Barista Bash 003 Recap








Thanks to everyone who came out for the Prima Coffee Barista Bash 003 hosted by Java Brewing Company on Friday night! There was a great turn out with both new and familiar faces in attendance.
A special thanks goes out to the folks lending their talents for the event. Kenny and Darren of Sunergos Coffee were kind enough to offer up their skills for the latte art classes and they did a great job teaching us novices. Sarah Welder and Sarah Buker of Java gave an excellent demonstration on brewing with the french press method. Phil Revell of Quills Coffee and Chris Heiniger of Sunergos brewed up some delicious coffee while demonstrating both the V60 and Chemex pour over methods. And our very own Matt Galyon and friend of Prima Brian Moats finished up the brewing demos with the Yama Syphon method, which of course drew an intrigued crowd! And to Kenny (winner of the Barista Bash 002 latte art competition), Matt Argo of The Anchorage Cafe, and Nathan Quillo, owner of Quills, for judging throughout the night!
Great coffee was to be had throughout the night, whether brewed or pulled. Mike Safai of Safai Coffee & Tea roasted several pounds of tasty coffees and donated them just for the Bash. Chris Cockrell of La Grange Coffee Roasters provided some delicious coffees as usual at the Bashes, and we are always grateful. And some of the folks from Alliance World Coffees made the trip down from Muncie to hang out and compete in the latte art competition, and donated some coffee as well to the Bash. You gotta love the coffee community!
Congratulations to the winners of the night! Josh Monroe of Java won the raffle prize for the night, which included a $10 gift certificate to Prima Coffee, a sweet Barista Magazine shirt, and a one year membership to the Barista Guild of America. Barista Bash 001 winner Chris Heiniger came in second in the latte art competition this time around, winning a Prima Coffee shirt, subscription to Barista Magazine, and $10 gift certificate. Sarah Reynolds of Alliance came down and became the first non Louisvillian to win the competition and surely made Muncie proud! The first place prizes included a Prima shirt, a Barista Magazine subscription, a $25 gift certificate to Prima Coffee, and a Prima Coffee tamper.
Thanks to Chris Lavenson and Stephen Ripley for being so accomodating and for being great hosts, as well as to the other Java baristas who worked so hard throughout the night. Thanks to Cameron Deeb for emceeing the events, and to Michelle Jones of Consuming Louisville for helping spread the word. The photos you see on the blog were provided by Brian Moats. Nice work! To everyone who came out and got excited about coffee and its awesomeness, we really appreciate your support and for supporting these great baristas who prepare coffee and espresso with excellence every day.
Until next time!
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As the interest in specialty coffee continues to increase, so does the interest in brewing methods that best compliment the quality and ideals of specialty coffee. Up until this point there have been limited options when it comes to pour over brewing devices that offer both a small learning curve as well as excellent results. Garnering praise for both their calculated design and ease of use, the Kalita line of pour over brewers are helping that small list of brewers grow. The Kalita Wave Dripper is being offered in both small (1-2 people) and large (1-4 people). The small size is offered in both glass and stainless steel while the large size is offered in glass, stainless steel, and ceramic. For an overview of the unique style the Kalita Wave Dripper brings to the pour over method, a feature chart that overviews the design, technique, and advantage can be found below.
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(For a guest barista review, click here.) Anfim's Super Caimano espresso grinder, upon its initial release, was a solid addition to any high-end coffee house. It featured a 75mm flat burr set that helped to give a very consistent grind, allowing baristas to rely upon it for excellent shot-to-shot uniformity. When dialing in a coffee, the Super Caimano had 70 holes in its adjustment collar to allow for tinkering between shots. Now, however, Anfim has added an additional 20 spots for a total of 90 holes in the adjustment collar. The benefit of this? When dialing in and finding the sweet spot for any coffee being used to pull shots of espresso, a key factor the barista must take into consideration is the size of the grind particles. Yes, uniformity and consistency of those grind particles is also key, but the ability to make tiny, incremental adjustments is always helpful when striving to find the right balance of all a coffee's characteristics when pulled as espresso.
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When it comes to serving freshly brewed coffee in a commercial setting, one key dilemma has continually arisen. How can a commercial, high volume coffee shop make quick, fresh coffee without sacrificing quality? The solution has been either (1) to slightly sacrifice quality by making a large amount of drip coffee every hour or so, or (2) to preserve quality but to slow down production and possibly lose a potential profit with single-cup brewing (V60, Chemex, French Press, etc.). The brewing process that the Bunn Trifecta is built upon could be the answer to this significant dilemma.
The Trifecta has been anxiously awaited by the coffee community since Starbucks bought the rights to the Clover brewing system and took it off the market. At a fraction of the price of the Clover, the Trifecta could be the next-generation coffee system. The process is incredibly simple and efficient without sacrificing quality. It can be compared to a Syphon Brewer in its use of total immersion, constant temperature, and agitation of the grounds.
First, the hot water completely saturates the freshly ground beans resulting in a French Press like immersion. This takes advantage of the total extraction of beans that can only take place in full immersion brewing systems.
Second, Air is injected into the pressurized chamber which agitates the grounds. This further enhances extraction by exciting the grounds and water as they interact with each other.
Third, at just the right time (before over-extraction can take place), the pressurized air presses the coffee through a metal filter into the waiting cup. Similar to the Aeropress, this added pressure further enhances the extraction process and ensures a full-bodied flavor in the coffee. To read a full, hands-on review of the Bunn Trifecta by our coffee team, click here: Bunn Trifecta First Impression.




Customer Reviews
why does Kenny always look
why does Kenny always look unrealistically buff in these pictures?