The 2009 World Barista Championship (a.k.a., the Earth's most fantabulous event for anyone who appreciates fine espresso)

It is such an incredible feeling to realize that something you have just experienced is one of those once-in-a-lifetime, I-am-never-going-to-forget kind of occurrences. For me, this happened earlier this April. I was lucky enough to secure a volunteer position at the World Barista Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was lucky that the competition just so happened to be in the United States this year and just so happened to be in the very city to which my parents just relocated. So of course I asked them if I could come home this weekend.

Tasting, making, and talking about espresso is one of my hobbies. Quality coffee creates a community in which people come together to share a common interest and passion, and there's something about espresso that keeps coffee people coming back, for reasons besides the caffeination. Once you taste your first good espresso, it becomes a journey. I feel compelled to continue moving towards improved quality and finding what awaits in the coffee world.

All the magic happened at the Georgia World Congress Center. I had to learn how to ride the Atlanta metro system in order to get there. 'Twas fun. I am a public transportation prodigy.

The first thing I did after getting my volunteer badge was grab up a soy cappuccino from the free espresso bar in the World Barista Championship area. Several baristas were being snobbish about my asking for soy... They need to get over themselves! Sometimes purists can really come off as jerks.

My volunteer duties for day one were simply to be a busser at the judges' table for a few hours... We'll get to that later... But once my busser responsibilites were explained to me, I was free to roam until the competition started. So I took some pictures. Here's a sweeeeet lever espresso machine:

You sure as heck won't find a model like this at Starbucks.

Here are the trophies... Some talented baristas are going to take these home!

The stage... Three espresso stations, timers, video cameras, yee-haw...

The National Barista Champion from Italy:

Italian guy again (he spoke pretty darn great English - I was wondering if he was going to do his presentation in Italian, but if I'm remembering correctly I think almost everything was in English!):

Here's where my job came in: I would come up behind these four chairs while the judges were seated. Italian guy would serve four espressos. The judges sip. The head judge gives me and my buddy the signal. My buddy and I whisk the espressos away into our bus tubs. Wow, we are so important. Okay, not really. But then the cappuccinos would be served, we would bus. Then the competitor would make a signature drink - anything they like, but it must include espresso - and then we would bus that after the presentation would finish. Then we would run into the back room, drop off all the dishes, and bus for the next competitor!

This was so awesome! It's great to see people from other countries that share my passion, and my fellow volunteers were from China and Denmark, also both baristas! We had a blast - and they both spoke English so that was fun! It's cool to see how foreigners behave differently than Americans.

We bussed for 2 and a half hours or so, until the next shift of people came in, and then I scurried back to the free espresso bar. He he he.

Soy cappuccino number two:

So I am a total geek and read about things that are going on in the coffee world all the time. Needless to say, a lot of coffee celebrities were at the event, and these were people I recognized from pictures. After a few more espresso shots and some coffee, I was caffeinated enough to work up the courage to talk to James, the 2007 World Barista Champion, who is from the UK:

He made us a pot of French press with this crazy awesome contraption he helped invent that controls the water temp going into the press pot and weighs the coffee for you and some other cool stuff that I don't know about. The best coffee people are often science whizzes, and he started talking about how density affects brewing temperature and partially lost me... This made me feel quite pathetic, as I'm in my third year of my nutrition program (a bachelor's of science degree) and I don't think I will know as much as he does about science anytime soon.

After I talked to James and got a picture (I asked, I promise!), I felt sufficiently satisfied to end my day at the competition and ride the train back to my parents' apartment.

That night, my parents and I had dinner at this awesome chain in Atlanta (it is in other cities too, as I understand) called Mellow Mushroom. There are tons of vegan options, including tempeh, teriyaki tofu, bbq tofu, and plain tofu for pizzas, calzones, and hoagies! (You have to make sure they don't put butter or cheese on your pizza dough, though - just warning you.) We started off with the hummus and pita appetizer:

This was the best hummus I've had in a long, long time! I was so impressed by how incredible it was! I was expecting lame hummus from a chain, but no no no. That was not the case. The pitas were doughy and so, so good without being overly greasy. Yay, Mellow Mushroom!

My parents' meals came out without mine, and the waitress let me know that the cooks put butter on my calzone (and she told them not to!). Later, she came back and said the cooks burned my calzone (attempt #2!) and that it would be out soon. An enormously long time later, my entree (the cooks' third attempt!!!) arrived - after my parents had completely finished their meals. I didn't care though, because I ate most of the pita and hummus app by myself and that kept me from being too ravenous while waiting for the main course:

My calzone had tofu, mushrooms, spinach, and tomato inside. The tofu part was lame because it was the water-pack kind and they didn't even marinate it. I only ate half, because this baby was waaaay bigger than it looks in the picture! Next time I'm askin' for tempeh in my calzone. (Again, if you go to Mellow Mushroom and want to eat vegan, make sure you ask for no cheese or butter on the dough.)

Day two of the competition began before my scheduled shift, but I was able to catch the performance of the United States Barista Champion, Mike Phillips of Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago, before I had to start slaving away. Below is a picture of Mike's presentation - he's the head with the beard between the 3rd and 4th judges from the left.

After he went, I got to shake his hand!! I didn't wash it for the next week after that! (Just kidding, that is disgusting and obsessive...haha.) I was too scared to talk to him in the back room when I was doing my volunteer duties, but I finally worked up the nerve to chat with Mike for about 5 seconds! That day, along with a couple of cool coffee people from Seattle and New York, my volunteer assignments involved cleaning each of the 3 espresso machines onstage after the various competitors went. Over the two days, I got to seee performances given by the National Champs from Italy, Nicaragua, the U.S., Finland, Brazil (one of my favorites!), Sweden, Colombia, New Zealand, and many others that I already forgot! Even Iceland sent a barista to the World Barista Championship!!!

After I finished my duties and before finalists were announced, I flashed my VIP pass and got into the exposition room - full of even more free espresso and awesome espresso machines! I got a great soy cappuccino from the Alterra Coffee booth, a great coffee roaster that has a small set of cafes in Milwaukee.

Here's another cool espresso machine, the Slayer:

An Elektra:

I've never heard of a Sibilla, but there ya go:

One of the volunteers I met that day works in espresso equipment sales, so while we were in the exposition room he showed me where we could play on a La Marzocco GS/3, which I dearly desire to have in my kitchen one day. (Maybe if I find a husband who really really likes me, he shall purchase me one. $7,500 later.)

But more importantly...

So I had a totally embarrassing but wonderful little event happen where one of my fellow volunteers told one of the coffee celebs that I really wanted a picture with him (which I totally did!). So here are me and Kyle from Intelligentsia (he won the United States Barista Championship in 2008 and competed at the World Championship last year too):

Kyle was emceeing the competition, standing like 7 feet away from us the whole two hours we were cleaning espresso machines, but I only talked to him for like 1 minute of that. So sad. I am lame.

Here are me and my friend from China:

She knows the National Champ barista from China, who I also got a picture with, but it was super blurry. Oh well.

Overall, I had such a blast at this competition and got to try some incredible coffees. (My favorite of the weekend was a shot of Black Cat single-origin espresso from Rwanda.) As far as cappuccinos go, I am blessed enough to have had many way better cappuccinos in the past year than I was served here at the competition, so that's sayin' something. I also had way, way, way more caffeine in those two days than I normally have in about six days, but it was awwwwesome nonetheless. The guy from the U.S. (Mike) ended up getting third place, out of the whole world - all 52 countries that attended - so yay for him! (See, I told you Intelligentsia is something special!) I will remember it forever! And maybe I'll compete one day, but for now being a volunteer was almost more excitement than I could handle.

Finally, here's the house my family might move into in Georgia if we ever sell our house in Texas:

I like the exterior of the house, but the inside isn't so impressive in my opinion. My sister got first pick of the bedrooms and I got stuck with the ugly one with a mouse-sized window. It's all dark and stuff, which doesn't bother me too much because I would only live here in the summer. Plus, a bedroom with a small window is way better than a lot of people in the world have, so I feel like I shouldn't complain!

Two weeks of school left! YES!!! I'll be back soon with another post. :)

Ketchin' Up

I am so, so sorry for the lame post title. I guess I am trying to make up for the fact that I have been neglecting the blog. And sorry to disappoint you again, but this post has nothing to do with ketchup.

It does have something to do with tomatoes, though -- at least in this first photo:

We have a new-ish completely vegan deli in our town, and it is the only all-vegan restaurant here. Their entrees rotate/change daily, and since I've never had vegan lasagna, I thought I would try theirs. It was delicious and very filling! I wasn't sure that lasagna only would do it for me, but my belly was very happy. And it was even happier after it had dessert, too (which I ate in the car and neglected to take a picture of -- I am so disappointing today!).

My friend Jess and I went back to the same deli again today for lunch. Lately when we've eaten out together we each order a different entree and split them, so today we shared a Jamaican Jerk Burger and a raw Hemp Granola Salad. You can't really see the hemp granola, but it tasted a lot like Nature's Path Hemp Plus Granola to me, which is one of my favorite granolas ever (although I admit I am no expert in this subject). The hemp granola was mixed with grated carrot, avocado, and sliced cucumber. It came with a orange dressing but I didn't like the orange flavor and I don't like salad dressing in general (Annie's Goddess Dressing is an exception, though!), so the container of dressing was cast aside and ignored.

I had to get dessert:

This deli makes awesome Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Oh, speaking of chocolate chips:

I love Nana's Cookies! They are my favorite packaged cookie of all time. The one is the picture is the plain ol' Chocolate Chip, just because it was the only flavor I could find that day, but the true stars of the Nana's line are the No Wheat Chocolate Chip (barley flour is sooo good in cookies!) and the Coconut Chip is pretty fartin' good too. Wow, that was inappropriate and unnecessary. But I don't feel like deleting it. Anyway.

I have a recipe for you, today. Recipe sharing is a rare occasion on this blog, and it's usually breakfast-related, but breakfast is what I do best. So here goes:

Fig & Cashew Oat Bran

Serves one hungry appetite

1 cup water
Pinch salt
39 grams (1/3 cup) oat bran
1 small-medium banana
2/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
1/2 medjool date, chopped small
1 dried Turkish fig, chopped small, divided
a hefty dose of cinnamon (as much as your heart desires -- maybe a teaspoon for big cinnamon lovers?)
1 tablespoon cashew butter (I use a local raw cashew butter that's blended with safflower oil -- the brand is Eastwind and it's the best cashew butter I have ever had -- I get it from a tub in Whole Foods' bulk aisle)

*This oat bran also rocks if you sprinkle unsweetened shredded coconut over the top! But coconut is optional.

*Also optional: 1 tablespoon ground flax, which I like to add for yummy vegan omega-3's. You would stir this into the pot after the oats have cooled from cooking, right before pouring into your serving bowl.

Bring the salt and water to a boil in a pot on the stove. Add oat bran after the water boils and stir with a spatula. After the oats reduce a little, turn the heat down to medium-high and add your banana, sliced very thinly. Whip the banana into the oat bran and turn the heat to medium after a minute or so.

Add the soymilk to the pot, little by little -- think risotto technique. After the oat bran accepts the soymilk and everything reduces, add a splash more of soymilk. Throw the chopped date into the pot and keep stirring. Throw in about 2/3 of the total quantity of your chopped fig.

After the oat bran achieves a thicker consistency, turn heat to medium-low and plop some cinnamon into the pot and stir, stir, stir. When the oats reach your desired consistency (I like mine on the thicker, slow-pouring end of the spectrum), cover the pot and turn the heat off. Let sit for 1 to 3 minutes, covered and removed from the heat source.

Pour the oats into your serving bowl. Top the oat bran with the rest of your chopped fig. Swirl a small chunk of your cashew butter into the top layer of the oats (like a cashew butter swirl ribbon, in oat bran instead of in ice cream!). You can add shredded coconut at this point too if you would like. It's great with coconut, but it's fab without as well!

Further directions for the devouring of your breakfast: After you eat the top layer and gobble up all the cashew butter, take out another chunk of your cashew butter tablespoon and spread that on the newly revealed top layer. Continue this process until the nut butter is all gone, but don't use it all too fast or there will be no cashew flavor in the bottom of your bowl!

This is one of my favorite breakfasts, on par with Carob Chip Cookie Dough Oat Bran (with toasted walnuts and a peanut butter swirl ribbon!). The recipe for the carob oat bran is here -- it is an adaptation of Chocolate Covered Katie's lovely Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Oatmeal.

Speaking of Katie, I made another one of her recipes recently, with my own twist. I tried her Blended Grains Technique!

I had the grains with dinner, though, so I made them savory. All I did was blend a serving of cooked kamut berries with a little water. Next I reheated the blended goodies in the microwave with some nutritional yeast and sea salt, and then I stirred in a dab of Earth Balance (vegan margarine) after that. Blended grains are really good! Thank you so much for inventing blended grains, Katie! I've also tried a sweet version of blended kamut berries with bananas and soymilk, but the picture was horrible. Katie's also holding a giveaway contest, which you can read more about here!

Wow, that was exhausting! Okay, RRV over and out! See you next time. :)