What's Brewing?

Because we have three children who work for Starbucks, I was very interested in Zambia's 2014 Barista Championship. Eighteen contestants competed for first place this week at a local mall, Manda Hill. On Tuesday and Wednesday, nine displayed their coffee brewing skills each day. Of those 18, six were chosen as finalists for Thursday's competition.

I arrived just as the final contestant began her presentation. Fifteen minutes were allowed in order to explain the drinks she would be brewing, brew them, clean up, and add concluding remarks. The judge in the middle of the second picture is South African, but has lived in Zambia for 20 years. She explained to me that the judges are looking for how well the contestant tamps the coffee in the filter, taste, and how well she cleans the coffee apparatus. I'm sure they  
were looking for other things, but, as

you see, the judge was a bit busy.

While I was taking pictures (some thought I was a reporter--does a blog count?), I met a young man who had competed earlier in the week. He was knocked out in the competition because he went over the allotted time. He was handling his defeat rather well, I thought. He felt like he'd fueled the competition~after all, he'd won the championship three times. I'm sure he did give them a run for their money!

Something I'd like to try that this barista demonstrated is that of running a lemon wedge around the rim of the coffee cup, then dipping it in sugar. I have no idea what flavor coffee she was brewing, but thought  
that would be a nice touch. I'm sure
one of my children could tell me what
what flavor of coffee one could do that with.  

 
They're probably not the only prizes, but the first place, runner-up, and third place awards were these wooden (mukwa? teak?) canisters. Perhaps they won fifty kilos of sweetness from one of the many sponsors like Zambia 
Sugar.
 
Not sure where the emotion came from, but when talking with one of the judges about my children working for Starbucks, I got choked up. I felt a connection with this event because of my children. And, being there I think I connected more deeply with the culture. That, too, was a nice feeling.