Solberg & Hansen Blog

A totally awesome evening!

12.Nov 2010 09:14 · Permalink · 3 Comment(s) · Category: News

By Ola Brattås

Thanks to 5 awesome American roasteries and 5 awesome Norwegian (more or less) baristas, many people had an awesome evening with many espressos and a few drinks to top it off!

I think I speak for everyone there when I say that it was an inspirational meeting between Norwegian and American coffee culture.

I'd like to send a big thank you to the roasteries for sending us their coffees and the baristas for making them for us. They were all good sports for accepting to take part in such an informal competition! You are all awesome!

The real winners this evening in my mind were the judges/attendees for getting the opportuniy to be served such rare treats.

Before I reveal the final standings I'd like to point out that the scoring was really tight and the judging not necessarily 100% impartial nor serious.

Here goes:

5th Place: Sverre C. Olsen/Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic Espresso

Sverre took a big chance in pulling short shots to maximize the sweetness he felt was one of biggest attributes of the blend.

Some of the shots suffered from this and the strategy proved to let him down a bit. He deserves bonus points for a bold approach. In spite of this some of the judges enjoyed some beautifully balanced and sweet shots that showed off the true potential of this coffee.

Some taste descriptors mentioned were:
Tobacco, vanilla, blackberries and lime

4th Place: Arnaud Fontaine/Heart Guatemala Puerta Verde

Arnaud complained he didn't get much of a chance to see how the shots were as the greedy judges stole the cups to taste as soon as they were finished.

Still Arnaud made some really great shots of this beautiful coffee!

Some taste descriptors mentioned were:
Green apple, orange, gooseberries and raspberries

3rd Place: Håkon Kinn/Ecco Guatemala El Tambor

Håkon was the barista being drawn to be the first to shoot shots and the judges wasn't necessarily 100% calibrated.

Still Håkon wasn't intimdated by this factor and showed us how professional a barista he is by pulling shots at a break-neck speed. Setting the standard for the rest of the baristas. Noone managed to be as fast though, and some of the shots he pulled were beautifully balanced and really showed us what this coffee can be like.

Some taste descriptors mentioned were:
Dark chocolate, citrus and spices

2nd Place: Jannicke M. Johansen/ PT's Finca Las Mercedes, El Salvador

In her preparations I watched how Jannicke broke the shot in three to taste the different parts of the shot to get an idea of the coffee. When she pulled her shots for the judges later on we could all taste how she managed to extract perhaps the most balanced shots of the evening.

An awesome barista and an awesome coffee still didn't manage to make it to first place.

Some taste descriptors mentioned were:
Gooseberries, dark plums, roasted chestnuts, kiwi, redcurrants

1st Place: Tim Varney/ Ritual S.T. Guama, Kenya

Dressing up as Tim Varney of "the Craft" fame, Tim Varney set the mood brilliantly and showed us the great barista skills that to often goes unnoticed behind his equally great social skills.

Being the last barista to step up to the machine, having to cope with tired taste pallates didn't stop him from claiming the first place for himself and Ritual.

Some of the shots were really juicy and more than one judge drank every last drop of their espresso.

Some taste descriptors mentioned were:
Cherries, Blackcurrants, raspberries, grape fruit and sweet lemons

We'd like to send out a big congratulations to all and a big thanks to Tim Wendelboe for co-hosting the event.

The evening ended with some drinks to calm the nerves and the judges were sent off into the night with big smiles on their faces.

The next edition of The Totally Awesome International Espresso Blend Barista Battle will be a fantastic battle of the beasts as at least 4 former Norwegian barista champions go head to head to show who now is the real champ! I can feel the testoterone level rising allready! The country from where we will get the totally awesome espresso blends from has not yet been decided upon but we will reveal this along with the date of the event as soon as it's been decided.