Richard Wolak interviews, Barrett Jones, 1st Place winner in the 2009 Canadian Cuppers Championship
How are you involved with 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters?
I help set up accounts, so that they meet our standards, I do a fair amount of cupping, as well take care of almost everything with a plugin that doesn’t make coffee.
Tell our readers what was involved in your training for the Canadian Coffee Cupping Championship in 2009.
I was informed a couple of days prior that I was entered. Aside from my regular cupping, there wasn’t any practice – although I did have about 4 espressos before the competition.
What is involved in a Cup Tasting Championship?
They set up sets of 3 cups, 2 are the same, one is different. You have 8 sets of those. The most correct wins. If there is a tie, then the fastest time wins.
How many coffees did you taste in the championship? and how were you scored?
I tasted 8, got 7/8. I finished in 4:05 – which was 22 seconds faster than the other guy with 7/8.
What did you do before becoming a Cupper?
I’ve been a barista/manager/trainer for several years, also done some restaurant work. When you get into fine dining, every day becomes a wine tasting.
Have you ever been to Origin? And if so, which country/farm did you travel too?
I have not – yet. Our roasters/full-time cuppers are higher on the list than I am. I usually end up at the conventions.
Do you have any mentors in the coffee industry, and if so who and why?
I suppose my boss, Vince Piccolo. When I started work at Caffe Artigiano, I thought that was the place to be. I could make a good espresso – but working there made me capable of making 800-1000 good espressos – per day. I always thought of those cafes as were restaurants meet coffee – they were set up to run like restaurants, and were pretty efficient. I was a manager at 22 – and had a staff of 24 (one location). Needing 12-13 staff on the floor at one time is awesome… and when the LaMarzocco guys tell you that they’ve only seen one café busier – underneath the Vatican – that floored me.
What is your own personal favorite coffee? and why?
Usually it’s whatever is in my cup right now. But, given a choice, I’ll probably defer to an Ethiopian Yergacheffe or Sidamo.
What interests do you have outside of the coffee business?
I still go to university, I play guitar, I dive usually one day a week, and climb whenever I can. I enjoy cycling and cool technology. I’m a voracious reader, love shooting pictures, and I don’t think there’s much time for anything else.
POSTED: Saturday, June 20, 2009