go chad!

in the small world of specialty coffee on the prairies, a regional barista competition took place in calgary over the weekend. This means that skilled barmen who understand the art of making excellent espresso-based drinks compete in order to prove to technical and sensory judges that they are the best in the business.




our good friend, chad, who works at transcend coffee and who actually roasts most of the coffee for cafe haven - kicked butt and finds himself and the two runners up heading over to Montreal for the nationals in a couple of months time. this is the perfect result for a man who had been previously stuck out in the oilfields missing his coffee, missing his true vocation.

for the uninitiated, the nuts and bolts of the barista competition are as follows:
- 15 minute set up time
- 15 minutes to prepare and serve 12 drinks to 4 judges (4 cappuccino, 4 espresso and 4 signature drinks).

but there is so much more to it. chad has some decent experience at this competition having been previously crowned southern australia barista in his lifetime, but it doesn't mean he took it lightly. In fact, he practiced and practiced and practiced. as did all the competitors. another competitor was josh, who didn't make it into the finals but was practising every night too. i think it's a shame since josh has an incredible amount of knowledge around coffee. but next year he will know what to expect and that will make things a little easier.

congratulations chad, you were excellent and you truly looked like you were enjoying yourself today. good luck mate.....although you do have the small detail of getting married happening between now and the national competition! good luck for that too!