Pacific Northwest coffee enthusiasts, lend us your ears. The Barista Guild of America and Sprudge.com have teamed up with some most excellent sponsors to bring you the first ever PrepFest, two evenings of barista competition insight and intrigue in advance of the Northwest Regional Barista Competition. PrepFest will be hosted over two consecutive nights, starting Friday, January 4th in Seattle Washington at Visions Espresso Service (2737 First Avenue South). The event will feature a mock competition routine from seasoned competitor Sarah Dooley, of La Marzocco USA. She’ll be scored by a team of certified competition judges, who will make their expertise and insight available to all attendees. The event kicks off at 5pm and goes until 8pm. Join us!
The second evening of PrepFest happens in Portland, Oregon on the following evening, Saturday, January 5th at the American Barista and Coffee School (1028 SE Water Ave.) Your mock competition performer will be Laila Ghambari, of Caffe Ladro (she’s also the NW BGA chapter rep, and has pretty much masterminded these PrepFest events). PrepFest Portland kicks off at 5pm sharp.
Following each routine, judges will give their feedback to the competitor in front of a live audience. Audience members will have the chance to ask questions and receive rule clarification from our competitors and the expert panel of judges, including Marcus Young (of Central City Coffee), a sitting USBC Head Judge. Several other qualified judges have volunteered their time for PrepFest, and we just can’t thank them enough.
Also, we get to be the mock MC’s, which is like extremely exciting for us, so get ready as your Sprudge.com editors channel their inner Heather Perry – “Let’s hear it for Sarah’s second set of cappuccinos!”
NWRBC PrepFest is made possible by an awesome roster of sponsors:
Nuova Simonelli will have their competition-standard T3 Aurelia on hand at both events, plus staff from Nuova Simonelli North America will be there to answer questions and offer tips.
Mahlköenig are providing a competition-standard K-30 grinder for use at both events.
Sunshine Dairy are graciously donating their quality milk products for use during cappuccino time.
Visions and the ABC School are donating their space and time, so let’s hear it for our host sponsors!
Caffe Ladro is hooking both events up with coffee for use in the routines (and also for your drinking enjoyment).
These events are free and open to the public! We’ll see you on January 4th and 5th – learn more and RSVP on Facebook! Seattle event is listed here, and the Portland event is listed here.
