Hey guys and gals, this Saturday at the George R. Brown convention center, we’ll be throwing down for charity! Tickets are $15, and all proceeds benefit the Houston Furniture Bank. We’ll also have a booth where we will be giving away home brewing equipment like Hario hand mills and Chemex pour overs, and bags of C.O.E. coffee. Come take part in the “Le Nez du Cafe Smell challenge” and the “Random Coffee Trivia challenge”. David Buehrer will be giving a coffee class starting at 10am. Throwdown starts at noon. Come check it out, have a great time, and help raise some funds for a great cause!

Got a wordpress app on my phone, gunna keep up with the blogging a bit better now. I promise! Look forward to home brewing equipment on the store page, as well as a blog on my trip to NYC, and the UBC showdown!

Check it, KHOU Channel 11 interviewed me cause Catalina Coffee rocks your socks off! Here is the video they posted on you tube.

Yes, its true. They wrote an article in the Houston Chronicle about “The Art of Coffee”, and I’m in it. Star section, Oct. 25, 2009. A little weird, huh? Really great article, besides. It talked a little about some of my barista competitions, and a lot about the Houston Coffee scene. Tara Dooley, if you read this, thank you very much! You did a terrific job. For those of you new to the site, thanks for coming. Make yourselves comfortable, and grab a cup of coffee. I’ll try to keep the site filled with the goings-on in the Houston coffee scene, and fun facts about brewing, my farmers and the like. While you’re at it, check me out on twitter @fusionbeans.

For those of you that haven’t read the article, here’s the link for the Houston Chronicle online article.

Check it out people! This is the Houston event you don’t want to miss! Baristas from far and wide are coming to sling some ’spro and donate some dough to a good cause. Suggested donation is $10. Prizes, givaways, costume contest and more. Non-profit Coffee Kids will receive all cash donated. Coffee Kids helps coffee producing families and children with things like education and health care. For more info on coffee kids, go to www.coffeekids.org.

So ya’ll all know about what happened in Dallas at the UBC. This was the next step. Because of my good performance in Dallas, I was invited to compete in the Ultimate Barista Showdown in Orlando, FL. The gentlemen they pitted me against we’re not only good friends, but fantastic baristas: Mike Love from Coffee Labs Roasters in Terrytown, NY, and Clancy Rose from Cuvee Coffee Roasting Co, in Spicewood, TX.  All the categories were the same as last time. They were espresso cocktail, espresso frappe, best of brew, and latte art, and of course best overall points. So guess who came away with three medals again. =) Yup, yours truly walked away with medallions for best of brew, espresso frappe, and best overall points. Really, really a lot of fun, and my first competition that I got to travel for. Besides the competition itself, I got to room with Mike and Clancy, and it was awesome to pick the brains of some really awesome baristas, and experienced roasters for that matter. Hope to get to see more of those guys.

So, lets see, competitions on the calendar: H-town Throwdown on Oct 31, 2009, at Coffee Groundz in Houston, SCRBC in Austin in January 2010, UBC in Houston at the next Texas Restaurant Association Convention, and then, well,…….all thats left is Shanghai, China in November 2010 for the UBC. Busy, busy. Looking forward to it all.

Calling all baristas, latte artists, and coffee aficionados! Tomorrow night, Saturday, August 22, 2009, IT IS GOIN’ DOWN IN H-TOWN!!! Fioza cafe in Meyerland, 9002 Chimney Rock. If you wanna see some awesome latte art and taste some great espresso, and probably some good beer, be there! Will post results Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Fusion Beans followers! Just to let ya’ll know, I will be in the Dominican Republic for ten days, from July 31-August 9. Catch back up with you people after that. Yes, I will be posting pics and fill ya’ll in on the trip.

So it was, once again, a productive weekend. Dan Streetman led us all in a discussion about what it is to be a barista, and short of breaking out the guitar and singing “koom-bay-yah”, I couldn’t have walked away feeling much better about my job. ( Barista first, coffee roaster second) Alot of good points were tossed out, but at the end of the discussion, the resounding melody was this: a barista’s primary objective is to present what he/she has been given (coffee) in a way that honors the work that has been done before them, and, to provide the customer with an excellent coffee experience overall. Pretty good job description I think. After the pep-talk, the gloves where off. The throwdown commenced and the top three were as follows:

In the seven ounce tulip throwdown….In third place….
Johnathan Meadows of Alliance World Coffee/White Rock Coffee!!!!

In second place,……Dan Streetman of Cuvee Coffee!!!!

And in first place, and the winner of $150 cash……Sean Marshall of Fusion Beans!!!

Oh yeah, I took it, and no you can’t borrow any money. =) For more on the Saturday Night Smackdown, check out http://saturdaynightsmackdown.blogspot.com/

K, so, I know this is kinda a late post, but I’ll put it up anyway. This Saturday, at Cafe Medici Guadelupe, the jammiest jam you ever did see is goin’ down!  Here are the details per Lorenzo Perkins:

” Just putting the word out on the street, officially, that the next Smackdown is on for July 25 at 6:00 pm at Medici Guadalupe.

Dan Streetman, United States Barista Championship Head Judge and Barista Guild of America South Central Regional Chapter Representative, will be facilitating a discussion on what it means to be a barista, what the role of a barista is and should be, as well as the place of the barista within the larger coffee community. The talk could be titled, “Barista, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 4 M’s”. I can’t promise revolution, but I can promise some awesomeness.

As usual, they educational portion will be followed by a Latte Art Throwdown, in the usaully style . . . with milk and espresso. The theme for this months pour will be seven ounce TULIPS! The point of these theme pours are to challenge baristas to perfect and extend their repetoire, furthering the craft and artisanship fo the barista. So, time to start practising those tulips. See y’all on the 25th.

Rock.”

Not these tulips......

THESE tulips!

I’ll post results and pictures after the smackdown! Hope to see ya’ll there!