Way To Go Meredith!

Before we launch into the play by play, I’d just like to thank everyone who came out last month for TNT. It was great to see so many of you, and on such short notice. A very big thanks to our judges this month. David Fritzler from tryst, Lana Labermeier from big bear cafe, and Justin “cupcake” Stegall from bakeshop dc.

on to the play by play.

Yours truly had the good fortune of picking the first spot, and poured the whispy thing (upper right), that did alright in points but didn’t stand much of a chance for the greatness that followed.

My pour didn’t stand much of a chance against allie turner’s beautiful tulip poured in cappuccino cup. She poured third and ruled the board for most of the night. I don’t know about you, but I think this drink looks just delicious.

In the spirit of perfect nights, meredith taylor, of peregrine espresso stepped up and poured her most beautiful competition pour to date. She had great use of space, fantastic definition, really just a lovely, impressive pour. With it she snuck by allie to claim top prize, and on her birthday! way to go meredith!

Every month I walk away from TNT excited about something new, and recently I’ve been stoked on just how great coffee folks in dc are. Increasingly TNT competitions are coming down to 2 point differences as the playing field is leveling off. And what’s awesome about it is that its because people are getting better, and its anyone’s game.

Pearce Arnold from tryst also poured (I think) his best TNT pour yet, with great contrast and a full canvas. Really impressive.

Point being, i’m grateful to have such a friendly and supportive coffee community to be inspired by. I think we’re have even greater coffee on our horizon.

PLEASE COME OUT TOMORROW!

WHERE DID THE MONTH GO??

Hello Loyal TNT followers,
I’m sorry I’ve neglected TNT. No updates, no photos, nothing. I haven’t even updated the calendar. My attention span has been deficient, and it is completely inexcusable. I hope you’ll find it in your hearts to forgive me.

I know everyone has full schedules. I keep hearing of exams, and birthdays, and visiting friends and family. I hope that in spite of my extremely late notice of this month’s TNT (tomorrow, May 7) some people can still make it out.

And while your at it maybe you’d like to investigate this bit of interactive art that hits close to home for most of us. This is not that cafe opens tomorrow night at the Philips Collection in Dupont Circle, just a short walk from the training center.

from the phillips collection website:
“Set in the museum’s café, this is not that CAFÉ is an art piece that pays homage to coffeehouse and café traditions. The artists responsible collaborate under the name dB foundation and are dedicated to creating temporary, ephemeral, and inhabitable art. For the duration of the piece, their wall collages, board games, books, and artistic foods (both real and fake) will transform the physical space.”

And just so I don’t make this mistake again, June TNT will be Thursday the 11th.

Hope to see you tomorrow!
hearts and stars,

Katie

post script. i also promise to dig thru flash cards to find images of the last couple of throwdowns.

are you ready for a MACH-OFF? (whats a mach-off?)

In honor of latte art throwdowns of yore, this evening we throw back, to last year’s MARBC, where the conundrum of very little milk manifested into one of the greatest spectacles of coffee get togethers this side of the mississippi during a leap year.

What makes a mach off so great you may be wondering. Fair enough. First off you get two chances to make some magic. While competitors are still limited to steaming just one pitcher of milk, they are judged on the latte art achieved in a single macchiato. which means you can pour 2(!) and choose the better one to submit to the judges.

The next exciting thing about the mach-off is that judging is instantaneous! Two judges will deliberate over the submission in comparison to the leading pour. When they have come to a decision they will discard the losing pour.

here’s a taste…

still $5. winner takes all.

Best…. TNT…. EVER

I thought perhaps I was exaggerating the incredibleness of last week’s TNT, but as I sit here drinking my afternoon cup, reviewing the photos, I think I was dead on.

BEST TNT EVER.

What sort of night could incite such gushing on my part? An incredibly well attended, up beat sort of night, with one really incredible pour after another. The upgrades of a projector, tasty mixed drinks, and big bear cafe made TNT FEB. the best yet.

People started out playful and experimental. To lead things off, David Flynn poured this fish looking thing.

Jeremy Sterner continued the break from tradition with this high scoring split cup kind of pour.

His pour was awarded 52 points, a feat the crowd seemed to think untoppable, because Jeremy has magic.
His first challenge came from Andy Sprenger, a roaster from Caffe Pronto up in Annapolis. He poured a beautiful tulip, reminiscent of some of Jeremy’s earlier award winning pours.

We waited anxiously, holding our collective breath as cho posted the scores on the projector. The score came back. 51. Jeremy remained on top.

Katie Duris came up to protect her crown, or rather bracelet. Showing some nerves for sure, she poured this pretty thing out.

The room nervously awaited, would her pour put her back on top? it does! and with a score of 57.5, its speculated that it could be the highest scoring pour to date. (on account of my poor recording keeping, haha, get it?). The room is a buzz! congratulations all around. Katie is all smiles, thinking about how that little bit of cash can pay off that ridiculous speeding ticket she got headed home from hotlanta…

anyway, someone should have warned her about spending money before it was hers. Aside from bad business, its plain old bad luck. After studying closely the first half of competitors, Ryan Jensen, espresso bar owner extraordinaire stepped to the machine and…

hold your breath….
54! not enough for first, but soundly in second.

While all the commotion over Jensen’s pour, Lana Labermeier of Big Bear Cafe fame, stepped up to the machine and nailed it.

again there was much excitement as the judges deliberated and the IT team transferred scores and pics. Lana’s score is up and…
58!! She eeks by Katie’s pour by half a point!

Exciting!

After Lana’s pour, the last shake-up to the leader board came in the form of a newly convert to right handed pours. South paw Sala, or Mike “mild” Salsa stepped up and addressed the challenge of his shaky hands – by switching things up. He poured with his right hand and viola!

a third place pour!

The night was simply incredible.

just spitty

I just wanted to introduce a new project by an old friend. At the risk of making trish rothgeb nauseous, I present the first of many from spitcup.

February TNT

Its here! We’re all slowly recovering from regional craziness, and what better way to do so than with a friendly latte art competition?

Let the word be heard…

One thousand apologies for the unacceptable tardiness of this post. My chinese new year’s resolution is stay on top of these reporting responsibilities. So, better late than never, here we go…

The d.c. coffee community again converged on counter culture’s training center a few thursdays ago. Juliet made some chocolate covered strawberries, open city again brought some booze, and the people came in droves. Ok, maybe dozens is more accurate, but i like the drama that droves implies.

Because it was dramatic! Competitors all came harboring hope that they could take advantage of jeremy’s absence and win some money. And guess who had something to say about all that… certainly not a fellow competitor, but the judges! in a word, HARSH, or maybe unimpressed is a better way to say that. So unimpressed were they, that no pour garnered more than 50 points.

We had 19 competitors, and a nice slew of on-lookers. allie turner poured at the beginning of the evening, and her pour stuck around for quite some time. in fact she finished second with 49 points.

Katie Duris poured somewhere in the middle. This was her pour, and it just barely overtook the leader board, nudging past allie’s pour by half a point. Her score of 49.5 sat pretty for awhile.

Shortly thereafter, David (n) Flynn, stepped up to the machine with monies on his mind. He banged out a standard Flynn great, and stirred up a little bit of controversy. Here is his pour from this month. I don’t remember the score, somewhere in the 45-ish range. some people thought it should have earned a higher score. here’s his beautiful pour, you can decide for yourself…

For what its worth, david’s pour earned a barista’s barista award, an especially tasty drink from gibson once all this regional competition craziness settles down.
Liz Fedden was our penultimate pour, and being a great latte artist, she made a great go at the pot.

i’ve decided to post everyone’s pictures. here they are, in no particular order.

thank you everyone for your patience and continued support. and check back for pittsburgh updates! word on the street is there’s a bit of a latte art competition in conjunction with the NERBC/MARBC. I’m anticipating a great show from the ONC (our nation’s capital).

Happy New Year everyone! TNT is fast upon us again, oh how fast the time flies…

tnt january

If your new year’s resolution was to beat jeremy sterner in latte art competition, I have has some troubling news.  Mr. Sterner will not be in attendance this month, as his responsibilities as all-star barista behind the bar at peregrine is pulling him out of town as he prepares for the Mid-Atlantic Barista Competition.  For most people this will be good news, as everyone else’s odds of winning just increased tremendously.

And for those of you wondering what is this “Counter Culture Training Center”?  The address is 1836 Columbia Road, suite 202, just above the Design Out of Reach store in adams morgan.  There is a call box off to the right.  Dial Counter Culture and your in.  

See you all very soon!

WDC TNT 3

I know you all have been on the edge of your seats awaiting the report on last week’s TNT. I’m sorry, I have no excuses, I just plain stink at this blogging stuff! (in my defense, murky did have its in-house barista competition the evening after TNT) and you know holidays…

I’m not going to gush too much, let me just say TNT 3 was awesome. Its so great to see from one month to the next how TNT grows just a bit and outdoes the months past. I love it! This month was certainly no exception. We had such a great turnout! 26 competitors! a great crowd snacking on plenty of holiday cookies and great beer! all of the tryst and open city folks came! fritzler was tipsy (and score keeping?)! and plenty of new people joined us for the night. I feel great about what the new year has in store for us dc coffee kids.

Before we get to the knitty gritty pour by pour, I’d like to just recognize the contributions of our sponsors, who play such a big role in the making of these bigger and better TNTs. This month our regular sponsors outdid themselves, while new sponsors joined the fold. First, peregrine espresso brought new and old t-shirts, and one of my all time favorite chocolate bars, askinosie’s san jose del tambo. Biagio fine chocolate added even more great chocolates, a grand cru collection from domori and a beautiful bean to bar from amedei. Liberty tavern joined our sponsors this month with a nice gift certificate (for all you michael pollan freaks, i spotted a special polyface farm pig belly on the menu a few months back…)

One of the most awesome additions to be handed over to the champeen, was a great idea from the warped mind of Mr. Nick Cho – an engraved bracelet, (you know, millrock style…) In theory it could change hands every month.

This month we were also lucky enough to be joined by one Michaele Weissman, Michaele is a journalist who has written a number of coffee related stories for the nytimes and the washington post. She’s also the author of god in a cup. Teaming up with Michaele at the judging table was Ryan Jensen and Trish Rothgeb. These folks did a great job, like i said 26 competitors!

Ok so as you all know, the eternal question burning in the minds of the WDC TNT crowd is simply this,
CAN ANYONE UPSET JEREMY STERNER AS LATTE ART CHAMPION?? CAN ANYONE COME CLOSE??
I will forgo any sort of suspense building and say another TNT has come and gone, and the question still stands.

But lets do the run through just for fun. As I’m so late getting this recap to you, I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t remember the order folks competed in, rather, I guarantee this is out of order.

David (N) Flynn of peregrine pours a great DNF styled pour, and takes (you guessed it) second place for the third month in a row!!

Iron Will Shields does murky coffee proud finishing third with this quite nice rosetta.

Bob Chapman, a barista from open city poured this nice heart, which put him on the leaders board for a bit.

when it comes down to it, we all agree, jeremy’s definition is insane. its so tough to top his work with colors so sharp. it definitely helps that no one else has really challenged him with a great tulip. here’s his pour from this month. I don’t think its the best one his shown us, but it was again, the best of the night. way to go jeremy, you remain the guy to beat.

further congratulations are in order for jeremy as this month he also took first place at peregrine’s first ever in-house competition, he will represent peregrine at the Mid Atlantic Regional in early February. Congrats Jeremy and Good Luck!

also a special thank you to david holloway for taking photos for us, they look great, and i’m especially grateful for the gifts of his talents.

Holiday Cookie Contest

The only rules for the holiday cookie contest are

1.) please bring twelve, so we don’t have to worry about running out mid-sampling.

2.) please bring a list of ingredients to put next to your cookie presentation, just in case anyone has any allergies.

How the voting will go down

Everyone in attendance will be given three cookie votes, to be deposited in some kind of cookie jar or bank throughout the course of the evening. The three cookies garnering the most votes will then face off in a new vote to crown the holiday cookie contest champ.