While the WBC goes on in Atlanta, we're throwing down latte art here in Cleveland.

I love the barista smacktalk. I love that Courtenay sent out an invitation to our latte art throwdown that said "There will only be one champion". It's particularly funny given that this same weekend, at about the same time, the best baristas in the world are competing for the title of World Barista Champion in Atlanta, Georgia. The finalists (who will be competing tomorrow) are as follows:

1. HUNGARY—ATTILA MOLNAR

2. UNITED KINGDOM—GWILYM DAVIES

3. CANADA—SAMMY PICCOLO
4. UNITED STATES—MICHAEL PHILLIPS
5. IRELAND—COLIN HARMON
6. REPUBLIC OF KOREA—LEE JONG HOON

Here is the Barista Mag blog http://worldbaristachampionship.org/2009/

Sammy Piccolo has made it to the finals for several years, five I think! It seems like he probably deserves to win some year soon. And I am certainly rooting for Mike Phillips, I got to work with him in helping to organize the Great Lakes Barista Jam in Chicago last year, and it was a real pleasure. Mike is a humble, intelligent and passionate barista and I would really enjoy seeing him win.

Meanwhile, back here in Cleveland, the Phoenix baristas gathered at our West 9th cafe. Many actually showed up early to practice (how rare is that for a Phoenix barista to show up EARLY?) The patio was full of bicycles and baristas, and the cafe filled up with friendly folks interested in seeing and tasting the artistic lattes. George Nemeth from brewedfreshdaily.com was updating our "leader" board, with the scores, and Dawn Andrews (our roastery maven) and Paulius Nasvytis, owner of the Velvet Tango Room were our esteemed judges. Dawn and Paulius were judging four different categories... Balance & Symmetry, Color (& contrast), Distribution and Originality/Creativity. Each barista had five minutes on the machine, which is a very short time for the barista to familiarize him or herself with the particular grinder, group heads and steam wands. Most baristas poured multiple drinks and then chose the prettiest one to present to the judges.

David Perelman-Hall of Exceptional Light Photography photographed the drinks http://www.exceptionallight.com/

But since I don't have those images yet, I will post a few images that I took towards the end of the throwdown.

Julie Hutchison, owner of our Lakewood cafe, took first place. She won herself a Reg Barber tamper, a $25 gift card from the Velvet Tango Room, a t-shirt and some chocolate. Stephen Shaum, from West 9th, took second. He won a pound of Puerto Rican Selecto, a $25 gift card from the Velvet Tango Room, a t-shirt and some chocolate. Then there was a tie for third place between Jake Stofan from the Lakewood store and Wes Johansen from our East 9th cafe. I do have pictures of these two pours.

Here was Jake's

And here was Wes'

So Wes won the third place prize of the Velvet Tango Room gift certificate, as well as the other goodies, that Jake also got, t-shirt & chocolate.

Interestingly enough, they both used a bit of half & half... Jake used a blend of half& half and whole milk, and Wes used 100% half&half, which helps with definition, as you can see. Wes has also developed this interesting swirling technique that he uses as he introduces the milk that is pretty cool. And his most recent theory is that the freshness of the crema is more important than the texture of the milk. So he brews his espresso, I think, after he textures his milk. Interesting.

A few short months ago, Wes and I were neck-in-neck in terms of our latte art skills, or at least that's what I thought. That's why I would always challenge him to impromptu throwdowns at the stores, because I felt that I could probably win. As you may be able to tell, he has really pulled ahead of me. I have to admit, I'm steamed. As in motivated. How did he get so much better so quickly? OK, granted, he has been working at a cafe full time and I have only been working one or two shifts a week on bar, so I do feel quite rusty when it comes time to pour. But I have got to hand it to him for perfecting his craft and really making his smacktalk something of substance, after all.

Oh, and by the way, Carl Jones says he was robbed of his points (he did score a bit low) and he demands a rematch sometime in the next six months (Dawn, don't worry, Carl is kidding).

After the throwdown, I got to ride my bike home (after fixing a nasty flat, involving a trip to Shaker Cycle for a new tire, thank you Steve Bedford) and enjoy the first really sunny, warm day we have had this spring. It was glorious. I think I am going to ride my bike again tomorrow for the coffee tasting at W9th!

SWJ

Congratulations to Michael Phillips from Intelligentsia Chicago

Nice Job, Mike!
Here are the results of this year's United States Barista Championships...

In 1st place -- Michael Phillips, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Chicago, IL with 730 points.
In 2nd place -- Western Champion Nick Griffith, Intelligentsia Coffee, Los Angeles, CA with 719.5 points.
In 3rd place -- Great Lakes Champion Scott Lucey, Alterra Coffee, Milwaukee, WI with 697.5 points.
In 4th place -- Ryan Willbur, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Los Angeles, CA with 693 points.
In 5th place -- Devin Pedde, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Los Angeles, CA with 658.5 points.
In 6th place -- Mike Marquard, Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Co., St. Louis, MO with 654 points

From http://www.thecafeguide.com/news-details-92-514.php

USBC Finalists!

1. Scott Lucey – Alterra Coffee – Milwaukee, WI (Great Lakes Champ)
2. Mike Marquard - Kaldi’s Coffeehouse - St. Louis, MO
3. Nick Griffith – Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea – Los Angeles, CA (Western Champ)
4. Ryan Willbur - Intelligentsia Coffee - Los Angeles, CA
5. Devin Pedde - Intelligentsia Coffee - Los Angeles, CA
6. Michael Phillips - Intelligentsia Coffee - Chicago, IL

There are interviews with everyone here. Very interesting.

http://www.foodgps.com/review/finalists-announced-for-2009-usbc/

Good to know that in Chicago, we were up against the very best in the country, apparently!

Preparing for my first barista competition

I am not exactly sure exactly what pushed my over the edge. I think Stephen had something to do with it. He decided he was going to compete last year, I remember talking about it with him on our way back from the Northeast Regionals in Ithaca, NY. I was on the fence. I wanted to do it, but I felt like it would be too big of a distraction from running the company. Maybe it was Dani's earnestness that pulled me in. She "signed on" a few months ago, probably about when she decided to do the Samurai Barista thing with us. Or Caroline's enthusiasm.... when she heard about the barista competition, she just said, quietly, in her Caroline way, as she was standing next to me at the cash register, "I want to do that." The warmth and conviction of her words gave me the most pleasant of chills. So somewhere between Dani and Caroline, I think that's about when I decided that after all these years of watching these amazing, brave baristas ply their craft in front of a panel of seven (SEVEN!!!) stone-faced judges, that I am going to join them. Now we have four Cleveland baristas (including me), all preparing to journey to Chicago next month to compete in our first barista competition.



Some of you may know that I had become almost exclusively a tea drinker. Yeah, it was true. But oooh, am I back to coffee now... in a big way. Pulling espresso shots every chance I get. On Christmas Eve, we installed a Nuevo Simonelli single group commercial espresso machine in our kitchen. Yeah, it's plumbed in. And of course we have the grinder to go with. So Christmas night, Carl and I were up late, pulling shot after shot, tasting, adjusting the grind, adjusting our grooming technique, steaming milk, pouring lattes, and making all kinds of racket. Espresso grinders and steaming wands aren't quiet, you know. My mom and the kids were at the dining room table doing a puzzle. They were having trouble carrying on a conversation over the screech of the steam jet and the whirr of the grinder. So my mom yells "Would you two just go get a job in a coffee shop already?"



Today I got up early and practiced my routine, stopwatch in hand, sitting in lotus position on the oriental rug in our front entry way. I talk my way through my introduction, then I close my eyes and visualize myself wiping the portafilter, turning on the grinder, dosing, grooming, tamping, cleaning the portafilter ears, flushing the group head, inserting, turning the machine on, and watching the pour...

...there are two drips at first, then a thin stream, like a mouse's tail, that changes color, and stays thin, tight. It runs down the inside of the white porcelain cup, and pools in a thick, brown puddle, growing deeper each moment, the colors of brown, red, hazelnut crema, swirling in the cup, slowly. The stream never gets puffy; it stays tight. Dark flecking sheets around the edges, and gradually forms like netting over the surface, as the stream lightens. I know when to turn off the shot, based on the color of the stream.

I serve these two shots to the first set of judges. Then repeat, second set of shots...

Then I give them a moment to enjoy, while I prep for my cappuccinos.



I spent a full 15 minutes just visualizing what I am planning on doing. I could have run through it one or two more times, but it was time to get kids ready for school, shovel the driveway, and take out the trash... you know, real life is still going on...



I am utterly surprised at how rewarding and delicious I am finding this process to be. How often do we get an opportunity in life to truly, relentlessly, perfect one particular activity? I suppose we could and should be perfecting ourselves and our work with this degree of intensity, even without the threat/promise of a public exhibition to motivate us. But I must say, having the deadline and the knowledge that others will be able to see the fruits of my preparations (hopefully) is definitely a good motivator.



The hours I have spent pulling shots and tasting, and working on my milk texturing, and all the trial and errors that have gone into creating my signature drink (which is centered around the combination of espresso and fresh garlic) have been some of the sweetest I have probably ever experienced. Why? Why is it so much fun? Why is it so satisfying?

During Obama's inauguration speech, there was a line that I particularly appreciated...
"...firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task."

I know preparing for a barista competition is not even remotely in the same realm of importance as what Obama and his team and we as Americans are facing as "difficult tasks" right now, but I think this statement at least partially explains why I am enjoying this journey so much.

Being actually prepared for a barista competition is a difficult task. And I must admit, I am giving it my all. And I know I will be a better person because of it. And, our coffee at Phoenix will be better because of it also!

The Empty Cup

On Sunday, Carl and I were going through some old papers of his. We found one from August 1978 entitled "The Empty Cup". Arabica, the first coffee company that he founded here in Cleveland, Ohio, would have only been two years old when he wrote this.

It seems that Carl thought there were four aspects to the Empty Cup.
Reading... the mind understands what happens in a cup of coffee from seed to cup.
Sensing... the body ingests the beverage itself
Feeling... the emotions have a non-sentimental awareness of the coffee
The Whole... awareness of all elements would allow one to be filled from an empty cup.

Earth, Air, Fire, Water... Human reason manipulates all four of these elements and uses them as part of a craft, a craft which is really a state of being.

The empty cup is a way for us to establish for ourselves a ritual or practice, in which we begin to realize our inability to control events, yet we actively particpate in the events of our own lives. This craft is a practice for seeing... no results... Every individual is a craftsman, an artist, a genius.

This particular craft begins in the morning, which is a good time to begin something. The craftsman must first recognize the activity as a craft, and must choose the implements of his or her craft accordingly. For example, a particular brewing method, like a French Press, or an espresso pot, and a particular cup. Take time to choose these items. Include oneself in as many steps as possible. The key is awareness of each step and activity and one's relationship to each step and each activity.

On another piece of paper we found:

"We, as human beings, need to make an attempt at perfection, no matter how small. It is absolutely so in this time. Accepting as a task, for instance, brewing a perfect cup of coffee, this establishes the conditions that perfection is a condition that I may know. This is very important to establish this understanding in our psyche, for it helps the eventual creation of the bridge between wish and action."

I found this particular section very meaningful. Actually, I found the whole thing very meaningful. I am working at our Lee Road store full-time right now, as a stand-in-manager. I am really enjoying my time there, it is refreshing to see my business again from the inside-out. There is a sort of mental weariness that had set in, staring down at the Phoenix empire, all the moving pieces: stores, employees, money, resources, transactions, customers, equipment, systems, policies, financial statements... ahhh...and reality just never matched my ideal. But from my perspective at Lee, there's just me, the coffee & the customer. I love it. My cup can be empty and I am fulfilled.

Ten Tenets of Business Ownership

I love to talk about business and business philosophy, because even after ten years of owning a business, I'm still trying to figure out what makes the thing tick. Recently, I was approached and asked to speak at the City Club, and then I was asked to speak at John Carroll, presumably to business students. We haven't picked dates for either, but I thought it would still be good to prepare and begin to memorialize some of my thoughts on the subject.

1. Phoenix Coffee is an organism, not just an organization.

2. Getting media coverage is easy. Just let your passion shine through into your actions.

3. It's better to be shot out of the water than to rot at the dock. - Burt Morgan

4. You only get to write half of the story. Your customers get to write the other half, so be sure to leave room for them. (lesson from Scott Crawford)

5. Your relationship with failure determines your ability to be successful.

6. Public failure is more liberating than private failure; the former requires brutal honesty. Also, a public failure can then seem like a variation of success, since it's all just a giant experiment anyway.

7. Respect your employees, they're the ones running your business. If they aren't intelligent and motivated enough to deserve your mutual respect, they shouldn't be working for you.

8. Owning and/or managing a thriving community coffee shop, is like sitting on top of a huge, pulsating, moving ball of energy. You can't control it, it requires the widest bandwith of attention that you can muster, and its potential is limited only by your capacity to conceive of its potential.

9. Money is a teacher all in itself. Money teaches you that when you have to set your price, you're naming your value, and you had better mean it and know it. In order to know your value, you have to know yourself and your company, as in the dictum "Know Thyself". Money responds well to whatever time and attention is spent on it, just like kids, pets, friends and family.

10. There is no substitute for having fun with your business. My best days, with the best quality of thought, are the ones when I'm the most playful, the days when I find myself asking "Why not?"

US News and World Report does Phoenix!

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2008/03/10/how-one-business-fights-the-downturn.html

The Starbucks Ad

http://phoenixer.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/sbuxad3.pdf

Many people have asked us about our response to Starbucks closing last Tuesday to "retrain" their baristas. Finally, a Phoenix fan, Scott Crawford, sent me this ad, which we are planning on running this week in the Free Times paper here in Cleveland as well as the Free Times analogous paper in Seattle. Thank you, Scott!