WBC: and the winner is ...

The time has come, and it is time for the finalists to be announced. Here are the results along with their final points and footage of their performance.

6th: Attila Molnar of Hungary (535.5)
5th: Lee Jong Hoon of Korea (542)
4th: Colin Harmon of Ireland (72)
3rd: Michael Phillips of the United States of America (618.5)
2nd: Sammy Piccolo of Canada (619.5)

... and the 2009 World Barista Champion is














Gwilym Davies of the United Kingdom (623)

Announcer Nick Cho: "How do you feel?"
Davies: "Puzzled."

WBC Finalists!

I recorded the announcements, but I guess I accidently deleted it from my camera :(
But I'll get them tomorrow!

The six finalists to compete for the crown tomorrow are:

1. Attila Molnar (Hungary)
2. Gwilym Davies (United Kingdom)
3. Sammy Piccolo (Canada)
4. Michael Phillips (United States)
5. Colin Harmon (Ireland)
6. Lee Jong Hoon (Republic of Korea)

Good job to everyone who competed, and good luck to the finalists.

Toon in to the competition tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The winner will be anounced at 12:30.

Phillips at the WBC

Good luck to him! Here's how his round went.

Finalists will be announced at 2 p.m.
I'm feeling anxoius!

Slayer Espresso Machine

Slayer Espresso is making a debut of their espresso machine in Atlanta at the WBC, and it has gotten people fired up!



Courtesy of
Slayer Espresso








As far as design goes, it has similar features the the Synesso Cyncra with its levers for each group and steam wand (rather than buttons or knobs), except this one is much newer and modern looking.

You can read more about the Slayer at the WBC here, or check out the official Slayer blog. They have a really interesting article about why they decided to pursue making a new machine when there are already top notch ones out there like Synesso and La Marzocco, and how they could compete with them. Here's the link to that.

See the Slayer in action!

Joel Pulling Shots On His Slayer from Slayer Espresso on Vimeo.

Mike Phillips on NPR

US Barista Champion Mike Phillips was interviewed on NPR Tuesday morning. He talks about the competition and his signature beverage. Listen here.

He is scheduled to compete for round one on Saturday just after 10 am PST. Remember, you can tune into it live at the WBC site! Cheer on the US!

World Barista Championship

Today marks the first day of the 2009 World Barista Competition! You can watch the event live at the WBC website. Check out preformances from competitors all over the world. You can also check out the WBC blog for more info about each competitor and their signature drinks.

Portland coffee stops:Stumptown at the Ace Hotel

Carla and I bummed the couches in one of the rooms people from Verve were staying at. (Told you. We made this trip a cheap one!) Aside from the Ace Hotel being an awesome building with its antique architecture and vintage cabin-like feel, they have a Stumptown attached to the lobby. This is heaven: starting your day off with a great coffee by just walking downstairs while you're still in your jammies. The shot of Hairbender I had was the second best shot I had from our trip. On top of that, they use one of my favorite espresso machine, a La Marzocco Mistral. Although I have never actually worked on one, I just like the way the look because it reminds me of something futuristic like the Jetsons!


Photo courtesy of Architecture-page.















Photo courtesy of Portland-ground.

Portland coffee stops:Barista

Going to Portland made me very sad about the lack of selection of good coffee houses in San Jose, and a big emphasis on good. Our first stop was to a new shop called Barista, but unfortunately they are closed on Sundays. It looked to be a really small shop. I was jealous of the fact that they had, not one, but TWO cute two-group espresso machines: a little Synesso (which is what my family's shop has) and a La Marzocco.

They also had some other great looking equipment like a siphon bar, which I have never had a cup of coffee from.
It really was a shame that they were closed because they looked be serving coffee from Intelligentsia and Olympia (Oly), which I have never heard of before. These two coffees would have been a nice change to try, since almost every other place we went to serves Stumptown Coffee. Speaking of Stumptown, that was actually our first stop, since it was in our hotel lobby. More to come!