I just found that there was a Latte and Espresso drink competition recently in Dallas. A local lady, Teresa Gubbins, was chosen to help judge the cups of dark joy. She wrote a nice post about her adventure. After reading the fun she had, I researched and found there was another major global competition for Baristas. I need to see if next year’s competition will be a possible vacation spot.

For the local event: Sherri and Danny Johns of Portland-based (my old stomping grounds) WholeCup Coffee conduct barista competitions at trade shows around the world. On Sunday, June 28th, they hosted the Ultimate Barista Challenge competition at the Southwest Foodservice Expo, a three-day trade show for the restaurant biz at the Dallas Convention Center which continued through Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday’s competition drew six baristas from Texas and beyond who prepared three espresso-based drinks: 1. macchiato, 2. latte, and 3. specialty drink creation. Danny emceed and Sherri supervised the judging, with a panel that included coffee experts Heather and Jay Kurima, and the author. Catch her whole adventure here…

For the big global competition, you can go to World Barista Championship who just finished their 2009 event in Atlanta. 52 Baristas competed for the award, with Gwilym Davies from the United Kingdom. I’m not sure if that plays into next year’s event, but it will be in the United Kingdom.