The slogan found on the website of the Specialty Coffee Association of Ameria (SCAA) reads "because great coffee doesn't just happen." We happen to agree. Which is why we love sending off our talented baristas to show how they make great coffee happen.
Next up... Quill's own Jamie Tooill is heading down to Hotlanta to take part in SCAA's Southeast Regional Brewers Cup.
This is what Jamie has to say about it:
"It's basically a competition held in Atlanta that's put on by the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) which is the largest specialty coffee organization in the world. It starts on February 10th and on that morning the officials will hand out the exact same coffee to everyone. No one knows which coffee it'll be until that morning. All the competitors have a few hours to practice and find out how the coffee will taste best. We'll all experiment with water temperatures, grind sizes, extraction times etc. In the first round I'll have seven minutes to complete and serve three different brews of that coffee. Then professional and certified coffee tasters will judge the coffees on the way it tastes and smells using a pretty specific numerical grading system. There should be roughly 30-40 participants and if coffee scores in the top six then I'll be in the finals on the next day. For the finals I'll get to use one of Quills' coffees and have ten minutes to make 3 cups of coffee as well as talk about Quills and the coffee I'm serving.
Here's a few links that might be helpful: http://usbaristachampionship.org/?p=main&s=usbcbc
and this is a fun video about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvIadnIlOLc&feature=player_embedded
Basically I'm excited to go to Atlanta and hopefully represent Quills well. I'm sure I'll learn alot and I should catch up on the cool barista stuff that's happening in 10 states around!"
And we are excited for you Jamie!! Be sure to come by, wish him good luck and give him plenty of chances to practice his skills.
{Jamie doin' his thang}