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Hood River, Oregon, is one of the reasons people come to our lovely state. Just a little over an hour outside of Portland, this dramatically beautiful spot is one of the top places to windsurf, wine taste and fruit munch — the apples, cherries and pears coming out of this valley are some of the best in Oregon. And look how pretty it is!

One other thing Hood River is known for is COFFEE. Dog River Coffee Co., serving Stumptown, specifically. Chrissy, Nate and Lennis started the company three years ago and it’s a solid hit in the little town. One of the things customers like about it most is the fact that the owners are committed to educating their customers, and the more fun the means to do it, the better.

Which leads me to the point of this post. Dog River will be hosting a jam slash slideshow slash cupping slash latte art comp next Thursday, May 22, in the evening. Chrissy (who continues her work with Dog River but is located in Portland now where she works for Stumptown in wholesale sales) and I will be driving up from Portland, getting our coffee on at the event, and crashing for the night. It should be a BLAST, and everyone is invited! Here’s Chrissy inviting you:

Dog River Coffee is located at 411 Oak Street in Hood River — that’s the main drag. It’s totally worth the beautiful drive, and will be worth the price of gas for the yummy coffees you’ll taste and all the crap you’ll learn, too. See you there!

Ever wonder what the official food of women is? Turns out it’s yogurt!

Now I find this very funny since I eat yogurt quite a bit and Sarah hates it. But as the video makes clear that’s all because we’re misunderstand the marketers’ message. Sorry about that, marketers!

http://current.com/items/88941392_target_women_yogurt_edition

Chris Baca and Drew Cattlin of RitRo rolled into Portland the other day (on their way back from Minneapolis, part 2 of their epic USBC road trip) and I got together with them and some other friends — Clara from BTR, Kevin and Billy, and Brent — for some cold ones at the Crow Bar yesterday. And because we’re total nerds and unable to separate ourselves from the intensity of last weekend’s USBC, we did a lot of talking about it. And here’s what we came up with: Kyle Glanville is super.

Now, that’s not news to anyone, I don’t think. He’s humble and smart and funny and dedicated. I am so very proud to have him as the 2008 U.S. Barista Champion. I know there was a lot of snippiness on the Conference blog about who people liked and who they didn’t and judging people by their company, but regardless of how you feel about Intelligentsia, there’s no getting around the fact that Kyle Glanville is one hell of a guy and a frickin spectacular competitor. I first met Kyle when he and and Daniel Humphries worked at Victrola in Seattle. He’s the same guy then as he was now. And the best part is, he’s the same guy he’ll be when he hits the stage in Copenhagen next month. Wait — did that sentence make sense? You get my point. Take a trip down memory lane by watching Phil Busse’s cool 10-minute doc Barista! — 2:10 minutes in is the Kyle we know and love.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=0KQ4F1ClxAY]

First of all, congratulations to all of the 59 competitors at this year’s United States Barista Championship. It sounds like a cliché, and it is, but it really was the best one ever. The baristas who were on-stage at this year’s event were outstanding, and the volunteers off-stage were amazing. Making it through all of these competitors over the course of four days without falling woefully  behind schedule, and in fact, often being ahead of schedule only demonstrates how spot on the work from everyone from the judges, to the competitors, to the volunteers was. And of course no shout out would be complete without a special notice of the always fabulous Michelle Campbell. Great job all around!

Moving on, to today’s six finalists. What can one say other than the level of competition was tough and professional, and without tasting anything, from the audience perspective, it’s impossible to tell who will win. Everyone looked flawless in their presentation. Exceptional in their skill, and knowledgeable about their coffee.

Great job all.

Heather Perry, far left, finished in third place. Pete Licata, second from left, took second place. Nick Griffith, third from left, scored fifth place. Drew Cattlin, far right, was sixth place. Chris Baca, second from right, claimed fourth place.

And the United States Barista Champion for 2008, from Intelligentsia Coffee in Los Angeles, California… Kyle Glanville!

Twenty-five more competitors stepped up the stage again today for the second half of the first round of competition. It’s the first time in four years that the field of competitors has been completely filled. There are a total of 59 competitors here. The 50 that have competed over the last two days, and the nine regional winners who will not start competing until tomorrow when the semi-finals start.

I’m writing this now as Sarah is at the convention center announcing the baristas who will join the regional winners in the semi-final round. You can find out who made the cut by visiting the ongoing coverage of the SCAA by the SCAA blogger team. Just click here.

In the meantime, here are some photos of a few of the competitors from the second day of the first round.

See you at the semi-finals tomorrow!

Our friends at Espresso Parts made two-time USBC champ Heather Perry a very special present.

She’s competing tomorrow, but you can stop by the Barista Guild of America booth anytime to see her cool new tamper and learn about all the benefits of membership. And yes, if you win the USBC twice, I’m sure Espresso Parts will make you a custom tamper too.

Yes, that’s World Barista Champion, James Hoffmann, onstage, and no it’s not just because he’s missed being in the limelight. Apparently he’s here in Minneapolis to actually do a little work. James, along with the folks from zacharyzachary, and pals like Erin Meister, Nick Cho and others are taking pictures, making movies, streaming video and more throughout the conference and competition. You can check out all of their latest reports by heading over to the SCAA website or just clicking here.

Today was Day 1 of the United States Barista Championship. Twenty-five competitors from across the country were on stage here in Minneapolis at the USBC for the first day of competition.

Though I didn’t have a chance to watch all 25 competitors, someone had to set up the Barista Magazine booth (#2333 if you’re around the show), the magazine’s amazing editor, Sarah Allen, saw each and every performance as she was the emcee for the day. Here she is with Brett Walker from Zoka Coffee in Seattle.

Sarah says the competition is one the toughest she’s ever seen, and judging from the routines I was lucky enough to see, I’d say she’s right. Again.

Below I’ve posted some pics from the competitors I saw today. We’ll have more as the USBC moves through the first round, to the semi-finals, to the finals.

Justin Tiesl from Alterra Coffee in Milwaukee pours his capps.

One of Intelligentsia’s Los Angeles team members, Kyle Glanville, had a strong performance.

Peter Middlecamp had a short trip to the competition as he lives just across the Mississippi River in St. Paul.

Jeremy Sterner came from Annapolis, Maryland to compete at the USBC.

Lance Nichols from Gimme! Coffee in Ithaca, New York works on his sig drink.

Courtney Robinson (above) and Les Stoneham (below) both competed for La Terza Coffee in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The La Marzocco competition machines, as you may have noticed from the photos, are red hot (or is it hot red?) either way, the matched the sweater sported by Katie Duris from murky coffee.

Scott Lucey, Barista Magazine’s famous bathtub cover model was another Alterra rep in today’s round.

Chris Deferio, who spends many a morning at the various Coffee Fests judging latte art with Sarah, preps for his competition time.

Great work by all of the competitors, and to those who I didn’t get a chance to see and therefore shoot, I apologize, and I promise make it to the finals, and you’ll see my camera so much you’ll probably want to pull a Sean Penn on it.

Ken, Leah and I have a million things to take care of before we take off for the SCAA show in Minneapolis this week including but not limited to: packing, sign making, appointment confirming, hair cutting, dry cleaning, and DVR programming. So why am I reading Garfield Minus Garfield? Because it’s so damn funny I can’t freakin help myself that’s why.

If you haven’t heard of it, this is the shizz:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

So please join me in procrastination at Garfield Minus Garfield. And see you in Minneapolis.

Man, I sure wish we could add audio to this thing. I urge you to sing along to the classic Europe song as you read…

I’m sooo stoked about the SCAA and USBC next week! A week from today, Ken and I will leave Portland and head for Minneapolis where we will spend six days with you guys, our friends and readers. I just talked to Michelle Campbell of the SCAA this morning, and she says we are now packed with USBC competitors: there are 59 of you set to take the stage and compete for the title of 2008 United States Barista Champion! There haven’t been this many competitors registered since the USBC in Atlanta in 2004! That was the year that Ms. Bronwen Serna won… here’s a picture Mr. Godshot snapped before she knew she was the winner…

OK, back from memory lane now. There are so many amazing baristas set to compete at next week’s United States Barista Championship. Want to know who they are? You got it.

Charles Babinski, Intelliegentsia, Chicago

Chris Baca (WESTERN REGIONAL CHAMP), Ritual, San Francisco

Jordan Barber, Wandering Goat, Eugene

Belle Battista (MIDATLANTIC REGIONAL CHAMP), Aldo Coffee Co, Pittsburgh

Chris J. Berola, Latteland, Kansas City

Lem Butler (SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CHAMP), Counter Culture, Durham

Jason Calhoon (SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMP), No company, Tucson

John Casamassa, Aldo Coffee Co., Pittsburgh

Drew Cattlin, Ritual, San Francisco

Caitlin Corcoran, LatteLand, Kansas City

Trevor Corlett, Moon Monkey, Bourbonnais (that’s in Illinois)

Chris Deferio, Carriage House Cafe, Ithaca

Peter Droste, Hotel Delmano, Brooklyn

Katie Duris, murky, Arlington

Nolan Dutton, Conscious Coffee, Boulder

Lindsey Elliott, Zoka, Seattle

Chris Ganger, Ithaca Coffee Co., Ithaca

Kyle Glanville, Intelligentsia, L.A.

Danielle Glasky, Octane, Atlanta

Nick Griffith, Intelligentsia, L.A.

Ben Helfen, Octane, Atlanta

Ariel Johnson, Coffee Hound, Bloomington

Orme Kellett, Lava Java, Ridgefield (Washington)

Ryan Knapp, Moon Monkey, Bourbonnais (Illinois)

Natasha Lebedev, Zoka, Seattle

Greg Lefcourt, Ozo Coffee, Boulder

Pete Licata (MIDWEST REGIONAL CHAMP), PT’s, Overland Park

Lita Lopez, Groundwork, L.A.

Scott Lucey, Alterra, Milwaukee

Mike Marquard, Kaldi’s, St Louis

Ashlind McAshan, No affiliation, Gainesville

Alex McCracken, Kaldi’s, St. Louis

Peter Middlecamp, Black Sheep, South Saint Paul

Andrew Milstead, Kopplin’s, St. Paul

Clint Newlan, the Roasterie, Kansas City

Lance Nichols, Gimme!, Ithaca

Adam Palmer, Paradise, Ramsey (Minnesota)

Devin Pedde, Intelligentsia, L.A.

Samantha Penix, Gorilla, Brooklyn

Heather Perry, Coffee Klatch, San Dimas

Mike Phillips (GREAT LAKES REGIONAL CHAMP), Intelligentsia, Chicago

Patrick Adam Pierce (SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMP), Caffe Medici, Austin

Clancy Rose, Cuvee Coffee, Spring (Texas)

J. David Sapp, Chaos Roasters, Charleston

Amber Sather (NORTHEAST REGIONAL CHAMP), Intelligentsia, Brooklyn

Sonja Schutte, Aldo Coffee Co., Pittsburgh

Dave Schwalbach, Alterra, Milwaukeee

Robin Seitz, PT’s, Topeka

Bronwen Serna, Hines, Seattle

Jeremy Sterner, No affiliation, Annapolis

Tayla Strader, Intelligentsia, Chicago

Alexandra Switzer, Intelligentsia, Chicago

Justin Tiesl, Alterra, Milwaukee

Phuong Tran, Lava Java, Ridgefield (Washington)

Brett Walker, Zoka, Seattle

Ryan Willbur, Intelligentsia, L.A.

Billy Wilson (NORTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMP), The Albina Press, Portland

I know I’m missing a couple, but this is the list as of Monday. Be sure to pick up a copy of the official United States Barista Championship event program, published by Barista Mag, at the USBC stage in Minneapolis for deets on all the regional winners, background on the competition, sponsor recognition, competitors, schedule, and more!