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!

Next 2 TNT’s

Sorry for the organizational delay. The March TNT is going to be the 3rd Thursday (the 19th) because i’m going to be out of town for the next two weeks.

The April TNT will most likely coincide with WBC, so the 16th. I may change this one, though. We’ll see what the powers that be want to happen.

Friday Night Throwdown

It wasn’t as obvious to everyone, but at the FNT at Octane during the SERBC weekend, i was stressed out, tired and may have snapped on a few people. David captured my mood in photographic form, and looking back now, it was pretty funny how grumpy i was.

Anyways, we had over 40 competitors, (more than f%*#ing Millrock), and our beloved judges Rob, Margaret, and Byron with the endurance of Navy Seals, judged all of them. We did a slightly different format this time. In order to get through as many competitors as humanly possible, we only posted pictures, and no scores. We had an awesome scorekeeper, Lindsey, who did all the math for us and after all 40 something competitors had gone, the top 5 scores went on to a finals round. Anyone who made it into the finals walked away with a ton of prizes from Batdorf and Bronson, Counter Culture, Swiss Water Decaf, Ripple, and more!

Here are some pours from the first round.

A kick ass pour from Jared Sinclair, who also competed in the SERBC. It has been said this pour was a very “Ben Helfen-eque” pour. I have to slightly agree. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing though.

Danielle Glasky, my buddy and future SERBC champ, with a slightly washed out pour, but still very pretty.

Even out of focus i can spot a Josh Flail pour out of a line-up!

Brett Burton, multiple time TNT champ

Jonathan Pascual’s pour a bit off center, but great definition. Judges liked it.

My buddy Katie Duris nearly overflowed the cup. And it was all i could do to not spill it on the way to the judges table.

Travis Edwards, SERBC finalist, with one of my favorite pours of the night. the design didn’t quite fill the cup, but still very lovely.

Will Shields with a lovely rosetta.

My flash screwed up the fact that this is SICK heart by Juliet Han.

Dale Donchey, my buddy and 3rd place at SERBC, with some kick ass definition and more leaves than i can count.

Despite spillage, a man know as “The Cho” added a little love in the corner, and the judges loved it.

In a move that shocked the entire ATL, my dear dear friends M’lissa Muckerman and Chris Owens surprised us with a visit right in the middle of FNT! M’lissa was peer pressured into pouring, and although not her best, still beautiful as all Muckerman pours are.

After the first round the top 5 scores were for pours belonging to Juliet Han, “The Cho”, Jonathan Pascual, Jared Sinclair, and Dale Donchey. The finals were intense, and the pressure got to some…

Jonathan’s pour was great, but in the finals it was only enough for 5th.

Juliet tried to recreate her heart from the first round, and came close, but it was only enough for 4th.

“The Cho” attempted to mix it up a little, and surely scored some Overall Impression points from the judges, but only enough for 3rd.

Jared, barista for less that a year, despite a little bit of symmetry issues had an obscene amount of leaves on the rosetta. Bad ass. Very good score, but only enough for 2nd.

By far the finest pour of finals, Dale Donchey snagged 1st along with an iPod Shuffle, Espresso Quest book, over $200 from the pot, and t-shirts and cups coming out his ears. Third in SERBC, winner of the largest FNT or TNT ever… i’d say my buddy Dale had a pretty awesome weekend.

SERBC FNT post coming soon! I promise!

So needless to say, i need to do a post about the SERBC Friday Night Throwdown soon. And i will! Not sure when, but i’ll move it higher on my priority list at some point. Just wanted to let people know that i haven’t forgotten.

On a side note, i’ve been having fantasies about crashing a WDC TNT and taking on the legend that is “The Sterner Domination Machine” and seeing how i fare. Just throwing that out there…

FNT (just for February)

So as many of you know February 12-15 is the Southeast Regional Barista Competition which will be held right here in Atlanta! In order to maximize our fun and have as many participants as possible, we’ll be holding Februarys TNT on Friday the 13th, making it both scarier and FNT (Friday Night Throwdown).

Most cool people do neat flyers and such for special events, but my plate is full at the moment, and i’m bad at deligating responsibility/at times a control freak, so as a result we have no cool flyer. Sorry if i’ve let you down.

In any case….. it’s going to be a great time, and all sorts of bad ass baristas from around the Southeast and around the country will be to strut their latte pouring skills! Be there!