Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Here’s Park Brannen, chatting with us and snuggling up with WBC champ / Handsome honcho Mike Phillips.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Our favorite new person we met this weekend was Daria (pronounced dare-ee-uh) Whalen, of Pavement Coffeehouse in Boston. We were really impressed by the Boston showing at NERBC, and look forward to checking out the cafes in that city soon.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Sam Penix is the owner-operator of Everyman Espresso, in the East Village. He just missed the cut for this year’s NERBC finals. Sam’s store manager / right hand man, Sam Lewontin, placed 4th in this year’s NERBC, and will compete at the USBC in Portland.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Some love for the Brewers Cup, which had a circus-like atmosphere of onlookers and attention at this year’s NERBC. If you haven’t had the pleasure already, meet Tamara Vigil of Irving Farm coffee, a double-competitor in both barista and brewers events, who competed in the finals for Brewers Cup.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

We caught former Mid-Atlantic Regional winner Katie Carguilo as she was walking in on the very first day of NERBC, the calm before the storm.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

And finally, the ever-humble, still shell-shocked Katie Carguilo gave us a moment of her time after winning the 2012 Northeast Regional Barista Competition. She thanked the entire Counter Culture team for their ongoing support throughout her months of training.

Congratulations to all of the competitors this year!

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Rosettas for Relief, a non-profit donation drive spanning 10 cities across America, landed in Seattle over the weekend to raise money for relief organizations operating in Haiti. The events saw generous donations of cash, goods, time and care from the following local companies: Stumptown, Kuma Coffee, Espresso Parts, Neptune, Sunshine Dairy and Visions Espresso (who were kind enough to host the event in their Coffee Enhancement Lounge). In attendance were a smörgåsbord of Seattle coffee professionals, kindhearted onlookers and supporters, and the event’s organizer, one Sam Penix of Brooklyn, NY. Sam journeyed here from Everyman Espresso, located inside the Classical Stage  Company in Manhattan’s East Village, serving Counter Culture Coffee in a limited menu of 6 traditional offerings. One of Sam’s regulars founded REBATI, R4R’s primary recipient of relief contributions. Sam was kind enough to speak with us regarding Rosettas For Relief:

“The idea behind this project is…act locally but think globally. It could be fucking bigger. There are a lot of haters out there…but the coffee community is easily mobilized, and there are a lot of caring folks involved”. Sam’s efforts with R4R have raised truly stunning amounts of cash thus far, including well over $1000 at the Seattle event alone. Much of the cash raised came from individual shops and baristas, who engaged and reached out to customers for support. Sam made a point of shouting out Katie Carguilo and Meister of CCCNYC, Anne Nylander of Tamp Tamp, and Sarah Dooley of Visions Espresso as being in the forefront of organizing this year’s R4R events.

Oh, and there was latte art! Heavy on the tulips, perhaps, but no shortage of love. All hosted by MC Daniel Humprhies (best known for his appearance on The Today Show and the Digital Underground’s hit from the summer of 1990, “The Humphries Dance”). Here’s a list of the charitable competitors and their affable affiliates:

Shawn Hardison and Mark Pfaff – Victrola Coffee Roasters

Lauren Aielo – Stumptown

Pierce Young – Slayer

Sam Lewontin – Equal Exchange Co-Op

Sarah Dooley, Thomas Pikart – Visions Espresso

Andrew Milstead, Darren Mcardel, Jody Robbins – Urban Coffee Lounge

Katie Hartline - Trabant/Fonte

Melissa Harris - Fonte

The results: Sam Lewontin earned the bronze, dazzling the room with a Machiavellian display of macchiato machismo. Ms. Katie Hartline garnered a second place silver medal, stunning the room by submitting her first pour to the judges. The winner was the ubiquitously victorious Andrew Milstead. Congratulations to all the competitors, a huge thank you to all the sponsors, and a hearty huzzah to Sam (and fiancée Sasha) for traveling west and bringing their worthy cause to the city of Seattle.

What’s next, you might ask? Well…10 cities now across the USA. In the future: after five beers, Sprudge.com and Everyman Espresso have decided to partner to bring Rosettas For Relief into global game changing territory. Tokyo, London, Oslo, Dublin, Vancouver, and that’s just for starters. Expect big things in 2010. Think locally, act globally, and shush the haters with bold action.

Want to get involved? E-mail us at r4r@sprudge.com

Join Rosettas For Relief on Facebook

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