The City of Roses

This last week, I had the incredible opportunity to go on my first business trip and cross one more US city off my travel bucket list: Portland.

Although I traveled primarily to attend the annual conference for International Foodservice Editor Council (IFEC), I made every effort to snag a local cup of coffee any chance that I could. And since the conference was for food editors and publicists, much of Portland's unique food culture was incorporated into the event.

Being my first time attending IFEC, I did not know exactly what to expect. It is such a unique conference because networking and food are the central focus. 

Publicists filled the hallways, pacing back and forth with black binders in tow waiting for their one-on-one meetings with editors. These 10-minute sessions provide a platform for editors to discuss upcoming stories and publicists to pitch ideas on behalf of clients. It was such a great opportunity to put faces with editor names, and I made some great contacts for work!

Photo by @Arosendahl777

In addition to great networking opportunities, all of the educational seminars revolved around food, especially showcasing the unique food culture of Oregon. In fact, one of deep's clients, Kerry Beverage, sponsored a couple of specialty coffee break stations. I loved having the chance to put my coffee passion and heritage to work in my PR career!

Not counting the amazing food tours on our last day, my favorite educational session was a honey tasting sponsored by the National Honey Board. They brought in honey expert Marie Simmons, author of the book Taste of Honey, to lead us through some different varietals of honey.

Each honey had a distinct flavor profile based on the region and type of plant that the bees gathered pollen from--similar to specialty coffee and bean-to-bar chocolate. I do love my artisan foods!

Overall, my PDX adventure was packed full of valuable work experience, meeting new people, learning about the science behind many artisan foods and tasting fabulous things all along the way. I have many coffee shop reviews coming along with some other foodie highlights from the City of Roses.

Stay tuned!
-Coffeegirl

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Coffee News: Northwest Regional Barista Competition

Apologies for the absence this week. Southwest Missouri has experience a "Snowpocalypse" this week. If you want to see some of my adventures throughout my three days, go here, here, and here.

In Coffee News, last weekend was the Northwest Regional Barista Competition. The Barista competition is the most prestigious competition for Baristas all over the world. It involves making four espressos, cappuccinos, and signature drinks in 15 minutes. There are four tasting judges as well as judges in your face taking notes on waste, tamping techniques, and consistency.

Oh, and you have to talk charismatically and intelligently with the judges about your coffee you are using. No pressure.

With Regional competitions underway, everyone is watching and wondering who will make it to the US Barista Competition (USBC). The Northwest Barista Regional Competition is important because it includes the coffee-driven cities of Seattle and Portland. So the competition is INTENSE!

Robbie Britt at Competition 201. Kudos to Here

The Winners of the Northwest Regional Barista Competition Are:
3rd place: Laila Ghambari (Stumptown)
2nd place: Ryan Wilbur (Stumptown)
1st place: Samuel Purvis (Coava)

And the other finalists were:
Sarah Dooley from Espresso Parts (Olympia).
Robbie Britt from Espresso Parts (Olympia).
Tyler Stevens of Barista (Portland).

Image from last year on Espresso Parts

Robbie Britt (one of the finalists) used to live in Cape Girardeau, MO, and work for my mom's Grace Cafe. He was the first person in the whole world to train me on an espresso machine four or five years ago. I am so stoked he made it into the finals. Now, he works for Espresso Parts in Olympia, WA.

This is a classic "Robbie" look. Photo from Facebook.

He was also my youth minister growing up. So my first coffee mentor and my spiritual mentor made top 6 Baristas in the Northwest Barista Competition! Whohoo!

Kudos here

Also, worth noting, my former co-worker Jon Freihofer competed in the Northwest. He helped me with a lot of my training at The Coffee Ethic. I will keep you posted on how the rest of the competition pans out!

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