Wow.....what a night. Where oh where do I start.
What a turnout!!! We had folks venture in from Dayton, Vandalia, and from all parts of Columbus. Meeting other professional baristas is always a treat, and last night was no exception. I also spied quite a few shop owners mingling in the crowd, so I imagine some new baristas will be arriving at the next jam.
Venue.......Amazing spot for an event. Located in the heart of the Short North, the Kickstart was perfect for a jam. Coupled with GalleryHop and a home Buckeye game, crowds were moving about the entire night. Music was handled by DJ Moxy in the shop and live bands were jamming just out front in the parking lot. Speaking of parking......
Parking. Ouch. A special tip of the demitasse goes to Henry from Boston Stoker. Henry and the Stoker crew came in from Vandalia on 1 days notice!! While cruising in his gorgeous 300, the coppers decided to slow him down a bit with a pink piece of paper..bummer.. Once in the confines of Columbus, he thought, as did we all, that he was safe. But alas, while returning to the parking lot, he realizes his car is missing. Thanks Shamrock Towing....dicks. Abby and I drove him up to retrieve his ride and hopefully his journey home was less eventful.
Anyone notice the article stating Free Beer in the Other Paper? The Columbus Vice Squad did, so they showed up to enjoy a beer themselves.......and by a beer I mean ALL of the beer. Thankfully the Elevator beer was long gone, but swiping cheap beer sucks none the less. And to add insult to injury, a $300 ticket is being issued for the incident. Way to go Columbus. I'm sure our event full of legally aged adults was far more problematic than a campus full of 100+ thousand drunks.
Thanks go to Elevator Brewing for the two kegs of hand crafted ale, Pattycake Vegan Bakery for the yummy cupcakes, Bakery Gingham for the sweet treats, Z Pizza for providing slices for both meat eaters and vegans, the Lucky Ladle for the turnovers and soup, plus the Kickstart for all of the evening foods.
Now to the latte art comp.
The recently formed TEAM PURPLE NURPLE rocked the house. Top two places in the Latte Art Competition over a large field of entrants. The opening round was won by Carl Nurple of Cafe Brioso with a double rosetta, Kevin Nurple (my local alter ego) and Andy Luck of Luck Brothers tied for second with a tulip and rosetta respectively. Top three went to the finals where it was a reverse order.
During the opening round, each barista had the option of using a "mulligan", or a re-pour if their first drink wasn't up to snuff. But to mix things up a bit, the finals not only nixed the mulligan, but we also had to call our drink prior to pouring so the judges knew what we were intending to make. I lost the coin toss and drew the first spot.
I informed the judges I was going for a single sided rosetta balanced out with a heart on the other side. Andy called for a rosetta, and Carl announced a triple rosetta.
I finished my pour with space left for a second heart to the left of the single sided rosetta. Wasn't too stoked on the execution, but had to stick with the drink. Andy was up next and poured a similar design to his opening round drink. Nice color and lots of striations. Carl took to the machine and poured two rosettas on the sides and squeezed in his third down the middle. A really tough pattern to pull off.
After the scores were tallied, I was shocked to hear that I had held onto my title with Carl coming in second and Andy in Third. Team Purple Nurple took the top two honors, and we are already plotting and scheming on our new designs.
Big thanks to the judges, Jeff Davis, owner/roaster of Cafe Brioso, and JJ, barista at Cafe Brioso. Huge props to Chris and Jodi Cannon (wonderful emcee) of Kickstart, they really stepped up to the plate and delivered one hell of an event. Can't wait till the next jam at Cafe Brioso!! Go TPN!
Stay tuned for pictures and video of the entire event.
Thanks to Giles for the gorgeous black and whites.
