USBC FINALS

[onocoffee]

In no particular order:

Matt Riddle
Kyle Glanville
Chris Defurious (Deferio)
Pete Licata
Heather Perry
Peter Middlecamp (1st time USBC Competitor)


All I can say is that the USBC is getting better and bolder each year. So many new techniques. So many fresh approaches. I once wrote that the USBC was getting boring - that's no longer the case.

Over the past couple of days, I've seen some great stuff: distillation, smoking guns, espresso caviar, food mill and so much more. The USBC is progressing and there's some truly exciting stuff going on.

The competitor base this year was tougher than ever. Surprises and upsets abound, but the camaraderie remains. I'm glad to be here.

Now, onward to the BGA party at Cohiba's!

[Rich Westerfield]

I've seen some great stuff... smoking guns

As in"smoking guns" or "smoking guns"?

And the application was...?

These ought to be interesting vids when all is said and done.

And hey, saw Mark's posts on CG. Good for you - love the crowd play, wish you were still in it, and wish we'd seen it.

Of course now that that table is set, we can only imagine that next year in Mpls. someone will do the Prince thing and climb up on the table with a guitar rigged to squirt spro into the audience...

[barry]

two words: Beer Hats.

[Jim Saborio]

It's as if they selected the finalists to be "geographically fair". Surprise surprise! Thanks for keeping us up-to-date and being the eyes and ears for those who couldn't afford the trip. Don't forget our friends on the other forums too.

I can't wait to see more pictures.

[Aldo1]

Impressive! Congrat to all the competitors. And SO interesting to read the details y'all are graciously taking the time to post.

It is hard not being there, I appreciate the updates.

Thanks.

[cremaquest]

Actually, Kyle Larson is not in the finals.

Kyle Glanville of Intelligentsia, Los Angeles is.

Congratualtions to all of the competitors and the finalists!

[bz]

whoa.

dare i speak the names of rock-stellar baristi not in the finals? billy? jon? whaaa?

frankly, this makes me even more irritable. all this drama and NO ONE is live-blogging, offering eyewitness acounts, video or insider tidbits?

i appreciate those who have posted the lineups. but really ... how insulated is this bubble in long beach?

[Aaron Ultimo]

Thanks for the clarification Brent. Very interesting results. I can't wait to hear the gory details...

[James Hoffmann]

whoa.

dare i speak the names of rock-stellar baristi not in the finals? billy? jon? whaaa?

frankly, this makes me even more irritable. all this drama and NO ONE is live-blogging, offering eyewitness acounts, video or insider tidbits?

i appreciate those who have posted the lineups. but really ... how insulated is this bubble in long beach?

I know! The level to which I am frustrated by wanting to know what is going on is sad testament to the level of nerdiness I have attained.

Someone post more pics/video/something! (please)

[tonx]

i appreciate those who have posted the lineups. but really ... how insulated is this bubble in long beach?

I can barely get cell reception at the convention center. I took a gig and a half of pics yesterday and have uploaded a few to flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonx/

I have a couple of video clips I'll post when i have a chance.

The competition looks really tight and I'm guessing when the scores materialize it will turn out to have been a very close race.

[onocoffee]

Whoops! That's a helluva error!

Correction made!

[)on]

Apologies to those who crave the up-to-date. I've been in those shoes and the bigger this thing gets, the more demand there will be for live feeds - USBC/barista mag/bloggers? As for now, be happy knowing that the USofA will soon have a new (or repeat) champ... and there will be a lot of stories told after this bubble pops.

Awesome baristas up to bat today.

Good luck!

[Aldo1]

Can anyone there comment on the difference you see the new rules making?

and lol, it seems I am not the only one checking back here all the time looking for any morsel of update.

[bz]

not to be overly curmudgeonly ...

but it's worth noting that when i blogged the usbc last year, my hits went through the roof -- and i was a nobody, driving two hours back from charlotte each day, then posting late at night.

does no one else see an obvious market appetite here? forget all the other growing pains of barista competitions for a sec. it's still drama -- neck-and-neck competition -- at its core, and there are legions of people (a dozen or so just in my small town) who are dying to know what the heck happened out there.

of all the ways that the power and energy of a competitive event is poorly captured, this is the worst, because it's a waste of a cheap-n-easy way to engage and excite people, from afar, about coffee. and the people doing coffee.

p.s. i'm not busting on anybody in particular. but jeez, have we not reached critical mass yet?

nice pics, tonx. always nice.

[Aldo1]

Rich and I will be willing to blog it next year, live if there is wireless

But damn, I want to know what is happening today. I want to know what happened yesterday! I cannot get enough. More! More!

[Rich Westerfield]

It's now about quarter to two LA time... y'all can start blogging the finals any time now. We actually have customers interested in this even though we - and everyone in our region - is out of it.

Rich and I will be willing to blog it next year, live if there is wireless

Dang, woman. You're already assuming I won't make it out of the regionals to compete in Mpls? That I can't be next year's Pete Middlecamp?

Wow. I don't even want to attend with you now.

Harrrrumph!

(isn't there some way to do a Twitter pool for this type of thing?)

[Jim Saborio]

Would I be misunderstood if I wondered why the Super Bowl couldn't have coverage more like this?

[Jason Haeger]

I too was hoping for more juicy details.

Someone please post a stream of updates!

I'll be back in half an hour.. you know... just in case.

[Stephen Morrissey]

I'm also one of the many eager to find out who this year's usbc is.

I'm off to bed now, not sure if I'll get any sleep, but hoping that surely by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, someone will have posted details of who won and everything else!

night folks

[James Hoffmann]

I hear the following. (reliable source - Mark P)

1st Heather Perry
2nd Pete Licata
3rd Matt Riddle
4th Chris Deferio
5th Kyle Glanville
6th Peter Middlecamp


Congrats to everyone...

It seems that odd to be posting this from the UK....

[Rich Westerfield]

Jim,
See Jay's post at top of thread - Glanville not Larson?

[James Hoffmann]

Yeah - just realised I'd posted the wrong name everywhere because I am an idiot, thanks to the mods for the correction elsewhere. What is worse is that I knew it was Kyle G yet somehow managed to mess it up!

[cremaquest]

Jon Lewis was in 7th place by 5 points. (semi-finals)

Kyle Glanville had the top score in the semi-finals. (Important not to compare scores too much in semi's, the goal is to identify the top 6 and the judges change every 5 competitors.)

Heather's finals score was 701 using the new rules/scoring (out of 1012 possible).
Top 12 (semi's) included Jon Lewis, Phuong, Billy Wilson, Kevin Fuller. Not sure of order or scoring.

The competition ran very very late last night, and we didn't have announcement of finalists until after 9:30 last night (scheduled for 6 or 7) so it was a long night, and lead immediately into the BGA party, which lasted until 2, and then a few hours of rest before we were back for finals this morning.

I'm sure more details, photos, and stories and results will be forthcoming. I also know most of us are headed back home, or to the Roaster's Guild party tonight, and then back home....

Congrats everyone on a great USBC.

[bz]

Jon Lewis was in 7th place by 5 points. (semi-finals)

shoulda challenged. something.

[Aldo1]

Jon Lewis was in 7th place by 5 points. (semi-finals)

Kyle Glanville had the top score in the semi-finals. (Important not to compare scores too much in semi's, the goal is to identify the top 6 and the judges change every 5 competitors.)

Heather's finals score was 701 using the new rules/scoring (out of 1012 possible).
Top 12 (semi's) included Jon Lewis, Phuong, Billy Wilson, Kevin Fuller. Not sure of order or scoring.

The competition ran very very late last night, and we didn't have announcement of finalists until after 9:30 last night (scheduled for 6 or 7) so it was a long night, and lead immediately into the BGA party, which lasted until 2, and then a few hours of rest before we were back for finals this morning.

I'm sure more details, photos, and stories and results will be forthcoming. I also know most of us are headed back home, or to the Roaster's Guild party tonight, and then back home....

Congrats everyone on a great USBC.

ty SO much for some detail. Much appreciated.

Why did the semi's run so long over schedule on Sat?