BC Barista Wins Honours
Competitor says Europeans have a lot to teach us about coffee
Vancouver Sun
Vancouver’s coffee scene is growing to the point it may one day rival the sophistication of those in Europe and beyond, says barista John Lewis.
Arguably one of the city’s biggest coffee ambassadors, Lewis should know. The supervisor from the JJ Bean shop on Commercial Drive recently walked away the crown prince of North American coffee-dom after taking his talents all the way to Bean-town for a top-level fight for barista supremacy.
Lewis, 28, took second place at the U.S. Barista Competitions in Boston an April 26, beating out a field of 33 coffee-serving contenders.
The baristas, named after the Italian word for a bartender who makes espresso and other coffee drinks, served up four espressos, traditional cappuccinos and signature drinks to a panel of judges who marked them on technical aspects such as beverage temperature and preparation, creativity, style and taste.
In Boston, he also witnessed the globe’s best baristas get together far the world competitions.
“Some of these guys from the Scandinavian countries, and India, Italy, they’re so polished, their attention to detail is unbelievable. Baristas in North America have a lot of work to do to catch up with what’s going on in other parts of the world,” he said.
Lewis’ performance in the U.S.-only competition earned him the silver medal behind Californian Bronwen Serna of Hines Public Market Coffee.
The specialty drink that stole the show was Lewis’ own concoction. Dubbed the “Spice of Life,” the milk and water beverage contains ginger, sugar cane, orange peel, saffron, honey and spices including cardamom, cloves pepper and fennel.
JJ Bean is working on plans to make the locally-inspired, drink available to customers in Vancouver, Lewis said.
John Neate, owner of the three JJ Bean shops in the city, said it’s no surprise most of the contenders in Boston didn’t come from big coffee chains such as Starbucks or Seattle’s Best, but smaller, independent shops.
“Those places are so fully automated there’s no room for the added attention to detail and flair that individual servers can bring,” Neate said.
Lewis says he’s considering getting his Canadian citizenship so he’ll be eligible to compete in the first-ever official Canadian Barista Competition on June 21, which will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre during the Canadian Coffee and Tea Expo. The winner will represent Canada in the World Barista Competition in May 2004 in Trieste, Italy.