Ok, so I'm getting my second wind here and I have to wait for my clothes to dry illegarbress, so here's what happened today.
This afternoon I went downtown to watch the first round of the US Barista Championship. Two of my co-workers are competing this year and I wanted to cheer my gals Jen and Jen on from the sidelines. Not surprisingly, both Jens totally kicked ass and I can't imagine either of them not making into the semi-finals on Saturday. They deserve it too, since both of them have been training about thirty hours a week for about eight months straight. Anyway, there were some real heavy hitters present at this competition and I'm glad that the girls didn't lose their cool.
For those interested, competitors are given 15 minutes to pull four single shots of espresso, make four single traditional cappucinos, and four signature beverages of his or her own design. There are two technical judges present to watch for things like proper dosing, tamping, preheating cups, etc...and four sensory judges responsible for tasting the beverages presented.
Anyway, the REAL fun of the day was when it was announced that fucking TULLY's COFFEE had entered a competitor this year! Let the record show that Tully's -- bar none -- makes the worst coffee in this state and must easily rank among the shittiest on the planet, Starbucks be damned! So this girl goes to the station and starts by saying that her company decided to enter the competition YESTERDAY! She then went on to say how she had worked as a Tully's "barista" for 12 years but, magically, has never used a little thing us pros like to call a coffee grinder. Oh and steam wands....FAR OUT man! It was really great watching one of the sensory judges, who happened to be last year's US Barista champion, make an attempt to mask a delicious grimace after tasting the girl's straight shot. Needless to say, her cappucinos naturally looked like my butthole after being force-fed a gallon of spinach lentil stew, but the crowning moment had to have been when she started making her specialty drink. Her drink was called "Chocolate Raspberry Margarita Bullshit Popsicle" or something like that -- naturally she had brought one of those ice shakers that you see bartenders use.
Science fun: Hawt expresso + iced shayker = You're top shut Froze!!!
She lost nearly two minutes trying to pry the frozen lid off -- when she did finally get the top off, the strainer part came with it -- still stuck firmly inside. So she tried pouring the contents of the shaker into the cups while straining with a spoon....and spilled everything everywhere. After she salvaged what she could she covered each drink with no less than 9,753 ounces of whipped cream -- as if to say, "It's coffee -- of course it gets whipped cream lmao!! Lol! I work at Tully's! (rips a fart)"
After all was said and done, she went over time by nearly two minutes. Tully's! Hah! Next time try...um...seeing what the competition involves...and...um maybe practice at least once beforehand....mmm'k?
Oh boy...that felt gooooood.....
This afternoon I went downtown to watch the first round of the US Barista Championship. Two of my co-workers are competing this year and I wanted to cheer my gals Jen and Jen on from the sidelines. Not surprisingly, both Jens totally kicked ass and I can't imagine either of them not making into the semi-finals on Saturday. They deserve it too, since both of them have been training about thirty hours a week for about eight months straight. Anyway, there were some real heavy hitters present at this competition and I'm glad that the girls didn't lose their cool.
For those interested, competitors are given 15 minutes to pull four single shots of espresso, make four single traditional cappucinos, and four signature beverages of his or her own design. There are two technical judges present to watch for things like proper dosing, tamping, preheating cups, etc...and four sensory judges responsible for tasting the beverages presented.
Anyway, the REAL fun of the day was when it was announced that fucking TULLY's COFFEE had entered a competitor this year! Let the record show that Tully's -- bar none -- makes the worst coffee in this state and must easily rank among the shittiest on the planet, Starbucks be damned! So this girl goes to the station and starts by saying that her company decided to enter the competition YESTERDAY! She then went on to say how she had worked as a Tully's "barista" for 12 years but, magically, has never used a little thing us pros like to call a coffee grinder. Oh and steam wands....FAR OUT man! It was really great watching one of the sensory judges, who happened to be last year's US Barista champion, make an attempt to mask a delicious grimace after tasting the girl's straight shot. Needless to say, her cappucinos naturally looked like my butthole after being force-fed a gallon of spinach lentil stew, but the crowning moment had to have been when she started making her specialty drink. Her drink was called "Chocolate Raspberry Margarita Bullshit Popsicle" or something like that -- naturally she had brought one of those ice shakers that you see bartenders use.
Science fun: Hawt expresso + iced shayker = You're top shut Froze!!!
She lost nearly two minutes trying to pry the frozen lid off -- when she did finally get the top off, the strainer part came with it -- still stuck firmly inside. So she tried pouring the contents of the shaker into the cups while straining with a spoon....and spilled everything everywhere. After she salvaged what she could she covered each drink with no less than 9,753 ounces of whipped cream -- as if to say, "It's coffee -- of course it gets whipped cream lmao!! Lol! I work at Tully's! (rips a fart)"
After all was said and done, she went over time by nearly two minutes. Tully's! Hah! Next time try...um...seeing what the competition involves...and...um maybe practice at least once beforehand....mmm'k?
Oh boy...that felt gooooood.....
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And I wish I could go to karaoke with you guys again...