UK Barista Championship 2011

[CakeBoy]

Superb stuff Howard. Thanks so much. I too was looking for them online to no avail yesterday. Looks like at least four TMCers in there too

[lsjms]

Good stuff. The NW was pretty cool, I recommend a night on the tiles in Lancaster. I am pretty shocked at the amount of effort it takes to enter or host one of these events so massive kudos to all the grafters.

Plenty drama up there and some heroic performances from many. Well done to Dale, rock steady performance. There were a few upsets with mental heat on stage, one poor guy had his cups melt, and the girl from Crispy Creme smoothed over a clogged cream whipper with remarkable calm. Neil had a pretty big challenge to try and top his spot at this point last year with Bompcup's El Guabo. He would have been right up there but was disqualified from the sig drink section on a tech issue(wastage) so 7th is pretty good.

[CakeBoy]

It always amazes me how well people do under the intense pressure and I have massive respect for anyone who takes part. Everyone always seems to do so well regardless of scoring, they all look good and are clearly great baristas. It's wonderful to see so many talented people on the UK scene.

Melting cups is very scary. It's always a shame when there is a mechanical hitch or a disqual for technical reasons.

[acousticcoffee]

just to come out from lurking throughout the year and make a comment!

been really cool to be competing again this year, especially for Hasbean and super excited going into the semis - actually feeling a little relaxed so something must be up!

best of luck to all of the semi-finalists - will be proud to stand up there next to the lot of you!!!!

Dale

[bruceb]

Congratulations and good luck to all of you who are making enormous efforts on behalf of great coffee everywhere!

[Beanie]

Ohhhhh I REALLY shouldn't read this thread... makes me start thinking of sig drinks and such

Interestingly, when I was experimenting with sig drinks in my 1st (and last) competition, I used nearly the same ingredients as Hayley's with the lemongrass & sparkling water...except instead of honey, I used agave. It's what I had in my kitchen...along with the stuff I ended up using

Congrats to the top 20! Hope I can catch the performances next week...although I start at my new workplace on the 16th...

[CakeBoy]

Good luck to everyone in the semi-finals tomorrow. If anyone has the running order, please post it. I sometimes wonder if the UKBC deliberately make info hard to find for stupid people like me

Best of luck to Beanie in her new venture as well

[Gouezeri]

Running order, taken from the SCAE UK site:
Demonstration 1
Callum Thomson
Practice time 8.50 – 9.15
Stage prep time 9.15
Start performance 9.30

Demonstration 2
Callum Thomson
Practice time 8.50 – 9.15
Stage prep time 9.45
Start performance 9.50

No 1
Selina Smith
Practice time 9.15 – 9.45
Stage prep time 10.00
Start performance 10.15

No 2
John Gordon
Practice time 9.40 – 10.10
Stage prep time 10.25
Start performance 10.40

No 3
Matthew Roberts
Practice time 9.55 – 10.25
Stage prep time 10.40
Start performance 10.55

No 4
Mike Blair
Practice time 10.20 – 10.50
Stage prep time 11.05
Start performance 11.20

No 5
Luke Byrne-Perkins
Practice time 10.35 – 11.05
Stage prep time 11.20
Start performance 11.35

No 6
Caspar Steel
Practice time 11.00 – 11.30
Stage prep time 11.45
Start performance 12.00

No 7
Maxwell Henry Colonna-Dashwood
Practice time 11.15 – 11.45
Stage prep time 12.00
Start performance 12.15

No 8
Hayley Draper
Practice time 11.40 -12.10
Stage prep time 12.25
Start performance 12.40

No 9
Richard Dixon-Teasdale
Practice time 11.55 – 12.25
Stage prep time 12.40
Start performance 12.55

No 10
Samantha Faulkner
Practice time 12.20 – 12.50
Stage prep time 1.05
Start performance 1.20

No 11
Will Corby
Practice time 12.35 – 1.05
Stage prep time 1.20
Start performance 1.35

No 12
Dale Harris
Practice time 1.00 – 1.30
Stage prep time 1.45
Start performance 2.00

No 13
Howard Barwick
Practice time 1.15 – 1.45
Stage prep time 2.00
Start performance 2.15

No 14
Alice Cook
Practice time 1.40 – 2.10
Stage prep time 2.25
Start performance 2.40

No 15
Megan Barker
Practice time 1.55 – 2.25
Stage prep time 2.40
Start performance 2.55

No 16
Neil LeBihan
Practice time 2.20 – 2.50
Stage prep time 3.05
Start performance 3.20

No 17
Andrew Carter
Practice time 2.35 – 3.05
Stage prep time 3.20
Start performance 3.35

No 18
Jonathan Sharp
Practice time 3.00 – 3.30
Stage prep time 3.45
Start performance 4.00

No 19
Edmund Buston
Practice time 3.15 -3.45
Stage prep time 4.00
Start performance 4.15

No 20
Gordon Howell
Practice time 3.40 – 4.10
Stage prep time 4.25
Start performance 4.40
Finish 4.55

I shall be randomly about, probably hiding at the back.

[Gouezeri]

Currently running approx 1hour late.
Sadly no stream today, due to "technical difficulties"

[Gouezeri]

Finalists: Hayley, Neil, Dale, Maxwell, Alice, John!

[Gouezeri]

And the winners are:
6th Alice Cook
5th Hayley Draper
4th Maxwell Colonna
3rd Dale Harris
2nd Neil LeBihan (joint best Sig, best cappuccino)
1st John Gordon (joint best Sig, best espresso)

[Beanie]

Congratulations again to the defending champion and the finalists

[CakeBoy]

Congrats to all, especially to John and his team

[Glenn]

For those who couldn't make it, here's a selection of photo's from the finals
http://www.flickr.com/photos/getnoticed ... 156936179/

[Chris]

Hi guys, does anyone know where we can we see videos of the the finals?

Cheers