February 22, 2010 Atlanta, GA Will Frith, a training and education expert for Batdorf & Bronson® Coffee Roasters in Olympia, WA, took third place in the first Northwest Regional Brewers Cup, a hand-brewing coffee competition that was part of the recent Northwest Regional Barista Championships held in Tacoma.
As a trainer for Batdorf & Bronson®, Frith travels throughout the Northwest providing hands-on training to the companys wholesale customers. He also hosts regular trainings at the Batdorf & Bronson® roastery and training facility in Olympia. Frith is a serious student of coffee science and respected among his colleagues both inside and outside the company. He was recently interviewed by the Barista Guild of America. Read the interview here. Competitors in the Brewers Cup are required to use the same coffee, which is kept a secret, during the first round. In the finals they use a coffee of their choice. Frith chose Batdorf & Bronson's® Colombia Estrella del Sur (Cundinamarca). Competitors have 10 minutes to prepare three cups of coffee for three judges using the hand brewing method of their choice. He used the Clever Dripper.
Frith is not the only Batdorf & Bronson® employee to place in a regional Brewers Cup competition. Jason Dominy, the companys Customer Support and Outreach Coordinator based in Atlanta, recently took second place in the Southeast competition. Both Frith and Dominy will now compete in the National Brewers Cup competition to be held during the Specialty Coffee Association of Americas annual convention in Houston, April 27 May 1, 2011.