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Belle Battista of Mt. Lebanon’s Aldo Coffee Co. put Pittsburgh baristas on the map this week by snagging the top spot at this year’s Mid Atlantic Barista Competition. We weren’t able to attend this years festivities but from what we’ve heard/read there was a strong showing from both Aldo and Enrico’s Tazza D’Oro. These competitions are great for raising awareness of quality coffee and quality establishments. Congrats to all the participants and especially to Belle who we know has worked very hard over the past few years to obtain this great achievement. Way to go!
More from Aldo Coffee…
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Here’s something from NPR on the Clover and Intelligentsia’s LA store, and how they are raising expectations in the coffee industry.
NPR- A $22 Cup of Joe
Our shop in the Strip also features the Clover, and our prices for a 12oz cup range from right around $2 up to, well… $22. We price our coffees much like wine by the glass at a restaurant- the more the coffee costs us, the more we charge the customer. The funny thing is that most restaurants charge at least $3 or more for a cup of “coffee” that really bears more resemblance to hot brown water than it does to the beverage we serve.
The clip also talks about kopi-luwak (aka civet eats and then defecates the coffee cherries yada yada)- so just try to ignore that part as it’s more hype than quality. I don’t want to get into a lengthy post about my feelings on this subject, but I’ll try to explain briefly. Some coffees are expensive because they taste great in the cup, and some coffees are expensive because they have very exotic processing defects that people will pay an exorbitant amount just to say that they’ve tried it (poop coffee).
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Here’s a piece on latte art competition from CBS News. While I knew they were competing- Andi Szep and her 15 year old daughter Alexandra of Indiana PA’s Caffe Amadeus were featured in the spot. I’d have to say that Andi is one of the best “artists” I’ve ever seen, and she gave me a couple of tips about a year ago that helped me reach the next level. I’d have to say that most of the drinks shown in the clip probably weren’t winners, but performing under pressure like that isn’t easy.