Practicing our game faces…

The first week of February is shaping up to be exciting – maybe a Superbowl trip for the Steelers and definitely a road trip for Tazza D’Oro to Cranberry for the 2009 MidAtlantic and Northeast Regional Barista Competitions.  Yea, you read that right, Pittsburgh is serving as the 2009 host thanks to Ed Wethli of Kiva Han Coffee Roasters. Ed has stepped up in a big way by committing a considerable amount of time and money to bring these 2 competitions to Pittsburgh. So, on Feb 6-8th some of the best baristas in the Northeast (CT,MA,ME,NH,NY,VT) and the MidAtlanic (PA,DC,DE,MD,NJ) region will come to Pittsburgh to compete for the titles of best baristas in each region. This event is SCAA(Specialty Coffee Assoc of America) sanctioned and provides an amazing forum to highlight the skills, passion for coffee and connection of the baristas who work hard each day trying to perfect the art and craft of making rad coffee and espresso.

Tazza D’Oro is sending 3 baristas to the competiton – Emily, Braden and Zach.

Over the next few weeks these guys will be practicing for the competition focusing on their skills as professional baristas – customer experience, espresso extraction and drink preparation, presentation, and flawless technical skills around the espresso machine, grinder, milk steaming, espresso extraction, cleanliness and efficiency – they have 15 min to prepare 4 single espressos, 4 Italian cappuccinos and 4 signature drinks! If you remember, Emily and Braden competed last year in Washington, DC. This will be Zach’s first competion!

Our baristas are waiting for me to make the time in a busy cafe and espresso bar to practice. I’m getting there, but in the meantime we are working on our game faces!  Stay tuned for more updates and blog stories!