My wife and I went to the SCAA Expo in Atlanta today. I had no idea what to expect going into it. Would the coffee pros be open to chatting with a "home barista" like me? I was pleasantly surprised by the open atmosphere that pervaded the entire show.


Some personal highlights from today:

I stopped by the Mazzer booth because I am thinking of upgrading to a Mazzer mini. I wanted to get my hands on one to see how they really compare to other grinders (I wasn't disappointed). The Mazzer folks at the booth were friendly and helpful, even though I let them know that I was just looking for one unit for the home. They are proud of their equipment!

Cafélat - Paul Pratt's company. Their barista tools are sharp-looking, well-thought-out, and built to last. While I was there, Paul pulled shots on his old La Marzocco. Apparently, there are two of these machines in existence - Paul has one and La Marzocco has the other.


Paul and his La Marzocco

The WBC: We didn't stay long but plan to hang out there for a while tomorrow. I watched as the Hungarian, Thai, and Lebanese barista champs presented their skills. It's pretty amazing to see the artistry and performance that goes into a WBC presentation. Also, the WBC bar is in the same room as the competition. There, you can be served coffee from some of the best! James Hoffman served me a cup of coffee. He seems like a super-nice guy.


Hungarian Champ, Attila Molnar


The judges looking on as Molnar prepares a drink

The last highlight came from my friends at the Café D'Amore booth: If you are at the Expo and have a chance, stop by and try their sipping chocolate. It's fantastic!

Overall, today's experience at the expo was great. I look forward to returning tomorrow!

Thanks James for the update! Paul's booth looks huge. The layout for the barista competition that allows for spectators to be served from competitors after their round sounded very interesting. Would have loved to have been there...

Paul's booth wasn't as big as many others, but he did have a lot of new products to introduce under the new name, Cafelat. There were at least 5 new tampers, some with rubber handles and others with wood or metal. He has a newly designed tamp stand, and tamper holders that mount on walls or the side of your grinder - lots of cool stuff and the designs are fresh.

I'll try to get more shots of the WBC competition and the WBC bar tomorrow.

OK, so here's an update from Saturday at the SCAA 2009 in Atlanta. This was the third day of the WBC, and my wife and I watched the baristas of Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Austria all perform for the judges. Each did a great job and made me want to visit their countries and cafes. Today, the stand-out was Norway because she did a great job describing the drinks and keeping the audience interested in what might come next.

I also decided to stick around the WBC bar and sip some espressos and other drinks by the stellar baristas that were there. What a treat! I could definitely get used to having such quality drinks served for free! I had another coffee from James Hoffman. This time it was a specialty drink that he designed to taste like a Krispy Kreme donought! And it actually did taste like a Krispy Kreme!

Below are some pictures of the WBC bar and the WBC. I'll put a caption below each one.


The WBC Bar


James Hoffman, WBC Champ of 2007


Shot by James


The Krispy Kreme!


The Austrian (Georg Branny), during competition


Preparing the specialty drink (Branny), during competition


The judges, looking intently at Branny's techniques


Norway (Oda Misje Haug), preparing for competition


Norway (Oda Misje Haug), preparing for competition


Poland (Izabella Popiolek), preparing for competition


Here are the six finalists: Canada (Sammy Piccolo) , U.S. (Michael Philips), U.K. (Gwilym Davies), Hungary (Attila Molnar), Ireland (Collin Harmon), Republic of Korea (Lee Jong Hoon)

Are there any videos online of the baristas in action yet?

I only found these 3:

http://www.ustream.tv/scaa