Tinfoil + Raccoon

Steve Fritzen in Barista Finals

Woo!!!!  Steve Fritzen, my barista at Coffee Hound, has made it to the finals United States Barista Championships. This is a really big deal--it's like the Coffee Olympics. (via CoffeeGeek).

US Barista Championships 2006

Once again, my barista (well, one of my baristas), Steve Fritzen of Bloomington, ILs Coffee Hound, is competing in the US Barista Championships!  The competition starts today (April 7) and runs through April 10 in Charlotte, NC. This is Steve's second year at nationals. Way to go, Steve!

While looking for info about the competition, I found that Coffee Geek does podcasts!

Great Lakes Regional Barista Championships

Again, my barista, Steve Fritzen from Coffeehound, placed third in the Great Lakes Regional Barista Championship on January 8. He joked that April wouldn't let him come home without First Place, but I'm sure she's a proud as the rest of the Hound crew and regulars.  Hounder Cara Wilson was a first-time competitor, but didn't make it finals.  I think a third place finish wins Steve a shot at Nationals.

Coffee Fights Cancer?!

A new study by Joe A. Vinson, a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania, shows that coffee is king when it comes to providing antioxidants.  More from Wired.

Best Librarian Descriptor Ever

Matt from Intelligentsia Coffee pointed me to the description of their "Decaf Librarian's Blend," that I noticed at Coffee Hound this morning. I think it's brilliant and flattering, despite the shushing reference.  I'll cop to it, at any rate (especially since I not only shushed (with good humor), but booted out (with less good humor), some young rowdies today).   

the Librarian's Blend is named for that person who always told you to keep quiet when you were studying. This blend is representative of the soul of the librarian: steady, reassuring, and always there with that slight edge of eccentricity. It has a bold base with a bit of sparkle. Here's to good reading.

If only I drank decaf, I could tell you what a terrific blend it is....

Decaf Librarians?

I was in the Hound for my morning Iced Mocha (no whip), when I heard one of the baristas say something about giving a patron a librarian.  Wha?, wondered me.  Then, I saw the sign for a new coffee blend at Coffee Hound. "Decaf Librarian's Blend."   I whipped out the camera phone and took a snap.   I'll find out the story of the blend's name. Not sure if it's an Intelligentsia blend, or something named by the Hound staff.  Of all the librarians I who I know who haunt the Hound, it's not likely that it was named for any of us.  Since it is "Librarian's"  maybe that means there's just one in the world.  If there are, indeed, multiple decaf librarians, I'll have to go all Punctuation Cop on them. (Sorry for the crappy picture---I'm not too swift with the phone cam yet). 

Coffee Savings Calculator (and why I'm ignoring it)

Mr. Raccoon sent these two links about  how those daily mochas/lattes/fraps can add up. I'm sure he's sharing the sites as a service to the curious and that there's no telegraphed message to me (clearing throat).  The first is a calculator where you can plug in a single-drink price, cups per day, coffee days per year, etc,  and see how much you could save over a ten year period, if you opted for the free or cheap office sludge.  And here's a blog post from Undernews, talking about the calculator.

I put myself on a $5/week coffee budget about a year ago, but it didn't last very long.  I'm not sure it's even so much the coffee itself as how much I enjoy being a regular at the Hound.  It means a lot to me to have a  non-corporate, caffeine-based Cheers close by.  I suppose I could change to just plain coffee.  Those mochas do add up. But, I prefer to justify it as a contribution to the economic health of my local economy.  I also enjoy seeing the first Coffee Hound baby, Hans, get bigger and open-eyed--he's about three months old now.  Hans is frequently attached to one of his Hound-owner parents in a front pack snuggli, or in the arms of a grandparent or family friend.  You won't see that at Starblechs.

Starbucks Delocator

This nifty site, the Delocator helps you find independent coffee shops and cafe with a zip code search. I was ready to submit the Coffee Hound, but someone beat me to it.  More than a coffee house finder, the "Delocator is a web-verb created for this project as a defense mechanism for independent business establishments."  The creators hope that this coffee-specific delocator is the start of a web-meme.

On the delocator.net web site, users are able to download the code necessary to establish a new database, prompting more sites and databases that may focus on other specific retail stores (fast-food, hardware, clothing, etc.).

(Found at Branko's Weblog.)

UPDATE: Juniorette showed me this related flash film, Coffeehouse Propaganda after reading this post. 

Hound Represents at Nationals

Steve Fritzen,  one of my fabulous neighborhood baristas from the Coffee Hound, told me today that pictures from his performance at the United States Barista Championships were up at CoffeeGeek.com.  Scroll down the page to see Steve in action.  Although he didn't make it to the finals, he done us proud!  Shortly after his return, he got the best prize of all--he and wife April have a wonderful new baby boy, Hans.

Here's a sample of Steve's latte art (i'm pretty sure this is a rosetta).  Pretty and tasty!:

United States Barista Championships

I'm pleased to announced that one of MY baristas, Steve Fritzen, is a serious contender at the United States Barista Championship, March 10-13 in, where else, Seattle.  It was a happy day when I learned that I could find not only a good, but exceptional, 16 oz. mocha (no whip),  artfully presented,  just blocks from my bungalow at the very independent Coffee Hound.  I didn't really know about the "artfully presented" part until last fall, when a trophy puck, awarded to Steve, appeared on the counter at the Hound last fall.  Steve's placement (third) at the Great Lakes Regionals earned him a spot at Nationals.  It was great to talk to him in the weeks preceding the competition, his determination and confidence evident. Here's the 13-page handbook of rules and regs for the competition, lest you think this is hobby-grade activity.

Over the past month, I've learned that several of the baristas take their work and art seriously, and also compete.  Most recently, Barista Chris Weber placed second at the Midwest Regional Barista Jam in Chicago (and told me that his friend and colleague, Peter, was "robbed").   I'm hoping to be able to link to pictures from this competition, as well as the nationals.

The bummer about this is that "espresso beverage preparation"  hasn't gottten the same attention as other culinary endeavors, including bartending.  I asked Steve if this was going to be filmed by Food Network, or some other organization, and he didn't think so.  I'm hoping that baristas make it into the culinary mainstream soon--a well-prepared latte is much more accessible to most of us than the high-end cuisine that's featured in televised competitions.   Televised or not, I'm cheering from a distance, and glad that I can witness such artistry, live, any day of the week.