The South Central Regionals of the U.S. Barista Championship are nominally about great coffee and those who brew and serve it, but they are every bit as much about the earthy, urban barista culture coming together for a celebration, centered around an intense, stylized ritual of theatre.
Witness the performance of one Joe Marrocco, head barista trainer at Kaldi's. The silence in the cavernous Khorassan Ballroom at the Chase Park Plaza the instant before his round-one efforts this weekend was complete, as if he were cutting the final red wire to defuse a bomb.
Then, the large, digital timer above Marrocco's head began the 15-minute countdown. Marrocco, outfitted with head mic, began to talk over ambient music, explaining that he would be telling us a story. It would be a story like most epics, of tragedy and triumph. In this case, it was the story of violent political fighting in Burundi, the tiny East African country whence cometh his beans, and a kind of redemption bestowed by the exporting of superior, delicious raw product.
As Marrocco - looking natty in a green shirt, red tie, dark vest, gamekeeper's cap, and handlebar mustache -- spoke, he wiped down and flush-cleaned the deluxe Simonelli four-group espresso machine, his every move scrutinized by a team of seven judges, three of whom were in his face like locker-room reporters, constantly taking notes. The judges use an extraordinarily detailed 870-point tally sheet to record everything from appropriate tamp-down of the grounds, to "taste balance" of the cappuccino, to the barista's apparel, even.
Marrocco interrupted his rambling speech about the troubles of Burundi and the sensual pleasures of coffee to serve three flights of the stuff; the four tasting judges are each served her own espresso, cappuccino, and "signature coffee drink."
He exhorted the judges to appreciate the "crema, color, and consistency" of the espresso, and said, "I ask that you give it three stirs, as is protocol." He described the cappuccino as having "layers of flavor, like a key lime pie," and "notes of golden raisins and fruits."
This was suddenly about terroir - the climate of the coffee-growing region - as well other aspects of the coffee-making process that play out as subtleties in the taste. To detect the flavor notes and appreciate all the little things takes a skilled taster. These judges--in theory--live and breathe coffee, and the competitors can only hope the judges' discerning noses and tongues are worthy of the weeks of meticulous practice that have gone into this onstage drink service.
Finally, Marrocco crafted and poured his signature beverage -- an adventurous, blended combo of bitters ("to represent the struggle of the Burundi people"), mascarpone cheese, orange juice, mint, milk, and bananas, served side-by-side with espresso. He encouraged the judges to alternate sips of the two drinks to experience the beverage as intended - an avant garde move.
His performance had reached its end. The modest audience, which seemed to be mostly other baristas and hangers-on, clapped its approval as if they'd witnessed a well-executed Olympic ice-skating routine. In a few moments, the next competitor would use an identical machine to begin his service, scored to music, scrutinized by seven judges, and again, so particular in its curiosities as to make the coffee almost secondary to the intense culinary theatre of it all.
Marrocco, in his third year of this competition, wound up besting baristas from nine cities in four states to win the Regional. He will go on to represent Kaldi's, the state, and the region at the U.S. Barista Championships, in Houston, Texas, later this month.
Steve Schuh, the lead barista of the Kaldi's in Columbia, Mo., took a second. Nicole Call, manager of the original Kaldi's in Clayton, was fourth.
Photo by Byron Kerman
