... notes thanks to Abe Carmeli...


Lena Abed, Open Eye Cafe - Warm, cardamom, cinnamon, milk. Served with baklava on side. Middle Eastern music, glass cups. Instructions: inhale deeply to get the cardamon, 90% of taste is smell. Served the baklava on a flat dish. Named dish after first coffee shop name.

Janet Konz, Murky Coffee - Using Toscano. Starts with cappuccino. Risk taker she says. Funky music low volume. Some reggae, black cappuccino cups. "The drink you've been waiting for your entire life". Espresso: Red & black cups.

Signature drink: Maple butter, espresso, on top of it blueberry sauce - home made. Inspiration: Blueberry pancakes. Taste like pancake but in a drink. Steam the milk with the blueberry sauce. Served in small sweet wine glasses. Hot drink. Stir drink before you drink.

Matthew McDaniel. Octane Coffee. Again using Toscano. Could someone shoot me please??? Starts with espresso. Rock/Pop music his own creation. Cappuccino next. Music is his first love. Musician.

Signature drink: a dark chocolate, Nutella chocolate spread steamed in milk. Served in white ceramic cappuccino cups.

Jon Wilde, Mug Shotz - Starts with espresso. 9 bean blend. Slight body. Earthy smoky tones used in his cafe,

Signature drink: Thai Berdiado? Coconut milk, honey, orange essence. Poured into cappuccino cups. Add espresso, steam milk. Served with slice of orange on the rim. Served with small piece of ginger on the saucer. Advise judges to rub ginger around the rim then drink. Ran overtime.

Lem Butler, Ryan Goodrow, Daryn Berlin, Nicholas Cho, Lena Abed, Michelle Rae Bradicich

And the winner is...

Lem Butler

Daryn Berlin

Congratulations to Nick and the rest of the competitors! I'll try to write a few words once I've completed my caffeine detox treatments. In the meantime, check out Ben's blog Chemically Imbalanced, which will soon feature videos of the SERBC finals.

Nick Cho!

Congrats Mr. Portafilter.net, you deserve it.

check out Ben's blog Chemically Imbalanced, which will soon feature videos of the SERBC finals

this is where i eat giant helpings of crow. my camera didn't catch anything. no reason, really, it just didn't. now i slink off to weep bitter rock-salt tears. and explain to my wife.

Wow, what a great event! Huge congrats to Nick, Daryn, and Lem for their top scores. And more heartfelt congrats and appreciation go out to ALL the competitors, sponsors, volunteers, and supporters that made the whole fabulous weekend possible.

My good friend and 2006 SERBC finalist Ryan Goodrow of murky coffee asked me to give special thanks to H-B'er and 2006 judge Bob Barraza for laying down the chemistry knowledge at 3Cups Saturday night.

Great to see everyone, and stay tuned for more SERBC news at http://www.counterculturecoffee.com.

- Mark

Very Nice Commentary. Congratulations Mr. Nick Cho. Did you get the name of your sig drink from Napolean Dynamite? (La-Fawn-duh)?

Love it. Love you* and love the sig drink descriptions.






*disclaimer:
*in a sisterly sort of way

my own exhaustive reportage on the southeast competitors here:
http://ben.szobody.com/blog/index...re=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

and video! video that clearly shows why nick cho won, i might add:
http://ben.szobody.com/blog/index...re=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Funny! My favorite is your parody of Ryan and Lem.


Nick


Daryn


Lem

And thanks for the competitor writeup.

Thanks to Bob Henry, some great pictures of the past weekend's competition:


Nick invites the judges to enjoy their espressos


Checking for spillage


Dosing complete, Daryn is ready to tamp


Topping the "Great Pumpkin" drinks with nutmeg


Lem prepares to caramelize the sugar


He describes just how big his "sexy foam" can get

Ryan remarks about the "tapestry of the universe"


Signature beverage was a "suffocated espresso"


Almost all photos of Lena were blurred - she hussles!


Fun with microfoam


Michelle contemplates the preparation of the first round of drinks


Her signature drink had a "special sauce"; she hinted it had to do with the holidays

Technical judges and head judge watch over the competitor


Sensory judges adopt "neutral" expression most of the time


Three sides had a coffee-related picture


And the SCAA 2006 Southeastern Regional Barista Champion is...


Lem, Nick, Daryn

Thanks for the pics Dan.

I'm a little sad that there are no photos of my 1st round sig drink, nor of my spilled bean hopper from finals.

Oh well.

There may be others who took photos of the first round; it's worth asking Michelle Campbelle (for others following this thread, here is a link to her final round pictures). Speaking of Michelle, where did she squirrel away the PDF of the final rankings? I've looked on the SCAA and BGA site without luck.

I heard but didn't see the hopper go over!

Thanks, I've excerpted it below for easy reference: