Ever wonder about the training secrets of them crooked baristas? Here you go.

Enjoy,

DZ

Reposted from response to Huffington Post article here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-burbo/intelligentsia-wins-natio_b_542311.html

Thanks for this piece. I wanted to clarify a few things as they relate to Intelligentsia’s official position. Firstly I don’t really think it is accurate to say that anybody really thought any sort of “fix” was in at any of the past United States Barista Championships. The past and current winners have gotten to where they are through a combination of carefully sourced, developed and roasted coffees, a lot of practice and hard work and even a bit of luck when all of these pieces come together on the day they need to-nothing more, nothing less. The competition has become increasingly difficult each year with many great competitors from a multitude of companies. I can confidently say, that on any given day, any of the top 10 competitors could win. The United States Championship, I would argue is as difficult to win as the World Championship in many ways. To date however, no one from the United States has ever won the World Championship. We do hope that this might be the United States’ year.

I think the entire Specialty Coffee community is keen to move to a model where well-trained and compensated Baristas are in a position not only to serve, but educate as well. We are firm believer that the United States and World Barista Championships serve to foster professionalism throughout the industry and move Baristas to a sphere that may not have been possible before.

Intelligentsia’s choice to not compete next year was announced before this year’s finals and was done for very good reason. Our hope is that in 2011 we can work with qualified Baristas from our wholesale customer base to help foster regional champions and perhaps a national champion that does not necessarily come from a roasting company. You can expect to see a number of folks from Intelligentsia become more involved on the other side of the table as judges.

Believe it or not, our long-term goal is to continue to push Specialty Coffee in any way we can. We think that the aforementioned efforts will help to do exactly that.

As for being the “Yankees” of coffee I don’t know if that portrayal is entirely accurate when you realize that the majority of our top competitors are home grown and not simply a function of hiring someone that already possesses the skill set to win the championship. I think Twins-like is probably less sexy, but more accurate. As I have stated before, we will continue to invest in things we believe in, including our Direct Trade, In Season model at source, as well as our Baristas and most recently by-the-cup and by-the carafe brewing. Presently, we feel each of these elements can benefit the industry in ways that are profound and long lasting.

As for what we will be doing next year with all of our supposed extra time, I am really not too worried. There is so much work to do. We’ve been at this for 15 years and I honestly think we’ve got at least 15 more years of hard work ahead of us to get Specialty Coffee to where it deserves to be. As I’ve said before, let’s get started.

Cheers,

Doug Zell
Founder/CEO
Intelligentsia Coffee

15 years ago to the day, on April Fools’ Day, 1995, I left San Francisco, heading east across the southern part of the US and finally toward Chicago with my wife, Emily to start Intelligentsia. Leaving was bittersweet and I swore I’d make it back that way some day. The world and coffee is so different now than it was then. Coffee has evolved. Coffee companies have risen and fallen. New characters have stepped on the stage; some have shined like the brightest stars, others have flamed out quickly. To burn brightly for a long time requires a great deal of cleverness, innovation and determination. One’s trajectory can be assaulted in so many different ways, that staying on course is among the most difficult things to do. So many changes in technology and global politics have transpired that it is almost hard to believe that only 15 years have passed.

6 months and 8 days after April Fools’, 1995, financed by everything we had saved and money I’ll finally pay back to my Dad this September, we opened the doors of the first Intelligentsia, having little idea of what we were doing or what we were getting into. Looking back on it today, there are a lot of things I would have done differently had I known then what I know now. But if you gave me back the 15 years, I’d gladly do it again. Here’s to another 15. I wonder what it will all look like then?