cutter blends to lighter roasts, single origin, and zesty blends. I for one have grown beyond the coffee flavored chocolate bar, just cant bust it, safe blend. I find myself searching out more challenging blends that have a unique cup quality. For a lack of a better term, my tastes have matured.

Baristas have used these safe, monochromatic blends in past competitions (from what I have read and remember). Now the roasters and Baristas are starting to break out of that 'espresso must taste like this' wall and we are all benefiting. For years the home roasting brotherhood has been experimenting with single origins, light roasts and bright blends. Now those qualities are becoming more desirable to the masses and that flavor dogma of old is breaking down. Just look at the variety of blends being offered by roasters including several single origin espresso roasts.

[Ken Fox]

I think we are missing one important point (at least it was the point that jumped out at me). The slow change in the type of coffees that are used, there has been a shift from the deep chocolate cookie cutter blends to lighter roasts, single origin, and zesty blends. I for one have grown beyond the coffee flavored chocolate bar, just cant bust it, safe blend. I find myself searching out more challenging blends that have a unique cup quality. For a lack of a better term, my tastes have matured.

Baristas have used these safe, monochromatic blends in past competitions (from what I have read and remember). Now the roasters and Baristas are starting to break out of that 'espresso must taste like this' wall and we are all benefiting. For years the home roasting brotherhood has been experimenting with single origins, light roasts and bright blends. Now those qualities are becoming more desirable to the masses and that flavor dogma of old is breaking down. Just look at the variety of blends being offered by roasters including several single origin espresso roasts.

I agree with the trend (which I've been part of in my own consumption during the last 2 years), but maybe not where the direction is coming from. To me it seems like a whole lot of people are moving in the same direction at the same time, like a giant amoeba, as opposed to this coming from on high, from certain roasters and or their competing baristas.

The person who's advice I've been taking the most, over this period of time, is none other than Jim Schulman. He has told me to buy particular SOs close to a YEAR before they started showing up in blends baristas were using in the various competitions.

So, I applaud what these baristas and roasters are doing, but quite honestly it ain't nothing new to other people who have been paying attention, like Jim, who have been aware of these coffees at least as long.

ken

[another_jim]

Billy Wilson competed with a single origin, a Tanzanian if I recall correctly, in Atlanta 2004.

I had tried SOs (other than Harars and Mochas, which don't count) before that, but couldn't make them work; I know many others who tried and had failures or mixed experiences. I don't know who first started pulling top grade SO shots; but it was barista competition that became the proving ground for these ideas.

I'm a big believer in lower doses, although not quite as exclusively as Ken. I think Ken rejects the competition partly because the format discourages low dose shots, and none of the top baristas use the conventional 14 gram dose. This disappoints me too; but competition rules are evolving, and if low dose shots do allow a wider choice of high end coffees, the rules will eventually become more friendly to this.