The USBC is Happing Now and I Should Probably Write About It
Prediction: Scott Lucey to win. This might be an awfully silly prediction as he was scheduled this morning and I haven’t seen his performance, but I had his coffee at the GLRBC and I don’t think it’s beatable. Unless he screws up, I think he’s got it.
Which raises an interesting point. There are baristi out there that I’ve seen do really inventive things with their competition time. Jesse Crouse used pistachio butter (yum). Mike Phillips split his shots into parts for the signature drink. But what it seems to come down to is how good the coffee itself is. In the aftermath of the GLRBC presentation ceremony, the Intelli roasting crew seemed to be more disappointed that the Intelli competitors. I’m guessing is that they knew they got out-sourced by Alterra. Or Alterra got really lucky finding this coffee. The main point I’m trying to make is that this competition now seems to depend more on the sourcing and roasting that the barista. Yes, the barista has to pick the coffee, but having tasted some of the competitors’ coffee (incomplete sample, I know), Lucey’s stood out. A lot.
