SCRBC - South Central Regional Barista Competition

Man that is a mouth full! Last year our regional was held during the Texas Restaurant Association's (TRA) big show. However this year we couldn't tag along with this event. So we are looking at a stand alone SCRBC. Right now we are looking for a space in Austin to host the event. Hopefully by the end of next week we will have this locked in. That is the goal. There are a lot of people working on this to get it going.

Mike from Cuvee, did a fantastic job last year for our first ever competition. Douglas from Waterfall Gourmet Beverages, Mike and Dan from Cuvee, and Aaron for AHH coffee in Dallas are a few of the people working to make this happen. We need sponsorship, media coverage and a space for the event. So if you want to be apart of this years event please email Michael.

For all competitors. There will be more info in the coming weeks. I haven't checked the official SCRBC sight yet but I am sure that will be updated to. I think Cuvee will do some training session for anybody who is interested and I think we will do some mini-jams for any competitor who wants to come by and get some time on a machine. Just give Patrick an email.

We are excited about this years competition. We need to get the word out and the buzz started. Hopefully we will have the location by next week and we can start on the rest.

Michael

The Medici Crew

Here is a picture of the medici peeps before we opened our Medici Guadalupe location.

Skip Hunt - Photographer

Come meet Skip Hunt who is currently displaying his photographs in our shop. The Event is July 19 from 7-9 P.M. This is at our West Lynn location.

Guadalupe is open

I just wanted to share some pictures from the build out with everyone. Cameron has some video clips that I hope to post soon also. We are in our fourth week and business is picking up slowly. It should get pretty crazy when school starts.

Ultimate Barista Challenge

Ok, this is very late, but better late than never.

Lorenzo, who is in charge of our catering, competed in the UBC. He won the Frappe contest, second in best of brew, and second in the coffee cocktail. He did really awesome. The competition is very similar to Iron Chef.

I will put up more info on his drinks he prepared later.

Guadalupe location NOW OPEN

Hey everyone, we are now open for business. We purchased the Metro Espresso Bar from Doug Stott. Doug has been in business for 15 years at this location. He approached me last summer about taking over his spot. I thought he was joking at first, but he was truly serious. By December he was ready to sell and Alison and I couldn't believe it. We started dating at this coffee shop before we got married a year later. I use to spend countless hours at this place.

So we opened the doors June 9 and are rockin and rollin. It has been a fun space to design and open. It is pretty huge. So if you can't find a seat at our West Lynn location, here is another option. It is right across the street from the University of Texas - West Mall. It is in between CVS and the Church of Scientology. Doug helped us with the renovations and it really feels like a handing over of the torch so that a local coffee shop could continue to serve this area. Doug wanted to sell his business to a local and we are pleased that we got the opportunity to take over. So thanks Doug! And it is definitely a huge space. We will try to post some pictures soon.

Come check us out, we have two La Marzocco FB80s with Cameron Burr (GM), Patrick Pierce (Manager/Head Trainer), and Katie Hallett (Assit. Manager) running the place. Sean Henry is the new manger at the West Lynn location with Justin Daugherty as the Trainer. We are going to try to take it to the next level at both of these locations.

Thank you everyone for your support and help.

Michael and Alison

Patrick's performance Sunday at 12:50 pm

So Patrick is on tomorrow at 12:50 pm. It is pretty exciting. There are 25 competitors tomorrow for the semifinals. Tonight Patrick and I are going grocery shopping and rehearsing his performance. Although there are a lot of parties to go to, we are all business, something like that. Patrick had a practice time today and he went over his espressos and single caps. He is looking good and is facing some of the best baristas in the country tomorrow. I think he is going to do good. You can watch the competition on a live feed or you can go to www.scaa.wordpress.com and go to the live feed. They have had a little trouble with this over the last few days, but hopefully have the bugs worked out for tomorrow.

Friday at USBC

Hey everyone. It has been a fun time. I have gotten to see a lot of people from El Salvador that I met when I was down there in February. Patrick is doing great! He has a practice time tomorrow at 3:00 but doesn't compete until Sunday. You can watch the competition on a live stream at it works pretty good. We will announce Patrick's competition time on Saturday night when the schedules is posted. Patrick is sipping on Martinis and sitting by the pool without a worry in the world.

Clancy performed this morning at 9:00 am and did a great job. There is a good chance that he will move on to the semifinals.



There are 5 La Marzocco FB-80 Espresso Machines at the competition. We get two of them for our new location on Guadalupe. So we haven't said much about our new location but it is happening fast. These machines are beautiful.