certified = awareness

It's official. I'm Octane certified.

Along with JT and Ben, I took the final portion of the Octane certification Thursday night. It was a mock competition, and although the OC (you like that, don't you) only requires two servings of each beverage category, Ben and I ran through it under standard SCAA rules and regulations. We all passed without any doubt, becoming the first Octane certified baristas. January 1st marks the deadline for certification, and from that point on drinks will only be made by certified baristas. Along with this privilege and set of standards, Bossman Tony will reward his certified baristas with a tamper of their choice and a membership to the Barista Guild of America. -Yes!-

The final part of certification also allowed me to get a secure idea on how my training for the SERBC has evolved. I feel significantly more confident in the skills I've picked up. As someone that has never competed before, I feel that I have a firm grasp on what is expected of me and how I will perform. Much thanks to Chris and M'lissa for this. And yes, as being a part of Team Counter Culture and Team Octane I have a tremendous amount of support from every angle.



Octane is support the team by branding us (Ben and I). With the help of Stefan of Armchair Media (a friend of all of ours) and King Screen, Tony secretly made Team Ben and Team Danielle tshirts and stickers. I laughed too hard when I saw these, and it's a hoot to see the entire staff wearing them right now. They're on sale at the shop which is heightening an awareness of the barista competition itself. Customers are inquiring about what a barista competition entails, and even just guessing what it could be:

"So they just call out drinks and you make as many as you can in 15 minutes?"

Explaining that the competition centers around quality and professionalism is possibly hinting to our customers that we don't just slop bevs into mugs and stencil a leaf or heart on the top. Suddenly the customer understands that we've trained for months for the competition and studied/practiced our tails off for the certification. Who knew we cared so much?

"Oh, so it's like the Iron Chef of coffee!"

Sure. If the analogy brings you that much closer to understanding, then bring it on.

one third of a better person

M'lissa was intimidating and intense, I was sweaty and shaky, it was all of the suspenseful attributes of any Barista certification. But I emerged victorious and kicked certification's ass! Well, at least the first third.

The Coffee Boss hovered over me with her clipboard as I set the grind from random to perfect in three pulls, consistently dosed between eighteen and nineteen grams of espresso (with 1.2 grams of waste to spare!), and displayed my (still growing) abilities to throw down a heart in a macchiato, and a rosetta in a cappuccino and a latte. Next up: written exam (please, no scantrons), and a mock competition.


I can only hope I have started the trend at Octane to get certification under way. I want at least half of the staff to have the first part of BC finished before I return from my travels. It's great to see everyone getting excited about coffee, especially after our first Octane cupping yesterday evening. Granted, it was a "dress rehearsal," but M'lissa did a fantastic job at hosting her first cupping. Next Monday starts public cuppings at the shop, 7PM sharp. We're not only sipping on some delicious Counter Culture coffees, but other foods, drinks, and smelly and tasty items to work on that palate and sensory vocabulary we all have deep within our souls.