I surprise myself for not adding to this thread earlier though I thought it was a locked thread or maybe something along those lines where if I posted a comment Cakey might send the boys round.
To be honest I don't keep up and am hardly interested in barista competitions, here is the story.
I'm in Bath with my partner and i'm dutifully following her around as she admires hundreds of pounds worth of shoes, bags, clothes and stuff we already have together with trying to get me into bun-shops.
As it happens she took me to Max's coffee shop because she's aware i'm wary of people who sell coffee. She said I would be impressed.
I was impressed, firstly because whoever it was that served me wasn't fazed by me not wanting an espresso and was happy to recommend a coffee on the basis I liked my coffee flat with half-and-half but I don't like my coffee insipid.
I've had a decent cup of coffee in coffee shops before, it was always a surprise and I always had to explain why and how I like my coffee, Max's shop is special, he showed me an African coffee I might like black, I don't like black coffee but there was something about the air of qualified-confidence that made me accept the African coffee.
I drank it black, first black coffee for years and a nice experience though not my style.
Thanks Maxwell, or whoever it was. ten-out-of-ten.
Hot-air-gun roasting.
French press.
Aeropress. Swiss Gold Modified.
Bialetti Venus.
MahlKonig Vario.