Hi All,

Counter Culture Coffee cordially invites all H-B members and site visitors to attend the 4th Annual Southeast Regional Barista Competition. Held in the Center for Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill, the event features some of the nation's most talented coffee professionals in an exciting 3-day competition. UNC alum and local DJ Lem Butler defends his title against notable challengers from Open Eye Cafe, Counter Culture Coffee, DC's Murky Coffee, Atlanta's Octane, and more! Once again this even is free and open to the public.

Event details:

Southeast Regional Barista Competition

Hosted by Counter Culture Coffee & PlayMakers Repertory Company
September 22-24
Center for Dramatic Arts, UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
http://www.counterculturecoffee.com

Hope to see you there!

Mark

Woo hoo, we've got wireless this time! I'm covering only the signature drinks... these are rough notes, I'll clean them up later.

PS: Related threads are SERBC 2005, and Competitor Debriefing.

Michelle Rae Bradicich, Pheasant Creek Coffee - "special secret" sauce double-shot served in small demi. "Nothing weird". She lined the cup with sauce around the edges so the espresso is better incorporated. Hopes to serve at the shop; Hints that it works for the upcoming Christmas season (nutmeg perhaps?). Decorative mint leaves garnish on the side. Brown moka type cups. Instructed judges to swirl before drinking.

Curtis Patton, Triple Cross Coffee - wishes to keep it simple. Big fan of sweetened condensed milks at their shop. Buttery, and organic has more flavors. Plan to add to their regular menu. Pulled shots a little shorter to enhance sweetness to compliment. Combines fresh milk and condensed milk while steaming. It steams up a little faster, around 150F - warm not hot. Topped with cocoa. Called Espresso (coffee?) Cubano.

Nicholas Cho, Murky Coffee - cold drink, espresso l'orange (phonetic?). Served signature drink first. Added shots to cocktail shaker, served tableside. Sweetened condense milk small quantity w/essence of blood orange. Add cold espresso from shaker. Layering espresso, vanilla ice crema melted in whipped cream and small spoon, stir 10 seconds. Nick commented that the brightness interacts nicely with vanilla and orange extract. First set was Counter Culture Coffee's Toscano, second set was La Forza. Final set was custom blend.

Phil Proteau, Helios Coffee - Caramel syrup reduced, "dulce de leche." Although it is sweet, it's not candy sweet as favored by many shop. Adds amazing mouthfeel, buttery smell. Espresso is served directly on top of prepared syrup. Added steamed milk to come to same temperature as a cappuccino. Served in dark demitasses. Phil commented on the spiciness of the coffees he would serve and their clean finish.

Note: Clock stopped at 17:04. Apologizes for the lack of precise detail, my laptop suffered technical difficulties during Phil's presentation

Willie Jamison, Caffe Corner - His signature drink is chilled. It started as an "off the wall" idea from visiting roaster combining espresso and gelato (substituted Breyers ice cream for the competition). Baristas, like their liquor serving counterparts, interact with the customer. He serves it from a cocktail shaker in small stemmed glass demitasse.

Daryn Berlin, Counter Culture Coffee - His signature drink involves pumpkin. In fact, his table decor was a small pumpkin grown from last year's compost pile. Pumpkin butter with cinnamon, nutmeg, some sugar and brown sugar. Turned together with milk and nutmeg. Had a contest to name his drink, winner was "It's the Great Pumpkin Signature Drink, Charlie Brown!" Served in triangular stemmed tall demitasse. To this mixture, he added a shot of espresso. Topped off with milk and fresh nutmeg. Small sip as is, then stir and taste again. A warm season drink. Included a homemade candied pumpkin rind (not certain?) to enjoy afterward.

Homer Chaney, Mug Shotz - "South Honeysuckle" is sweet cream drink inspired by love of sweet tea in the south. Uses local honey, dark wildflower honey. Sharper, more distinctive taste than traditional cloverleaf honey. Can be served short or long, but today it's served short. Steamed milk, honey, and half-n-half to thicken the foam. Used white, full, straight-sided cappuccino cups.

Matthew McDaniel, Octane Coffee Bar - "Clove inhalation" uses Counter Culture's Toscano, a smooth buttery flavor. Begins with honey and condensed milk drizzling down a flared glass before starting on the espresso. Steamed whole milk with a pinch of clove; though experimentation he found a pinch is just right to add interest. Drink came to him in a dream, complimenting his liking for clove cigarettes. Served cooler than a cappuccino with cinnamon stick. Instructed judges to stir with cinnamon stick before drinking.

Ryan Studley, Java Passenger - Signature drink served first; they were cooled down with dry ice while he prepared the other drink. Couldn't sleep one night and thought of it. Filled pitcher with dry ice and water to produce "Halloween effect" (a second pitcher was added to act as a double boiler). He found through experimentation that direct contact with dry ice changed the flavors too much. Raspberries and blackberries. Cups were rimmed with mint by rubbing the leaves along the interior. Blended the espresso so that it served well when cool. Instructed the judges to crush the berries into the espresso to release their flavors.

(end of competition for today)

Thanks Dan! I'm hoping to qualify for judging at the Northwest RBC next month, don't know if my form was submitted in time, haven't heard back yet. Regardless whether judging or volunteering or just watching, looking forward to it!

Wow! The specialty drink section sounds like an "iron barista" competition: "and your secret ingrdient is ... sweetened condensed milk."

Should make the judging a bit easier; since the specialties are easier to compare.

Just to help Dan in his valiant effort

Nicholas Cho, Murky Coffee - cold drink, Espresso Laranja. Served signature drink first. Added shots to cocktail shaker, served tableside. Sweetened condensed milk very small quantity w/essence of blood orange. Add cold espresso from shaker. Layering espresso, Vanilla ice cream melted in cream whipper and small spoon, stir 10 seconds. Nick commented that the brightness interacts nicely with vanilla and orange extract. First set was with custom blend, second (cappuccino) set was La Forza. Final set (straight espresso) was custom blend.

Thanks Nick for the corrections! By the way, I'm looking for a stand-in live blogger while I'm judging tomorrow afternoon, if you're interested. This time around I'm keeping the reporting short and sweet, just the signature drinks.

On other news: At the end of the session, Peter showed an excerpt of a documentary DVD of last year's SERBC competition. Lots of interviews interspersed with competition footage. I plan to buy one and write a short review. Peter is also following up on a postable excerpt. It's rare to see such a professional production as last year and it's great to see it available in an edited form. Last year they had two cameramen and a great color; unfortunately, this year they have fixed position webcams with grainy black and white images.

Tonight Abe arrived from New York and we had dinner with Bob Roseman and his wife Libby, Kevin Krautwald and his wife Diana, and Bob Barraza. Wonderful Greek food at Xios, located in the same shopping center as Pheasant Creek Coffee. The topics at dinner included coffee, politics, food, and brief chats on uber-geeky topics like relating the Richter scale, relatively humidity, and redneck evaluations of how hot it is outside (OK, you had to be there).

miKe mcKoffee wrote:Thanks Dan! I'm hoping to qualify for judging at the Northwest RBC next month, don't know if my form was submitted in time, haven't heard back yet.

When in doubt, call Michelle Campbell. She's easy to get on the phone, but slow to respond to e-mails. The final list of judges isn't actually decided until after the workshop, so there's rarely a "too late" problem. That said, there were more judge volunteers this year than competitors at the SERBC and several judges had only one flight.

HB wrote:Tonight Abe arrived from New York and we had dinner with Bob Roseman and his wife Libby, Kevin Krautwald and his wife Diana, and Bob Barraza. Wonderful Greek food at Xios, located in the same shopping center as Pheasant Creek Coffee.

Sounds nice. Would have joined you folks, but I was driving back home to DC.

Long story.

See you on Sunday.

Kyle Mueller, Talia Espresso - "Cup of Sweetness" is a breve with half-n-half and sourwood honey. Served in tall thin glasses with cinnamon. The half-n-half, being thicker, requires a little more steaming. Too much though and the top texture suffers. Before pouring, gave the mixture of espresso, honey, and cinnamon a quick stir.

Ben Jaques, Cup-A-Joe - "Espresso Mojito" (*) was inspired at a wedding with all the drinks going by -- it doesn't have any alcohol. Ben likes Americanos, but some have a lingering bitterness. Served in tumblers over ice with orange wedge as a summer drink. Balance the bitterness from icing espresso with ingredients of cane juice, water, and mint. Instructed judges to rub orange around rim, take in scent of the mint, then drink.

(*) Rum with citrus and spearmint; thanks Bob for the spelling and definition.

Lemuel Butler, Daily Grind Cafe - "Vanilla Bean Dream." Blend is Brazil, Sumatra, and PNG. Added vanilla will bring out vanilla notes and complements PNG's spiciness. Heavy crema and vanilla bean are whipped to a thick consistency in bowl. Served warm at ~110F. Half teaspoon of sugar brulee with torch to form a crust. Carmel from the sugars complements caramel notes from the Lintong. Poured espresso through the crust. Instructed judge to stir 2-3 times to release the caramel, added sweetness.

Lem was the third barista to serve his signature drink first in the competition.

Ryan Goodrow, Murky Coffee - Signature drink called "Best of Both Worlds." Gelato on the bottom of a small stemmed glass. Slightly cool drink, easy to make. Added some "strangled liquid" after the espresso (sorry, I didn't understand specifics of his commentary).