Barista Competitions
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
i have never heard of anyone suggesting a “fix”, and honestly, i find the idea a bit ridiculous. you guys have worked hard at competition, and i’m never surprised to see you succeed.
i think this is the year the US can win it, thanks to Mike’s hard work and Intelligentsia’s strong support.
congratulations!
Nicely put, Doug. Your words are just the extension of the nice job you guys are doing towards making coffee better at the USA.
Very well reasoned and articulated position. I think that choosing to invest training efforts in having wholesale customers compete speaks very strongly to your company’s commitment to the real utility of the barista competition system. By building stronger regional competitors and raising the overall level of competition, the profession as a whole gets moved more towards education and professionalism.
I loved that Mike, Chris and Charles represented three very different takes on service. Mike had calm, assured polish. Chris communicated laid back, direct, personal excitement. Charles had ebullient geekery. In their own way, they all were able to communicate an impressive depth of passion for and information about their coffees and the people and process behind them. Ultimately, every finalist deserved a 4.5+ in terms of passion/professionalism, so it all came down to taste scores, as it should.
I’m glad that intelli realizes that while it is important to extend the top-level drink craft to the wider industry, it is just as important to foster top-level educational professionalism in baristas outside the current premium roaster/cafe companies. The competition system will have done its job and the industry will be a lot closer to where it deserves to be when it becomes common for a barista from a small neighborhood wholesale account to be in the finals providing the same level of education as the current finalists.
Nicely put, Doug. Your words are just the extension of the nice job you guys are doing towards making coffee better at the USA.
great post as usual!