Intelligentsia Coffee, Venice Beach
I have long been a fan of Intelligentsia Coffee. In my first barista competition (the ’03 MWRBC), there were two “out of region” competitors from Chicago. An out of region competitor is allowed to complete their entire routine and receive real scoring before a live panel of judges, but they may not advance in the competition. Effectively, they are “one and done,” regardless of how they do. This also allows competitors to see how they stack up against other competitors from around the country. This can be helpful if a barista makes it on to the USBC to know how they stack up against the rest of the field. At any rate, the dynamic duo of Ellie Hudson-Matuszak and Amber Sather showed up for their exhibition run and I have to say, we were all immediately glad that they were not competing against us for real. Being polite, I will say that even back then, we would have gotten SCHOOLED! There’s just no other way to say it.
That was 2003 and Intelligentsia hasn’t slowed down since. They continue to push the quality envelope and from what I can tell, every member of their staff from top to bottom is somewhat of a proficient barista. The best proof of this is some of the past Intelligentsia USBC champions Matt Riddle (2006 USBC Champion) is their Director of IT. Current USBC Champion Mike Phillips started out packing coffee bags in their warehouse, although I believe he is now their Retail Director of Coffee. They are quality through and through and it shows.
Anyway, I have been storyboarding some training videos of my own, and while these are kind of plain and general in terms of content, they are still awesome! Very methodically explained, the first one goes over how to use a Vacuum Pot / Syphon Brewer and the second one goes over espresso brewing basics on their SWEET custom La Marzocco espresso machine. I will say that I was a little surprised to see the water for the Syphon pot actually boil, but I know that Chris Owens more than knows what he is doing so I’ll trust his judgment on the matter. I love the color contrast with the coffee, their video productions guys did a great job! I highly recommend viewing these full screen instead of just in your browser as they were shot in HD. Take a look and let me know what you think.
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