February 14, 2008
Mid Atlantic Baristas Square Off in D.C.
Come 7 a.m., D.C.-area coffee counters turn into mini-war zones. Every morning, baristas are assaulted with wave after wave of java-heads, looking for their morning fix, and only the most grizzled, hardened and well-trained survive.
This weekend, the Mid Atlantic Regional Barista Competition comes to D.C. to weed out the weaklings and find the best local barista. This year’s competition, hosted by Murky Coffee, takes place in the Washington Convention Center from February 15-16 alongside Coffee Fest, a coffee products-related tradeshow.
The rapid-fire contest tests each baristas’ ability to pour four espressos, cappuccinos and signature beverages in 15 minutes, and will be judged on taste, presentation, cleanliness, technical skills, and overall impression.
According to current Murky Coffee general manager Tommy Gallagher, the shop’s team -- chosen from in-house competitions -- has been training hard for the past couple months. The four baristas on Team Murky (Randy Kindle, Allie Turner, Anne Boatner, and Marianne Hines) have been working with Aaron Ultimo, director of coffee quality, who Gallagher jokingly referred to as the team’s “Mr. Miyagi.” Working in a busy coffee house helps, too, added Gallagher, since the competitors can hone their skills under Ultimo’s watchful eye, while churning out hundreds of cups of black gold.
Last year, Murky Coffee’s owner Nick Cho and former general manager Katie Carguilo won the Southern and Mid Atlantic competitions, respectively, and went on to the nationals. To say the least, this year’s crop of baristas has a lot to live up to.
Other local competitors include Tryst, which will be sending David Fritzler and Ruben Holmgren. Fritzler took fourth place in last year’s competition.
In addition to the barista competition, Coffee Fest will also have a less strenuous free-pour latte art competition – 15 minutes to pour your prettiest creations. Latte traditionalist Gallagher prefers the rosette, heart, clover and apple shapes, but hopes to pull off his laurel wreath art when he competes alongside teammate Katie Duris.
Two preliminary rounds take place on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon; the final is Saturday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission to the competition is free, Coffee Fest is open to trade only.
Photo by krisetya
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ok, you say "other local competitors", which i assume means multiple places, and then you just say "tryst". are there other coffeehouses competing, or does this plural refer to the two people from tryst?
do common citizens get to try said coffee beverages?
Murky serves there delicious, rich, and artfully-poured cappuccinos at the store along with top-quality coffee and hot chocolate. And I'm sure if the baristas' innovative original drink recipes go over well, they'd probably land in Murky, too.
Good luck, Team Murky!
do common citizens get to try said coffee beverages?
I dunno, but all members of the Rat family are long time devotees of Murky Coffee's Eastern Market location so we'll be there trying to mooch some free coffee.
The contest involves speed? And Murky coffee is involved? You should do yourselves a favor Team Murky, keep the folks from the Eastern Market location manning the stores if you want to win....slowest damn service in town.
Erica
Yeah so if you'll notice in the other post about this competition that the highest placing barista from Team Murky was one Eastern Market's own. I don't know, some people would rather have their lattes made correctly than quickly.
To each his/her own.