January TNT Recap

January TNT from Ben Helfen on Vimeo.

A little video from the January TNT from yesterday. Forgive my poor editing and filming skills.

For some reason this won’t let me embed the video, so you’ll have to follow the link.

I updated the banner! Finally!

So, after an embarrassing amount of months of not updating our TNT champs banner, it’s been updated! Not just that, but it’s been completely redone with a slick new font (you may recognize from our big wall by the door) that makes it a lot easier to read. Check it out.

You may notice that there’s a blank spot… Shamefully, i haven’t been able to figure out who won in March of 2009. If anyone knows for sure who it was, be sure to let me know, and i’ll get that person up there. We think it might Octane’s own Josh Flail, but he’s won so many times, it’s hard to keep track.

December 10th Throwdown to be held at Emory Village Octane!

As some of you may or may not know Octane just opened it’s second location in Emory Village a few weeks ago. In addition Octane’s 6 year anniversary is coming up, and of course, the December TNT.

Instead of three separate events, we’re doing a 3-in-1! More details to come soon, but for now just mark you calendars for Dec. 10th at Octane Emory!

TNT this Thursday! New and improved format!

So a few weeks ago i attend Coffee and Crema’s first ever Latte Art HOEdown, and it was an absolute blast. If you’re in the Greenville area, you got to check it out. One of the many reasons it was so much fun was because of the format! BRACKETS! I’m all about brackets right now….

We did brackets for the WBC TNT, but that was to accomodate 64 people. Our average TNT isn’t that big, but we’re going to do it C&C style, which is to have everyone’s names in a jar and have the match-ups chosen at random. The awesome twist is that if there’s an odd number of people, someone who got knocked out early will be chosen at random to have a second chance!

Still working on some more details, but it’s going to be a lot of fun! Hope to see you all there!

More coolness is coming soon. I promise.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I’ve been meaning to post some sort of summaries for the recent TNT’s, but i’ve been getting behind/overwhelmed.

My only consolation to you is that there’s a shiny new site coming (hopefully sooner rather than later) that i will allow you to keep track of the TNT’s around the country! And in addition have materials available for you to start your own TNT in your city! Cool, right?

Anyways, that’s all the teasing i’ll do for now. Stay tuned…

The WBC/TNT Tournament (a.k.a. the Big Dance)

Okay, so i’m ironing out the details of the amazingness that will happen this Thursday. There are a few things that are important/that you should note:

1. It will be $5 to throwdown, and sign-ups will start probably pretty early, like around 6:30 or 7. You will be able to sign-up even after the competition has started, until we fill up.
2. In theory, we’ll have room for 64 competitors. (gasp)
3. In order for this to go smoothly, it’s going to be very important for people who haven’t gone yet to listen for the MC. This competition is going to be rapid fire with no scoring, just head to head pours with the judges picking the best one. The reasoning is this will allow for the maximum amount of competitors, but will also not take a crazy amount of time.

On a side note, if anyone has a nice video camera that could be wirelessly hooked up to a projector, let me know…. (ben @ octanecoffee.com)

That’s all for now. Probably won’t post again until later next week after i’ve recovered. This is going to intense.

The most intense TNT ever?

The people have spoken. There will be a TNT during WBC in Atlanta. Thursday the 16th will be the date. Still working on specifics, but there are a few things that i do know…

1. The format will be a Capp-Off. An officiator will pull a shot and split it between two capp mugs. Two competitors will stream and pour simultaneously on opposite ends of the machine. Judges will quickly decide a winner.
2. Their will be a bracket system quite similar to the NCAA basketball tournament. Match-ups will be chosen at random. Winner of first round goes to second round, etc.
3. Sign-up MAY be in advance. Not sure yet…
4. The bracket structure will allow for maximum amount of competitors, yet simultaneously not last 5 hours. The match-ups will be rapid fire.

More info to come as soon as i figure how the hell i’m going to pull this off…. hehe

Atlanta Baristas wanted to help make WBC awesome!

Hello, friends! As most of you know the World Barista Championships are going to be in Atlanta this year. The Barista Guild of America is creating a WBC Champ Buddy Program designed to make the world’s barista champions more comfortable here in Atlanta. Here’s a blurb from Heather Perry on it:

“The Barista Guild of America is looking for some amazing people to volunteer some time for a National Champion. The idea is to pair every National Champion with a buddy who will be available to help give them advice on where to find certain supplies, milk, fruit. Help tell them ahead of time the type of electricity we use and make recommendations on where to hot plates and so on. And most importantly, to be their buddy. To go to the Meet and Greet Party and help introduce them and to be in the audience during their competition time.”

Basically, we want the international coffee world to leave Atlanta after the WBC with not only with an amazing impression of the awesome Atlanta and Southeast coffee community, but the US coffee community as a whole! If you want to volunteer, email Heather at “heather @ klatchroasting.com” and tell her you want to sign up for the WBC buddy program.

Thanks, guys! Let’s make this WBC the best ever!

Finally, another TNT!

The March TNT is upon us! Should be a good one, more prizes are in the works….

In addition, this Thursday is a special TNT because our friend Felipe is shooting a TV pilot on the coffee world and is doing a segment on TNT! We’ll probably get started at the normal time (Sign-ups from 8:00-9:00ish, and Throwdown at 9), but if you’re feeling generous with your time, we’d greatly appreciate you coming out early around 7 or so so Felipe and his crew could interview you.

Spread the word to your fellow latte artists and let’s have a killer turnout!