Wedensday, Day 3 WBC 2009

Action time is getting closer and closer. The centre is really abuzz with all the baristas and their support teams rolling in this year. Today we have not long finished the competitor briefing with the ever composed and organised Marcus Boni and his right hand Amber Sather. So many friendly names and faces, so its awesome to see everyone again and meet some new. I think its cool (and not just because I have) that so many people are repeat customers at the WBC. I can vouch for its infectiousness.

The WBC team have done a phenomenal job pulling the event together. Its looking awesome, and very organised. I think it really helps that there is so much room to pull everything together. Not only is there room onstage, but also out the back. The practice stations are almost full size, and every competitor has their own table for the duration of the WBC to store/ prep their equipment on. One day soon I will remember to take a photo of the area and post it.

Before and after the competitors briefing the judges were in calibration making sure that everyone is on the same page so every competitor is judged equal, and any national/ global interpretations are levelled.

Competitors briefing being taken by the immaculately attired Marcus. This is the first official event for the competing baristas.

Both pics above are David Huang, (3rd in NZBC this year) working hard making dozens of coffees for the judges to use for calibration. Its a unique opportunity to spend time in front of the judges, good for the nerves (eventually!)

Hide Kono, (2nd NZBC) also had the chance to work calibration with the judges. Both Hide and David are here as part of the New Zealand team after their positions in the finals of the National Champs gave them a wicked prize, a trip to WBC.

With the comp kicking off tomorrow late morning make sure you stay in touch with what is happening. This year there is an unprecedented level of coverage of the WBC with Twitter http://twitter.com/WBC2009 and official WBC blog up kept by Emily Oak http://worldbaristachampionship.org/2009/ and of course the Official WBC Live stream which has been tested today and is looking great! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/world-barista-championship-2009 . For those of you back in New Zealand keen to catch up with the action here, and too lazy to look at a world clock, you are (in its simplest to understand way) 8 hours behind, but one day ahead... speaking of that.... funny story....

Chris White checked into the hotel (always a sorry around that). Lady on the desk asks him where we are from. He explains, she asks what the time difference is. Chris explains as above, then follows with, "...so if you want to know any sports scores for games tomorrow, just ask and I can check back home!". The Ever-genuine lady behind the desk replies, "Are they really a day ahead? That's amazing, are you even allowed to place bets here then?!!" Yep... that's right!!!lol

As many of you know this is Nick Cho, a man who has mastered many things, including doing a good job of setting up all the streaming. As of this photo, it is fair to say he as not quite mastered the "Blue Steel"! For those of you using the stream make sure you send out a thanks to Nick.

Top pic is the WBC stage area. It has all come together really well, and is looking functional for both competitors and the audience. The machines all got a work out today from the judges calibration. The bottom pic is the WBC Bar set up with 3x3 group NS machines, and a new and exciting "Uberboiler" for Chemex brews. Drinks will be running free out of the bars over the whole 4 day event, and being made by famous WBC Champions like James Hoffman and Tim Wendlebow.

After the briefing was finished, the first competitors started their practice sessions. Later we had the Meet and Greet Party. Its an event which is held at every WBC, and is a chance to catch up with old friends, and meet all the new people. It was a cool event, but I am going to choose eating my dinner over posting pics of it at the moment (greedy me I know!!!).

So I wish all of you competing tomorrow the very best of luck. I will be there to cheer you on, and cant wait for the event to start.

Tuesday, Day 2 of WBC 2009

Today started almost without yesterday stopping, sleep is still hard to find but there is plenty to do!

Mum, Dad and Marc arrived just after midnight, and along with them the last of my crockery/ glasses. Its a genuine relief to have everything here.

The team started off the day heading out to find breakfast, someone didn't want the Hotel food. To cut a long story short, we ended up in parts of the City we didn't fit in very well in, and the Hotel food now looks like a sound option in the mornings.

With the mornings dining taken care of the team split. Most went off shopping, three of us sorted the power for the grinders. The sooner the rest of the world changes their power to be the same as the US, the easier it will be for everyone. Another long story short we went down to check out the venue. Its tiny! You could only just fit a small country into the hall! Marcus, Cindy and Amber had things well under control and the 2009 WBC was starting to take shape. The new "Runway" format is looking great, and I think will have heaps of great advantages for Baristas and Audience. One of the big ones for the baristas being that temperatures should be kept at a more bearable level because there is still the ability for air to circulate.

The stage is quickly taking shape. 2 big screens, 650 comfortable chairs and 3 workstations running down the centre runway. Just to the right of shot is the media centre, which is beside the foodcourt. 100m behind shot is the WBC Bar. I didn't take a pic of it because I couldn't be bothered getting my camera out again.

The WBC Cafe Bar was being put together and is looking huge. Its going to be a masssive draw to the event, and really help create some more depth to the experience for visitors and baristas alike. Where else could you possibly have so many great Baristas making all types of coffees!

While we were there Francesco from Nuova Simonelli took the time to give us a peak at the new WBC edition machines. They look wicked. The Nuovo team have been busy making heaps of small but positive changes to their machines for this WBC and the results are coming through loud and clear. Just to cam any rapidly beating hearts at this point, the operating paarmeters of the machines have remained the same as those WBC machines we have been training on (which I was somewhat relieved about myself!)

The main visible changes are obviously the new limited edition WBC art work and paintjob. Some cool graphics floating from portafilters on the side of the machines right around the front.

White halogens on each of the groupheads brighten up the deck for our espressos and quite clearly the electronic control panel has emerged back onto this WBC machine. I dont have time to go into details at the moment, but the panel controls the pressurestat so temperature can now be easily controlled/ varied from this panel rather than having to open its shell.

The other most obvious changes are the portafilters. Stitched leather porta-filter handles with a new lip to prevent that nasty run of water back down the handles lead up to a teflon lined bowl. They look cool, and are very comfortable to use.

I can't wait to start dropping some shots through these machines, so much time and effort has gone into getting them ready. Even though these machines are all new (and there are heaps of them!), the NS team spent a whole week factory testing each one before they were shipped, and a 15 strong support team is here to make sure everything runs to plan.We are lucky to have Nuova onboard this WBC.

Everyone is piling into Atlanta now, and only a few left on the team to arrive. I am looking forward to catching up with everyone over the next few days. Wednesday is the competitors meeting, and the meet and greet that night, so it all begins now!

Day 1 In Atlanta WBC 2009

So finally the big day arrived and we set off for Atlanta. The biggest surprise was we didn't have any excess luggage, infact we had room and weight to spare. I guess its really an indication of the style I have been heading towards this year.

I guess good chunk of this posting goes something like.... a plane trip is a plane trip. This one was quite long though, took us about 31 hrs door to door. There were 9 of us in this first wave, so plenty of time for us all to catch up.

We eventually arrived in ATL, all bags accounted for by some small miracle for which I am grateful! By the time we got checked in it was after 1am, but still only 5pm NZ time, so we were all wide awake. I spent most the night tidying up some work, and chatting on skype with sleep only coming about 5am.

Atlanta greeted us with the greyest of days not really inspiring our ventures into the outside world, but, alas, we did go.

It was surprising enough to get a nice photo of Chris who manages to pull a face anytime I come close to him with a camera. It was somewhat of a miracle that this one turned out well seeing as how tired he was.
The first coffee and trip saw 9 of us pack into a minivan and head down to Octane. I have been chatting to John Cole from Octane for a few weeks now, Sammy suggested that they are using some great milk. So we bowled on in in our most subtle of styles (picture bull/ gate).

The first coffee of the trip was wicked thanks guys, a great El Sal press was a good way to see a headache off! Pictued above is John who has been a massive help helping us source a few bits and pieces that I need. Nothing major, but having some local knowledge on the ground has been great. The BGA has also arranged a "Barista Buddy" for each competitor, someone local and on the ground, to help source the myriad of weird requests that WBC baristas sometimes have.

We darted down to Counter Culture Coffee and managed to interrupt Tim Adams from Australia who was having a bit of a practise, sorry about that mate, but good to see him again. Tims a really nice guy whom I met for the first time at the Australian Nationals back in Feb. He has been through a lot to get to this point, and I am sure he will be strong on showday.

With the help of John and Jordan we ploughed through the few remaining tasks we had, which freed the afternoon for touristy thing which Ienjoy ever so much.

While Scott and I were getting bits finished, the rest of the crew went through the Coke Museum, I was bitterly dissapointed I missed out on that, but was beside myself with excitement at the opportunity to take my photo beside this old kodger holding a glass of Coke. (My knees are trembling with excitement)

After a healthy lunch we headed to the Aquarium where Chris had "Fish Love Moments" such as the one above with a Pirahna.

Of course Emma will always find an opportunity to hassle the local mascot. In the Coke factory it was a Polar Bear with sly fingers, and the aquarium had this enchanting fish that wasn't actually smiling by the time Emma (aka Where's Wally) had finished. In the picture with her is David Huang who is one of the two competitors that NZCRA brought with the team as a prize for making top 3 in the Champs back home. David finished 3rd. This picture was exciting for him because its the first time all day he put down his video camera. Hide Kono finished 2nd in the nationals but claims he has dignity so would not join the photo.lol. Its been great Having David and Hide along with us this year. Its an amazing opportunity to see what is expected at the WBC that they otherwise would miss, and a sign of the commitment of NZCRA who organise our championships, to developing depth in our pool of baristas.

But back to the fish....

Some of the tanks are huge, pictured here are 4 distinctive silhouettes from the team. From far left Bernard Smith, Where's Wally (aka Emma Markland-Webster), David "Camcorder" Huang, and Chris White.

As much as I enjoyed hauling my cynical arse through crowds of screaming children and adults who have never seen a fish which hasn't been frozen and coated in breadcrumbs before, it was time to leave. While some of the tanks were genuinely amazing through their magnatude, I was dissapointed we were not allowed to feed the Pirahnas. I think if I were to go back to the aquarium my experience would be enriched by a line and hook, wedge of lemon and a frying pan.

We then had a chance to have a wander around town. Atlanta has some really classic styles going on and I enjoyed having a look about some of the buildings. We were drawing a few odd stares as we were the only people actually walking, not driving, but we had an enjoyable stroll.

After grabbing a few supplies for the night... (only in America!)...it was straight to the poker table fo game one in the World Series of WBC Poker. That went a bit of okay. Out to dinner with the team to a micro brewery. We discovered why it was "he only place in the whole world" you can buy their beer, but the staff were friendly and it was great having some laughs. We then caught up with Sammy Piccolo (Actor from award winning movie "Black Gold" and 4 x Canadian Barista Champion). Great to see Sammy, he is a great sport and was brave to come with us.

Back in the room I heard the latest of news (to me anyways) that Cindy Chang has been appointed as Executive Director of the WBC. Its a great posting for Cindy, and one I am sure she will do an incredible job with.

More action tomorrow!

Ahhhh Hindsight....

I love this time building up to competitions. We spend ages working on details, finding areas to improve, innovations and practice. In one week everything comes together (all going to plan and fingers crossed) and we get to see the results of our hardwork. Something that I always find, is that these couple of weeks are often when we make some of he most dramatic and significant discoveries, those elusive eureka moments.

It can be frustrating the things that become clear this at this time, exciting, but frustrating that we have spent so long working on all of the details. An example is with the coffee. I dont want to say exactly because I want to keep it fresh for next week, but I have been fortunate to have some great coffees to work with this year, far better than those we have been able to access before (other than a couple of gems along the way like some of the Mountain Tops and Daterra's). Right the way through training, heats and then finals I was making some incredible tasting coffees (if you dont mind me saying so myself!lol), but there were a couple of small tasting issues I wanted to overcome. They were only small, but I could not massage better results through so many techniques, until last week. Then it was so obvious I couldn't believe I had missed it before.

These learning points are for me one of the main reasons I compete. Never has there been such a good way to push the boundaries of our knowledge for a barista. On Friday we were kicking back after a couple of dozen espressos and reflecting (laughing more to the point) about some of the things that we used to do, that just seem ludicrous now. At the time they make so much sense, but the reality is they are more like a square wheel. Roll on the new stuff!

I will post some pics tonight. (fingers crossed).

Just few days till we leave. Cant wait to see you all again.

The Real World.

Well.... the dog ate my computer. Okay, so I dont have a dog... but I have had good reasons for not being able to keep up my blogging. Thanks to all of you who keep sending me messages and emails asking for updates, back on track now.

The past few weeks have been mad mad crazy busy with a demo/ rebuild of one of our stores and its reopening. It was our first fitout since we opened our South City store in 1999, so it was well overdue and looks awesome. Weather is starting to get colder now and so we are getting busier and busier.

Of course, we have been finding opportunities to enjoy the occasional coffee or three prepping up for the WBC in a couple of weeks. Our approach to the comps has been so refrshing this year. More than anythng we have been tasting heaps of coffees. Some new, some reprofiled.

We have a great little training set up for practice which makes life a whole lot easier thanks to the guys at Cerebos and NZCRA.

Training this year has also changed because of the timing of our Nationals. In previous years I have competed our Nationals have been run at the end of the previous year as they are also done in Canada (Normally around August/ Sept). This year our nationals were held just 6 weeks before we leave for WBC. It has meant that the standard that is required to pull out a win at the Nationals is so much higher. Previously there has been ample time to "step it up" for the WBC after the Nationals. So we piled in heaps of work before the Nationals, and while we are still working hard, some of that pressure has been lifted. Thats great because it has put me into a much better mindspace for the WBC.

So at the moment I have been arranging some of the logistical details that make up the WBC. I think that for many of you who have not competed overseas before it will be difficult to understand some of the logistics involved. Small things can become major and things that are given at home, cannot be taken for granted when travelling. A classic example of this for us here in New Zealand is milk. For us here, almost no matter which milk we choose, we are dealing with varying degrees of good. WBC Tokyo saw some tough issues with milk. How many dairy cows do you think there are in Tokyo (excluding any dressed as humans and kept as pets in 15sqm apartments)... obviously none. We decided to fly my milk with us, and saved a huge amount of headaches in the process.

This year however logistics are easier than in some other years. We are allowed 2 bags on the plane with us (Luciano thinks that means one bag for Ninja suits and the other for poker chips), and I also have far less gear than previous years. This is a good thing.

So as far as the routine is going, I am smiling. It is completely different to other years for me. I am leaving all my previous baggage at home, and just coming along to enjoy and learn. The end result is that I have been focused on areas that are small but making significant differences in both my routine and in the shop. Examples of this are with dosing techniques, pouring and grinder management. One of the cool parts is seeing my baristas picking up on heaps of the small details, and wanting to continue improving their techniques. Its one of the many positive spin offs from the comps.

Anyway I must go and sleep, another big day in the shops tomorrow, I am quickly learning that there is no better place to nail down the techniques I am practising for WBC, than behind a roaring espresso machine in a busy cafe!

Will keep up on the postings again.

UKBC Finals action tonight...

Make sure you check out the finals action at the UKBC tonight. Starts about 10pm. Live feed. The heats have been on over the last two days and there are a few guys/ girls coming through who are looking very solid. Dont miss it!

http://www.mogulus.com/ukbc

The home of the Hoff!

Here we come Atlanta!

So sorry that the posting have been a bit light on the ground this week. I am sure you all understand that training took priority!

The good news that most of you would of heard by now is that we got the goal over the line! The few days leading up to the finals have been a bit of a blur.

Final practicing, preparation and parties. Everyone rolled into town on Friday and met up at Luciano's cafe for a catch up and throwdown. Its always great to get everyone in one place the night before a big comp, just part of the camaradarie. Great to watch the different ways that we all deal with the stress of comptitions.

I have a few pics coming over the next couple of days from different people, so will geta bit of a photo essay going on the finals, but it went something like this...

Day cold, wet and rainy which was a change from the scorcher of the heats. I drew 4th and with just two machines and one flight of judges just 2 routines an hour were scheduled.

The coffee was tasting solid during practice, so I felt great heading into my set. The ambient temp built up, but after the lessons I learnt in the heats I was well and truly on top of it. During the heats I was quite anxious with it being my first WBC formt run throughs in a few years, but here at the finals things just felt right, like hopping into your own bed.

I was happy with how my run went, and how the coffee fell, but as always I see all the things that I needed to improve. The result of this was a few hours anxious waiting for the results as the final 4 competitors finished.

Finally the awards ceremony, and (after the Ninja had done his thing) Chris read out the results for the top 3 places:

3rd David Huang 469

2nd Hide Kono 569

1st Me 687

I am incredibly excited to have another opportunity to make it as a competitor to the WBC. While there is a reasonable gap in the scores for the finals, it has to be said it took a lot of work to try to create any gap! Hide was in the same Christchurch regional as me 2 weeks ago, and his score was munching on my heels! It took a huge effort from the team and myself to tidy up loose ends and balance out the routine for the finals.

I really have to put out a big thanks to everyone who has helped so far Rach & Sophie, Scott Manderson, Chris White, Chris Uren, Luciano Marcolino, NZCRA (New Zealand Coffee Roasters Association) and all the sponsors of the NZBC esp Huhtamaki, Cafetto, DaVinci, Sherpac, Anchor and by no means last Compak Grinders. You have all made this pathway to the WBC possible, so thanks, and I promise I will continue to do everything I can to bring home the bacon.

The sponsors have put up some great prizes a K10 WBC grinder from Compak, run of cups from Huhtamaki, sponsorship prize from Cafetto ad DaVinci so thank-you very much!

The NZBC has a very special prize for the two Baristas who cme 2nd and 3rd this year as well, they get to travel to Atlanta as part of the WBC team. This is HUGE, and a display oft he commitment of NZCRA and NZBC to further the depth of talent of New Zealands Baristas. Nothing speaks as well as experience, and I know that both David and Hide will greatly benefit and enjoy the trip.

So the first part of this week has been flat out with logistics and planning. I will keep yu all posted on what is hapening, and get some better pictures to you. Like I said, heaps of pics coming over the next couple of days.

Lots of pics at the mo at...

http://15twentyfive.wordpress.com/

Exciting times ahead!