Tuesday 11 October 2016

Week beginning October 10th - #smackdown16 - The Finals

I was nervous, so I assume the competitors were nervous too, but who knows? Some openly showed it, some admitted it, some just cruised in, had a few pints of lager and said 'let's do this'. This year we were in the wonderful upstairs room at Square Mile with loads of space, easy access to the beer, lots of room for the DJ and the competitors and a Go-Pro camera set up over the table with projection onto a big screen so we could all see.

We started late, but we anticipated we would, as the last barista arrived at 7:45 but that just built up the tension and anticipation in the room. Our judges huddled around to discuss the finer points of latte art and the intricate rules of competition and when you look at the judging line up, it was hard not to be impressed or perhaps intimidated.

Glenn Watson - Lead Judge
James Bailey - Head of Quality at Workshop Coffee
James Hoffmann - Director of Square Mile, author of World Coffee Atlas, World Barista Champion 2007
Andrew Tolley - Director of Taylor Street Baristas, World Barista Judge, World Sensory Judge, 2nd Place World Tea Brewing Championships 2016
Gareth Jones - Head of Training - Square Mile Coffee
Ali Scott - Head of Wholesale - Square Mile Coffee
Dhan Tamang - UK Latte Art Champion 2014, 2015, 2016, currently ranked 4th in world
Dan Fellows - UK Barista Champion 2016, Head of Wholesale at Origin Coffee
Jeffrey Young - Director of Allegra Strategies and London Coffee Festival

MC legend Ross 'Browns of Brockley' Brown picked up the roving mic and we had very special guest DJ Billy Tahtis on the decks with old school and new school hip hop tunes getting everyone in the mood.

The top 16 competitors were:

Daniel from Kaffeine
Jakub from Prufrock
Julius from Second Shot
Wendy from Second Shot
Alex from Origin
Zain from Saint Espresso
Zoe from Prufrock
Nick from Coffee Lab
Jack from Origin
Tom from Store Street Espresso
Csaba from Chief Coffee
Paul from Origin
Sam from Kaffeine
Radu from Coopers Coffee
Joseph from Climpsons
Will from Origin

We stayed with the original format of two cups per barista, pouring at the table then choosing their best one, with left over Estate Dairy milk poured into a glass as part of the assessment process. The music was amazing, Ross built up the crowd and heckled the baristas and about 60 people crowded around to watch

Into the second round were:
Will from Origin
Radu from Coopers Coffee
Jack from Origin
Daniel from Kaffeine
Wendy from Second Shot
Alex from Origin
Paul from Origin
Zoe from Prufrock

Into round two we made it harder and it was one cup, one shot, one pour with barista against barista and we ended up with a final four, or a final three plus one, as three of the boys from Origin Coffee made it to the final four, against Wendy from Second Shot Coffee.

For the final four, we made it harder again, with the baristas steaming their milk at the same time on the machine, as our lead barista Paulina poured two cups of espresso. They then made their way to the table and poured at the same time in front of a cheering crowd.

This time, it was Will and Alex who made it through to the final, both Origin boys, whilst Paul and Wendy battled it out for third place.

The cash was laid out on the table with £150 for third, £350 for second and a massive £500 for for place and in a very tight contest, Paul came in third, leaving Will and Alex to battle for first place.

They poured, they put down their cups, the judges discussed and conversed and then at the very height of tension, this happened.



I did not see it happen, but word on the street is that a very high class, very much world class latte art champion knocked over one of the cups, the Go Pro camera and there was massive spillage before the judges even had the chance to decide. The choice was given between the competitors to go for the photo replay or to pour again and Will took the decision to pour again.

So here we were, another re-pour in the final of the Latte Art Smackdown reminiscent of last years re-pour between Nico Halliday and Dhan Tamang.

Finally, the judges decided and it was Alex who came through. A special note here..In one of the heats at 7:30 pm, as we were about to start, there was one spot available and Alex turned up and went in at the last minute, won through to the finals and then won the whole competition.

We ended with a 1, 2, 3 for Origin Coffee and in the final drama for the evening, when handing over trophy for third place just like a dropped baton in the 200 metre relay, the trophy slipped through hands and smashed onto the concrete floor.

Please can we say a very big thank you to all involved, to the competitors, to the judges, to the sponsors, to Square mile for hosting the final, to the MC and the DJ and to the Kaffeine staff who worked each event. Brilliant. Already looking forward to next year.

Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.

The Final
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157674809499026/with/29550658963/

Round Four
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157674503223506

Round Three
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670935448013

Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324

Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596


Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine




Monday 3 October 2016

Week beginning October 3rd - #Smackdown16 - Round Four

It was the biggest crowd of the whole four weeks. There was seriously no more room at the inn as about 50 people crammed into Eastcastle street to watch the final heats and see who the final four would be to go to Square Mile on October 7th.

Unfortunately, two of our pre-planned judges could not make it on the night, but we were still honoured to be able to have lead judge and superstar photographer Glenn Watson and last minute saviour, the Director of Curators Coffee Catherine Seay in the mix and then I jumped in myself to be a judge and to put even more pressure on the competitors as well as MC'ing the evening.

We dropped the lights again, and kicked off with Faithless Live at the Brixton Academy for tunes. The atmosphere was electric, with cheap beer, free food, anticipation, excitement, 90's rave music nerves and good humour and we soon kicked off into the final round of 16.

In the end, these guys got through to the finals.

Daniel from Kaffeine
Jakub from Prufrock
Julius from Second Shot
Wendy from Second Shot

So this Friday we move over to the roastery at Square Mile for the finals with the top 16 baristas competing for prizes, cash and glory. We have an SCAE certification course as well as trophies donated by Victoria Arduino, coffee subscriptions from Square Mile, prizes from Coffee Hit and cash donations from London Coffee Festival and Estate Dairy, making the total cash prize pool £1000 to be split between the top 3.

Judges invited along for the evening include:

Glenn Watson - Lead judge four years in a row and superstar photographer
James Hoffman - Director of Square Mile and author of The World Coffee Atlas
Maxwell Colonna - Dashwood - Director of Colonna and Smalls Coffee, UK Barista Champion 2012, 2014, 2015 and author of Water for Coffee
Dhan Tamang - UK Latte Art Champion 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 - Currently 4th in the world
Dan Fellows - Origin Coffee - Current UK Barista Champion and curernetly 9th in the world
Andrew Tolley - Director Taylor Street Baristas, World Barista Judge, World Sensory Judge and runner up in the 2016 World Tea Brewing Championships
Phil 'Bassplayer' Wain - Editor of London's Best Coffee
Catherine Seay - Director of Curators Coffee and original Kaffeine barista
Paul Radin - Director of Coffee Hit
Shaun Young - Director of Noble Espresso and The Estate Dairy
James Phillips - Director of Dose Espresso
James 'I won the first year' Bailey - Head of Quality at Workshop and World Coffee Masters Champion 2015
Ben Townsend - Former Director of The Espresso Room and trainer at London School of Coffee

We will have legend Ross 'Browns of Brockley' Brown as main MC and very special guest DJ Billy Tahtis on the decks with old school and new school tunes.

Once again, we have some great photos up online for your to see all the action so please check out these ones here and do share them across all your social media channels with #smackdown16.

Round Four
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157674503223506

Round Three
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670935448013

Round Two
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157670649014324

Round One
https://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed/albums/72157673553185596

Have a great week and if you are competing on Friday, please be sure to check in when you arrive.

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine