Countless times a day, there's the steady hiss of steaming milk, the whirl of blenders and the splash of coffee filling cups in Starbucks stores, as passionate, hardworking baristas handcraft countless beverages for customers daily -- and 15 of them stepped up to the handoff to display their talent in beverage artistry and knowledge -- with the winner earning the right to represent Starbucks Bahamas at the 2015 Starbucks Barista Championship later in three months.

Emerging out of last week's pile of 15 to go head-to-head in the July 24 final were partners from Starbucks' Palmdale location -- D'Andrea "D" Smith and Steven Hepburn. They both go into the final at the Palmdale store with clean slates, evenly scoring 50 points each in the semi-final. The final showdown will take place on July 24 between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The winner will take a one-week trip to Seattle in September to visit the Starbucks Support Center (headquarters) and iconic Starbucks locations such as the first store in Pike Place Market and the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room.

Smith was ecstatic and shocked that she made it into the final.

"It's not that I doubted my skills, but I'm just so proud," she said.

In preparation for the final she said she was prepared to work hard by getting her hand on any and all information she can find, do her research and sharpen up her skills.

"I'm going to look for the areas of opportunities that I can grow in, so that when the time comes I'm going to take it home," said Smith who has been a Starbucks barista for just three years in which time she said her passion for coffee has been ignited.

During the Starbucks Championships, baristas compete in three categories -- Barista Craft, Signature Beverage and Personal Coffee Tastings. Baristas showcase their latte art skills, create their own signature beverage using ingredients that currently exist in Starbucks stores, and provide a coffee tasting of their choosing. That tasting may include a food pairing, music or any other sensory experience that enhances the coffee experience. The Bahamian baristas competed in two categories --the lucky pick coffee tasting where the competitors had to choose a coffee at random which simulated a customer walking into the store and the barista having to have the ability based on their coffee knowledge to sell the customer a coffee that fit their needs; and latte art. Going into the semi-final Hepburn said he had felt intimidated because of the coffee knowledge his peers had.

"I honestly felt that I was one of the people that was behind, but I studied hard, was passionate about it, went out and did my thing," he said.

In preparation for the final he said he planned to engage in a lot of reading and practicing public speaking in front of his friends and peers as if he were leading a coffee seminar.

Starbucks' global coffee and tea education manager, Chad Moore, said the idea behind the championships is to celebrate what their baristas do daily. He said the championships give baristas the chance to demonstrate their passion and pride for coffee, and showcase their skills.

With Starbucks Bahamas sending a Bahamian champion to the Starbucks Championships for the first time, the local competition also gives their partners the opportunity to improve their beverage quality, according to Javan Smith, Bahamas market learning and development manager for Starbucks.

"I've seen a whole lot of growth, and seen people who couldn't bear tasting coffee who are now expert coffee tasters. And I can only imagine what will happen after we finish the coffee master component of this 14-week program," said Smith.

While only one person taking the coveted Seattle trip, all of the baristas that participated in the program will be "winners" as they will have the designation of coffee masters.

Dino Matsas, general manager, food and beverage John Bull said the competition has been inspiring for the team.

"As we've grown over the last nine years we've been blessed to have such a wonderful public following, and now what we've done with the help of our team has been to elevate the experience to the customer by educating and expanding on coffee knowledge with the partners, so it's really empowered the team to become better at what they do each day, and to share that knowledge and that passion with our customers," said Matsas.

The food and beverage general manager said their partners were all engaged, inspired and passionate throughout the process which he said spoke to the culture of the company.

"Our company is not about serving coffee, it's about connecting with customers and making those human connections which is the long-lasting experience that we would wish our customers to have when they come into any one of our stores."

As for the upcoming final, Matsas said with both finalists scoring even, that it's a level playing field.

"Competition is going to be tough, but competition is good -- competition raises the bar, and one thing about this whole initiative is that it's raising the bar in our stores and how we operate, and representation of the brand. We definitely want to continue to elevate not only the partners' experience but the customer's experience," he said.

 

Javan Smith, left, Starbucks Bahamas market learning and development management with contestants in the
semi- finals of the Bahamas Barista Championship

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