Barista Competitions - a biased view

A couple of years ago I got invited to join the committee for the UK barista championships. I decided that it was time to give something back to the grassroots of the industry and give up some of my time and plenty of energy. A few weeks ago at the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe annual conference in Bern, I witnessed at first hand the epic World Barista Finals. In the brief newsletter I've express my personal views on the reasons why the UK Barista championship deserves all our support.

Is it a fair test?
It has been argued for some time that professional barista championships do not reflect a true day to day experience for baristas. Some people claim having 15 minutes to make only 4 espresso, 4 cappuccino and 4 speciality drinks is far too long. For the first timer who had not seen a national or world final I can sympathise with this view - I once held it. To counter balance this I would say that the many professional chef contests that I have seen over the years fall into the same bracket - 1 hour or more to make only 4 main courses!

15 Minutes of Fame…
Take a world final where the barista have been practising 5/6 hours a day for months to fine tune their 15 minutes of fame and argue with them that it is not a fair test. The ability to talk fluidly about what you are doing, while you explain your blend, prepare your fantastic tray layout and pull flawless shots is amazing. I know baristas who have turned up at regional heats a few years ago thinking that the 15 minutes was a breeze and proceeded to trash the place and produce decent coffee that they would make in their store but crashed and burned when it came to presentation and the finer points of extraction and basic workstation management.

The World Barista championships are by no means a perfect test of the professionalism of baristas and need refinement, but they are what we have currently. It was encouraging to note that the committee to develop the contest had just been joined by Tim Wendleboe who was the winner in 2004 and has been a recent critic of the event in an article on coffee geek. Taking your critics on board is often the best way of improving an event particularly when they are a past winner.

So who gets what?

The café owner
This can be a contentious one. The café owner often has to fork out expenses for the barista to travel to an event and pay them while they compete. In addition product from stock goes into the many speciality disaster drinks they make before a decent one emerges. Some café bar owners have argued that after supporting a barista once they wouldn't do it again - sadly. If for a moment I can digress to a recent marketing article that professed that if a company is to sponsor an event they need to spend at least the equivalent of their sponsorship again, telling people that they are sponsoring it. Think Budweiser and the World Cup as a recent example (though those two silly US guys put me off the beer). Flip this over to the café bar owner. How do they tell their customers that they have a barista who has competed in a barista competition and in some cases won? The problem is that they often don't tell their customers. This really can enhance their relationships with customers, and their loyalty - seems obvious but is often not the case.

The big win for me from the café bar owner is the motivation that this brings to staff and the retention value that this has when people are developed. If you have a barista who shows passion and a willingness to learn, you need to develop their skills, or your competitor will. In addition a local hotel in Glasgow that entered two competitors in last years Scottish heat saw a marked improvement in their coffee quality - need I say more?

The barista
Pulling shots and foaming milk all day can get a bit tedious. You can get to feel a little like a machine what with so much milk going into most drinks these days. You enjoy the customer interaction but crave a challenge and the environment where you can meet fellow baristas. Competing in barista championships can fulfil many of these functions. When I talk to baristas at competitions this is what they enjoy the most. Exchanging views and methods helps them to improve their existing operation and brings value to them and their employer.

The growing number of Barista Jams taking place around the world - and soon in the UK - is another great forum where ideas and techniques are exchanged in a fun environment. Baristas learn to challenge operational methods within their current role and ultimately improve their own operation. Most industries have such exchanges so why can't ours?

2007 and beyond

The 2007 UK Barista championships are shaping up to be the best yet. Having James Hoffman finish 5th in the world exceeded expectations and more than achieved our goal of getting a top ten world finish by 2008. With even more regional finals taking place and a prestigious venue almost firmed up for the national final it will be and event for all serious and aspiring baristas to take part in. To be the first to know about what will happen you can email us at Espresso Warehouse and we will advise you when the venues and how to enter are first posted on the UK Barista Championship website.

Spread the word and encourage your colleagues and staff to get involved.

On another matter
The growth of web blogs has been well documented in the press of late. In the UK and Ireland there are a couple of web blogs that deserve some traffic and contain interesting articles and thoughts.

The first is by the current UK Barista Championship James Hoffman of La Spaziale which can be found at http://www.jimseven.blogspot.com/. James delves into the science of sensory and explores some aspects of coffee in more detail than many of us thought possible.

The other is from Irish Barista at large, and all round good guy, Stephen Morrissey. Stephen is currently on a busman's holiday in Canada and his postings from afar are entertaining to read. http://www.flyingthud.blogspot.com/ Stephen has promised to pen an article for our website in exchange for some groovy espresso paraphernalia - let's hope he keeps his promise.

Until soon,
Gary McGann

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