Our host and provider of yummy snacks was the wonderful space that is Bonhoeffer’s in Nashua. Coffee was provided by yours truly A&E Coffee Roastery of Amherst. Awards for the latte art and signature drink winners were sponsored by Barista Pro Shop, and frozen goodness was provided by Jakes Ice Cream and Sweet Shop in Amherst.

Barista from from several cafes joined in the fun …

A&E Coffee and Tea – Connor, Ethan, Lucy, and Lukas

Bonhoeffer’s – Christine and Sophie

Beantowne Coffee - Ed and Lucas

Brewbaker’s Cafe – Ray

True Brew Barista – Rob

2nd place in the latte art throwdown went to Christina of Bonhoeffer’s.

1st place in the latte art throw down went to Ethan.

- Adam

Barista Jam

Date~    Friday, May 29

Time~   7pm-10pm

Place~  Bonhoeffer’s Café

8 Franklin St (off Main St.)

Nashua, NH 03064

RSVP~ (603) 883-6879

Schedule of Events:

7-7:15~ Sign-up for Latte Art Throw-Down & Signature Drink: $5

7:30-9:00~ THROW DOWN

Prizes for top two

9-9:45~ Signature Drink

only 5 entries & 1 per café

5 minutes to create

Prize for top drink

Appetizers~ provided by Bonhoeffer’s Cafe

Espresso~ provided by A&E Coffee Roastery

Ice-cream~ provided by Jakes Old Fashion Ice Cream

Prizes~ provided by Barista Pro Shop

We had the day off today, so we visited some local coffee shops to sample their goods. Jaime from Barismo, and his friend’s Jamie and Lex joined us as we drove into Pittsburgh proper.

Our first stop was 21st Cafe. They use Intelligencia coffee and have both a synesso and a clover. I had a Rwanda coffee via clover and Ethan had the espresso blend. Both were found somewhat lacking in characteristic. However, it was a good experience to taste coffee with some other “super tasters”.

We hopped in the car and zipped over to a new cafe, Voluto. It was a serene space featuring a triple group synesso and french press coffee. Both Ethan and I tried the espresso, roasted by 49th Parallel in Canada. The blend was Brazil, El Salvador and Ethiopian, so it has a nice brightness and a mild depth.

After that, we all needed some food. They gave us directions to a good thai place, so we could off-set all that coffee.

Upon returning back to the hotel, we watched the last few competetors and waited for the results. Ethan did not place in the finals, but he had good scores for the first try. He needs to polish the presentation, and apparently use new towels.

All in all, it has been a great experience, and I am very pleased with his performance and the friends we have made in the barista community.

Below are some pictures of our friends, including our dear companion…Lamby.

Jaime and Ben from Barismo in the Latte Throwdown at Union Street Project

Ethan and Lex at 21st

Sam with Lamby. She made it into the finals. (Everyman Coffee in NY)

Lamby takes the 1st place trophy

Line up of all the competitors

Ethan did SO well. I am very proud of him, as he performed under some serious pressure.

First things first, the area was set up in an orderly fashion. He had 15 minutes to set up, and he used them well.

He started off the performance with some great shots of espresso for the judges. The balancing cups act would have been flawless had the spoon not dropped, but oh well. And then there is the little issue of grabbing two of the white cups instead of the red. All minor. He spoke clearly and managed to control the every present “shaking hands” syndrome many of the competitors are experiencing.

The caps were great. He coaxed a few hearts and a nice rosette out of the milk. (We had to buy our own, as the provided milk did not steam very well. Go Horizon Organic Whole Milk.)

He ended with plenty of time. The signature drink went over well, especially after the Pittsburgh sandwich drink from earlier in the day, complete with cole slaw and french fries. Ethan’s drink was cream infused with vanilla bean, grapefruit zest and agave nectar with a dried apricot to nibble one. It is a very good drink! We will have to feature a variation at the shop soon.

We are now cheering on some of our new friends, and will be relaxing this evening, as the standings are not posted until tomorrow.

(I do have some video, but the connection speed is REALLY slow, so we will get it posted when we can.)

This morning, Ethan attended a registration meeting to go over the schedule. There are 3 stations, all with staggered start times. Ethan has 15 minutes to prepare at his station, 15 minutes to perform, and 15 minutes to clean up. He starts his preparation time around 1:30.

Luckily, this morning, he talked with the company rep who is furnishing the grinders: Mahlkonig http://www.mahlkoenig.com/. It is a programmable self-dosing grinder, which is a pretty nice feature. He had 15 minutes practice this morning as well. The caps were a little thin, so hopefully he can pull it together during his 15 minute set-up time.

Below are a few pictures from the morning practice and the prep room for all the competitors. I thought a grapefruit was odd, but there is a whole butternut squash sitting on another table.

Prep Room

We arrived in COLD Pittsburgh early this evening. (Just one wrong turn when Julie, the GPS Voice, told me to stay right. I took that to mean turn-exit right. Oh, yes, and then there is the fact that the driving directions were to “home”, in Milford, NH. Luckily, we were headed in the right direction anyway. We only lost about 5 minutes.)

Upon arrival, we immediately checked our luggage to make sure our cups and saucers arrived in one piece. They DID! Whew. A scheduled practice time was slated from 6-8pm, so Ethan hopped on a machine to pull a few shots and steam a little milk. All in all, it looked really good. Whew.  (Below is a pic of Ethan steaming milk.) Next on the list was to purchase the last few items we could not pack and have dinner.

He is scheduled to compete tomorrow at 1:30pm. I think we are ready! Whew.

Ethan has been preparing his signature  drink (stay tuned for more on that) and we’ve been drilling him on presentation and consistency.

Emeran and Ethan take off for Pittsburgh on Thursday and the competition starts Friday. For more information about the competition check out their Web site.

Additional posts will be made by Ethan and Emeran.

- Adam