NERBC 2010 Competitor list is up

The competitor schedule is online for a quick browse. Notable on the list is our own roaster Jamie Lynn Waltz and first time competitor who is up Saturday. Come cheer her on in the afternoon. Chris and Ethan are both judging others so you can cheer them on also if you see them.

Ben Wilkinson shows up on the list repping Blue State Coffee and should be a solid contender to do well. All around great guy and BGA rep for obvious reasons. Noticed Danielle Glasky (formerly ATL) is showing up for Stumptown. I don`t remember Stumptown being big into competitions in the past but Danielle is cool and we wish her well. There are several familiar names from last years NERBC which is a good sign but even better is that there are a lot of first timers.

Of the main host sponsors, there is a lot of representation locally. We at barismo clock in with 4 competitors using our espresso (not including our dear roaster). Judson from Hi Rise, Markus from ERC by BU, Nathaniel and Alison from Simon`s (Check out Simon`s spiffy new Robur next time you are in there). Jamie, Jud, and Markus are first time competitors while Nathaniel and Alison had competed before for 1369. Both Alison and Nathaniel have put in a lot of work the last few weeks and I am pretty damn proud of how far they have come regardless of the final results. New Harvest clocks in with several representatives from Blue State Coffee, Seven Stars Bakery and others. GHCC brings their own Nikolas Krankl, with Jared Mancini and company from SIP also competing.

I am glad to see turnout from the NY crowd as well, but more important is that the list of local roasters and their accounts such as Flat Black and Equal Exchange is large. Competitions are a good focal point for our coffee community that can change the local dynamic a lot. It should be a huge competition and we hope everything runs smoothly and that everyone gains something from the competitions.

During the three days of competitions, there will also be a Hario brew bar serving cups of coffee using Lb-1 prototypes and the 4th machine serving espresso drinks to the attending public, competitors, volunteers, and even judges (if they could drink more coffee after judging). The service will be free and coffees from the main three sponsors as well as several other regional roasters will be offered up at different time slots during the weekend.

See you there-

NERBC 2010 Mass Ave Cafe Crawl: Sat Mar 20th

For the NERBC, we helped organize a cafe crawl with Peace River Coffee that will start at our shop with a v60/Syphon service and then move on to the following shops:

Diesel Cafe 257 Elm St. in Davis Sq. for Chemex Service

Simon's near Porter Sq. 1736 Mass Ave for v60 service or shots of Competitors Espresso

Hi-Rise on 56 Brattle St. Harvard Sq. for Syphon/Woodneck/Competitors espresso

*Cafe Crema on 27 Brattle St. Harvard Sq. for a special coffee service

*1369 Coffee House on Mass Ave in Central Sq. for a special coffee service

Toscanini's at 899 Main St. in Central Sq. for a special ice cream coffee service

ERC at 286 Newbury St. for Competitor's Espresso Service

NOTE: Cafes with a * are expected to participate but not enough information on actual service was available at time of publishing. I will update it as it becomes available.

Attendees will need to pick up a map at the Somerville Armory Fri or sat before participating in the cafe crawl.

There are other cafes in the area that will want to participate and there will be an expanded map posted closer to time of competition in an online form with mentions of other cafes outside of the Mass Ave Cafe Crawl.