After months of planning, I am happy to announce that the 2008-2009 Southeast Regional Barista Competition was a huge success. Batdorf & Bronson® Coffee Roasters was a co-sponsor of the event that took place at the King Plow Art Center located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, Georgia.
Batdorf had a huge posse of judges during the event, which included Andy, Harry, Chandler, Margaret and me. (Margaret was also nutty enough to judge the 40 contestants at Octane Coffee during Friday Night Throwdown!) Thanks to Jen, Aaron and Lorrie, who all pitched in as well as Dave W., who used his math skills to play score keeper.
Here were the results of the 2008-2009 SERBC.
First: Danielle Glasky of Octane Coffee
Second: Crystal Rogers of Octane Coffee
Third: Dale Donchey of Method Coffee Bar & Tea
Fourth: Travis Edwards of Murkey Coffee
Fifth: Joshua Flail of Octane Coffee
Sixth: David Delchamps of 1000 Faces Coffee
Congratulations to the finalists and Octane Coffee for raising the bar. The event was a blast and demonstrated that the Southeast coffee community has a true passion for learning and sharing all things coffee.
Next up: the United States Barista Championship, which will be held March 5th-8th 2009 in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. See you there!