The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

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The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

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The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

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Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s coffee news stories. The word of the week is: competitions. Mon, 22 Jan Timemore launches crowdfunding campaign for upcoming Millab E01 portable electric coffee grinder. The wireless electric coffee grinder features a 5,000 mAh lithium battery […]


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The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

Presenter of sustainable, accessible events, The Barista League plans to hold 12 competitions in 10 countries in the months ahead.

BY J. MARIE CARLAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos courtesy of The Barista League

The Barista League has officially announced its event roster for the next year.

Last year saw 10 Barista League events worldwide, and the 2023-24 calendar is even more extensive, promising 12 events in 10 countries with more to be announced! (See the bottom of this article for the full list of events.)

A heavily tattoed barista talks behind the espresso bar in Mexico City as judges and spectators listen.
The Barista League came to Mexico City for the first time in 2022.

Environmental Integrity

The Barista League has committed to tracking each event’s environmental impact, and the reports are published on the website so they’re visible to the public. Part of the ticket price also includes an offset for carbon emissions. Eimear Nelson-Nilehn, director of communications for The Barista League, says, “We’ve been measuring our wastage and CO2 emissions for the past three years. Tracking has also been important as a means of holding ourselves accountable, and we’ve always hoped that our transparency will encourage other coffee events, or just events in general, to be equally forthcoming.”

The Barista League is furthering its commitment to environmental responsibility in 2023. “We are constantly re-evaluating ways to reduce waste, cut emissions, and create more positive effects from our events,” Eimear continues. “We are developing a new sustainability platform with new, more ambitious goals—so stay tuned for more on this over the course of 2023!” Their primary goal is to create barista events that are not just carbon-neutral but net-positive.

Two people in yellow shirts pose for the camera in Copenhagen. One wears glasses and a beard, the other glasses and a green head scarf. The background is a blue wall.
The Barista League in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Accessibility for All

For each event, The Barista League’s website has info about wheelchair ramps, lights, noise, and other factors that affect accessibility. Organizers also consider the cost; tickets to the events are purposely inexpensive so that baristas on a budget can attend. (For example, an early bird ticket to the Los Angeles event is only $6, and the full-price ticket is $12.)

Two baristas behind a Rancilio espresso machine laugh during the competition.
Hilarity at The Barista League in Melbourne.

Steve Moloney, The Barista League’s founder, describes his inspiration for the organization on the website: “Working as a barista I was seeing the origin trips, the travel, super expensive training labs, the restaurant collaborations, and just thinking: What barista working on minimum wage gets to do any of this?” Since its inception, The Barista League has maintained that every person who wants to attend one of their events should have the opportunity.

Eimear states further, “We are currently developing an accessibility policy which will help us to ensure that we’re not just hot air when we talk about The Barista League being for everybody. We want to ensure that where somebody wants to attend one of our competitions, we have processes in place that will help us to listen to the needs of that individual person and do everything we can to make sure they are welcome and safe at our event.”

A rowdy crowd of people cheering for baristas in kansas City.
Hype at The Barista League in Kansas City, Mo.

New Advisory Board

The Barista League has also shaken things up by creating an advisory board to further build on their goals. “The purpose of the advisory board, which comprises around 10 coffee professionals from various locations across the globe and with a variety of experiences to bring to the table, is to ensure that we remain in contact with the industry,” Eimear says. “In listening to the advice and questions raised by the board, we hope to continue to be relevant and valuable to the baristas and coffee professionals we serve.”

The Barista League in Budapest. Two baristas smile at the camera; one is pointing at it directly. The MC speaks into the microphone off to the side.
The Barista League festivities in Budapest, Hungary.

The Barista League: Upcoming Events

February
Oslo, February 18

March
Mexico City, March 5
Hamburg, Germany, March 25

May
Brno, Czech Republic, May 26

June
Toronto, June 17

August
Los Angeles, August 5

September
Bristol, U.K., September 9
Melbourne, Australia, September 22

October
Spain, October 1
Milwaukee, Wis., October 21

December
Atlanta, December 2

January 2024
Dubai, January 11

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. Marie Carlan (she/they) is the online editor for Barista Magazine. She’s been a barista for over a decade and writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. When she’s not behind the espresso bar or toiling over content, you can find her perusing record stores, collecting bric-a-brac, writing poetry, and trying to keep the plants alive in her Denver apartment. She occasionally updates her blog.

The post The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

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