This six brassy baristas will compete in tomorrow’s Southeast Regional Barista Competition finals! Here’s your complete schedule for tomorrow – follow @SprudgeLive on Twitter for our best-in-the-business live coverage of the SERBC finals!

COMPETITION BEGINS AT 10:45 AM EST:

1. 10:45 Colin Whitcomb, MadCap Coffee Company, DC – @ColinWhitcomb

2. 11:07 Lemuel Butler, Counter Culture Coffee, Durham NC – @SexyFoam

3. 11:27 Michael Harwood, Carrboro Coffee Roasters, Carrborro NC – @BlueBarista

4. 11:47 Trevor Corlett, MadCap Coffee Company, DC – @Tjorlet

5. 12:07 Camila Ramos, Panther Coffee, Miami – @Milamos

6. 12:27 Travis Beckett, Peregrine Espresso, DC – @TravisBeckett

Sprudge.com’s coverage from Atlanta is made possible by direct support from Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters and Nuova Simonelli. Sprudge.com is the official digital media sponsor of the 2013 United States Barista Competition cycle, as selected by the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

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Percy Ramirez

There seems to be no limit to the kindness and genuine enjoyment of the barista craft exuded by Percy Ramirez, of Intelligentsia’s Pasadena cafe. This was Percy’s first performance in the USBC regional cycle; Mr. Ramirez has competed twice before (and enjoys dual eligibility) in Guatemala, where he lived until he was four. Percy competed using an Intelligentsia sourced-and-roasted offering from Finca Matalapa, El Salvador – it is not currently commercially available. We’ll add that meeting and having a chance to share some conversation with Mr. Ramirez was a personal highlight for both your Sprudge editors last weekend. In an industry full of all manner of characters, Percy Ramirez is truly one of the nice guys.

Charles Babinski

One of our sport’s (or whatever you want to call it) most electric performers, Charles Babinski of Intelligentsia Silverlake turned in two absolutely captivating performances over the SWRBC weekend. He’s dancing as he pulls shots; he’s mugging for the cameras;  he’s the perfectly devilish flirty barkeep. The audience is educated by Mr. Babinski seemingly by osmosis, as if knowledge could be transferred by charisma alone. Charles’ routine broke down walls between judges and the competitor, by acknowledging the often very different expectations a barista encounters from his or her customers in a cafe setting. He encouraged sharing, dialogue, and playfulness among the judges, while advocating passionately for the very special coffee he was privileged to serve – Intelligentsia’s Bolivia Takesi microlot, which is as of yet not commercially available. Mr. Babinski is a very special competitor, a barista’s barista, and his is one of our very favorite routines of this year’s competition cycle.

Lizzy Sampson

One of two competitors from Verve to reach the finals, Lizzy Sampson’s routine stood out for a couple of reasons: she was the only SWRBC finalist to compete with a blend, using Verve coffees sourced from Ethiopia, Sumatra and Guatemala; and her routine was the only one to speciically focus on traceability at origin. Watching her twice, we were blown away by some of the bigger questions she asked of the judges. It takes guts to openly admit – indeed, to spend time on such admissions from the ever-ticking 15 minute clock – that certain components in your competition coffee are less traceable than others. But the truth is, that’s often the truth, and we applaud Lizzy for acknowledging the complicated realities of many coffees from Ethiopia and Sumatra. For 15 minutes, Lizzy was able to compellingly argue that, while traceability in coffee sourcing is enormously important, so too is taste. Playing to a packed home crowd for both of her SWRBC performances, Lizzy Sampson and Verve were able to pull off an important, engaging pair of routines: the kind that makes you think.

Alfonso Portela

Hailing out of the burgeoning Central Valley specialty coffee scene in Sacramento, California, Alfonso Portela made heads turn on Selection Saturday at the SWRBC, earning a spot in the top six for himself and Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters. A first time competitor, Mr. Portela’s routine was a premiere example of friendly, warm customer service in the superchared barista competition environment. One of the joys for us covering the USBC cycle is to learn more about shops in emerging cities, of which the Sacramento-Modesto area is certainly one. Just as the routine from Camilla Ramos at the SERBC made us want to visit Panther Coffee in Miami, so too did Mr. Portela pique our interest w/r/t Chocolate Fish. Once an Ecco account, CF is now a small roastery in Downtown Sacramento with a pronounced New Zealand vibe. Mr. Portela competed using a coffee from Honduras that is not currently available via Chocolate Fish, but you can learn more about their other offerings here. 

As a last note on Fonzy’s performance, we present a hypothetical: pretend you’re taking a friend out for coffee, and that this friend is a civilian, entirely unconnected from the specialty coffee industry and with very little experience visiting nice cafes. If we could draft pick a barista to spend time with that friend from behind the bar, we’d have to consider Alfonso Portela. We hope this is the first of many competition successes for him and the crew at Chocolate Fish.

Kevin “Tex” Bohlin

Sometimes barista routines have a very disparate set of influences. In the case of Ritual Coffee’s “Tex” Bohlin, his 15 minutes on stage were a delightful melange, equal parts Guatemalan adventure and Hollywood picture, poured through a San Francisco filter. All coffees tell a story, but for Mr. Bohlin, the coffee WAS the story; watch the above interview to learn more about Tex’s work in Guatemala at Finca La Merced. (For the full experience, pull this song from the “Drive” soundtrack up in another tab.) You were a pleasure to watch, Tex.

Jared Truby

It sort of felt like destiny, for Jared Truby to win this year’s SWRBC. A seasoned competitor who has lived and worked for years as part of Verve Coffee Roasters, Mr. Truby’s routines were standing-room only affairs on the competition floor in Santa Cruz. He used a remarkable coffee, Verve’s Costa Rica Finale de Cosecha – we had a chance to write it up already here – and finished his routine with one of the more notably complex signature drinks we’ve seen all year, a multi-step experience involving cascara and molasses tea, vanilla cream espresso foam, and a re-imagined spherical coffee “cherry” made from apple and cherry juices. Mr. Truby never loses focus on stage, never breaks a sweat; he is a natural competitor, and he makes that which is most decidedly not easy look it. The first-round bye and the confidence he’ll be bringing with him to Portland makes him a must-watch Championship contender at this year’s USBC.

For more photos, please visit our Facebook album.

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Here’s the six finalists and times for Finals Sunday at SWRBC 2012. Competition begins just after 11am:

1. Percy Ramirez, Intelligentsia Coffee, Pasadena @PercyR_, @intelligentsia

2. Kevin “Tex” Bohlin, Ritual Coffee, San Francisco – @ritualproxy

3. Alfonso “Fonzy” Portela, Chocolate Fish Coffee, Sacramento – @chocfishcoffee

4. Charles Babinski, Intelligentsia Coffee, Venice – @charlesbabinski, @intellivenice

5. Lizzy Sampson, Verve Coffee Roasters, Santa Cruz – @vervecoffee

6. Jared Truby, Verve Coffee Roasters, Santa Cruz – @JTrubaca, @vervecoffee

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Finally, we are immensely grateful to the tireless and inspiring work of everyone at the SCAA and BGA, especially Amber Sather, Maria Hill, Julie Housh, Dan Streetman, Michael Harwood, and Sprudgie Award winner Marcus Boni.

The outpouring of support, kind words, emails and tweets thanking us for our regional barista event coverage just means the world to us. None of our work would be possible without the people and companies thanked above – we do this because of you.

10:55 and we’re back! live-tweeting the #serbc finals from windy, frigid atlanta georgia – follow us all day @sprudge

11:03 @jasondominy – “i would like to go ahead and get this party started. go ahead and hit that timer.” #brewerscup #domination

11:09 @jasondominy drops clever at 2.5 minutes, with a 1.5 minute draw time – he’s stirring for 10 seconds during draw down

11:12 @jasondominy handles his biz, thanks the southern barista community, hits on his wife, and calls “time”

11:16 first #serbc of the day: lindsey kiser of @peregrinedc – her setup includes a simple black tablecloth & a pink cotton candy maker

11:23 lindsey serves @counter_culture PNG baroida – talks the judges through cultivar distinction, washing, drying, and shipping…

11:24 lindsey of @peregrinedc – her routine’s conceit: coffee as personhood, trials by fire, we’re made who we are by our experiences #fascinating

11:28 lindsey @peregrinedc chose a 3 day off-roast baroida PNG from @counter_culture – “vibrancy” being the key word.

11:30 lindsey @peregrinedc capp set down, water refilled, cruising into sig drinks with 9:30 left: “nature AND nurture…so it is with coffee

11:32 lindsey pulls a shot of baroida over coconut milk infused with passionfruit – then handmade ginger floss on stage – mmmmm ginger floss

11:34 lindsey kiser of @peregrinedc calls time at 14:54 – that is a very, very high bar to set for today at the #serbc

11:42 @davedelchamps – using v60 filter, because, “who doesn’t like a paper filter? it gives you a nice, clean taste” #brewerscup

11:46 @davedelchamp serves@octanecoffee salvadoran coffee grown at a high elevation with volcanic terroir – served in diner mug

11:47 “that does it for me, feel free to enjoy the neil young that’s playing right now – have a great weekend” @davedelchamps

11:52 this is trevor corlett’s 12th barista competition performance @madcap

12:00 trevor competes using the @madcapcoffee third coast blend – currently 50/50 fazenda rainha from brazil and san sebastian colombia

12:04 trevor @madcap on his espresso: “first sip is tart bitterness, second sip is acidity cherry, final sip is sweet baker’s chocolate”

12:11 trevor corlett calls time at 15 – steadier presentation today, seemed a little more comfortable verbally. awesome routine

12:17 @jonathanbonchak (“peaches”) of @counter_culture up now – brewing ethiopia haru, a classic washed yirgacheffe coffee

12:22 @jonathanbonchak competes with the bonmac brewer – #bonchakforbonmac – competing with @counter_culture’s GFA winning coffee #brewerscup

12:35 @bluebarista is the SE representative of the @baristaguild – rocking his BGA pin on-stage at #serbc

12:51 michael harwood @bluebarista calls time at 14:59 #serbc #pro

12:52 @mattlud was a late addition to the #brewerscup schedule – his comp coffee was roasted by fellow #brewerscup competitor @davedelchamps

12:56 @mattlud competes at #brewerscup using the classic chemex with paper filter #leathertassles

12:58 a very radiohead-forward #brewerscup performance from @mattlud

1:00 his chemex coffee served in a brandy snifter @mattlud – go big on the chemex, or go home on the marta

1:12 @dustincolemmm starts with his cappuccinos – his is one of the more customer service focused routines seen this year

1:15 citrus, stone fruit acidity, apricot, caramel bottom tones, buttery, clean finish – @dustincolemmm on his espresso

1:21 @dustincolemmm last minute of his routine…love the vintage ice bucket. “no special instructions, just drink it down and enjoy it.”

1:22 @dustincolemmm calls time at 15 flat – big cheer in the room at #serbc

1:25 up now at the #brewerscup, by far our favorite twitter handle of the weekend @dugganasaurus bryan duggan of @counter_culture durham

1:26 @dugganasaurus rocks a modified cupping method at #brewerscup – first brewed in a french press, then poured through v60

1:30 @dugganasaurus competes with @counter_culture’s Karatu Barada Nikto kenyan coffee

1:45 we’ll say it again – @milamos performance is a remarkable advert and outreach for @panthercoffee – want to go to miami so bad

1:49 guaraco reduction (sugar), espresso, lightly steamed milk, and vaporized padron cigar – like walking into a cuban coffee bar

1:51 it would be hard to understate how impressed we are, how impressed the room is, with @milamos routine at #serbc – congrats to @panthercoffee

1:54 “it has been a sincere pleasure to share this coffee and culture with you. time.” – camilla (@milamos) calls time at 14 minutes

2:07 a subdued, low-key and professional performance from steve brown @octanecoffee – proof is in the #brewerscup

2:11 Lem took last year’s competition off, but he’s back this year: “I’m like Jay-Z. I retire, but I come back…can’t stop, won’t stop”

2:22 @sexyfoam’s choice of @counter_culture baroida banta microlot is the bedrock of cool at the base of this smooth performance

2:28 “thank you much, enjoy – i want to thank you for joining me on an adventure to the other side of the world” @sexyfoam

2:57 our work this weekend was made possible by sponsorship from @wilburcurtisco – if you enjoyed our coverage, please RT your thanks

3:04 1st place is Matthew Ludwikowski of @octanecoffee #brewerscup @mattluds

3:15 Congrats to Michael Harwood, Trevor Corlett, and your new #SERBC champion Lindsey Kiser of @peregrinedc

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