It’s always a great experience, going to the SCAA Expo, and this year was no exception. We were able to catch up with old friends, make lots of new ones, and introduce our newest hire, Sarah Leslie, to the greater coffee community.
To start with, let’s introduce Sarah. Sarah has, until recently, worked at Think Coffee in New York, but she recently decided to leave to pursue working with TampTamp. She’ll be handling logistics on our end and will probably be the first person anyone talks to. We’re really excited to have her with us. Her first day at TampTamp was the first day of Expo, so we had her going through a bit of shock therapy to start, and she made it through with flying colors. We’re very proud of her, and are sure she’s going to be great.
But for us, Expo was a bit different than previous years. Neil spent his time working with Utz Certified, who were putting on a cupping competition of their best coffees. Friday’s competition featured 8 Kenyan coffees, led by one named Ndumberi, which won the day. The next day featured coffees from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Colombia. A Colombian coffee from Coocentral won with an overall score of 90! Overall, we’re really happy with what Utz has put together. They’re proving that their coffees can compete on any stage, and we look forward to working with them again and seeing what they come up with for the future.
Anne, however, spent most of her time judging the US Barista Championships as a sensory judge. She was able to taste some of the best espressos, cappuccinos, and signature beverages the industry has to offer and is exceptionally happy she was able to do so. Congratulations to Mike Phillips, who once again won the USBC and will be representing us next month at the World Barista Championships in London. Anne continued her judginess by being a judge of the Thursday Night Throwdown held on Thursday (of course) a the SCAA opening reception. 64 baristas faced off to see who could pour the best latte, with a grand prize courtesy of Counter Culture Coffee of $1,000. Of course, Neil competed too, but was knocked out by a vicious nay-vote from Anne in the 1st round. Sarah, however, made it to the 3rd round.
Anne was also the lead instructor for the first offering of the SCAA Level II class on Espresso Efficiency and Workflow. A class we helped develop (and teach at TampCamp) that focuses on speeding up barista flow through good design and efficiency while still minimizing waste and producing high-quality drinks. We’re very proud of that class and hear it was a resounding success. Hopefully we’ll see more Level 2 classes around the country soon.
The last highlight of the weekend was the BGA Cafe. Organized by Ben Helfen, BGA Executive Council member and all around Atlanta-focused coffee guru, it featured two espresso machines pulling various coffees all weekend and a Cup of Excellence drip bar with a rotating cast of coffee as well. This was all run by some of the best baristas in the world, including a shift by Gwilym Davies, current World Barista Champion, Sammy Piccolo, current Canadian Barista Champion, and Neil Oney, current 8th place finisher in the North East Regional Barista Competition.
After the show was over, Team TampTamp took over Disneyland. Who can go to Anaheim without seeing Mickey? We had breakfast at In-n-Out burger, then met Neil’s brother Dan for lunch in Disney and spent the afternoon riding every ride we could come across. It rained in the afternoon, which cooled things off a bit, but Anne needed a new sweatshirt anyway. After Disney we hightailed it to the airport for a long red-eye home.
But thanks everyone, for a great weekend. We look forward to seeing everyone in Houston next year.