Southern California Comes Alive At The Ultimate Barista Challenge Usa Where Klatch Coffee & Fix Coffee Challengers Battle It Out In L A!

Over 13,000 attendees crowded Los Angeles Convention Center August 14 - 16 as regional baristi - coffee bar people who expertly prepares and serves espresso and coffee drinks, as they steamed and brewed their way to the championship round of the Ultimate Barista Challenge USA.

The 5th annual Ultimate Barista Challenge garnered the attention of local cafes and baristi, entertained audience members with a power struggle with 2 local cafes; Klatch Coffee & Fix Coffee of Los Angeles! Nine Baristi from 4 cafes battled the clock as well as each other in three tasty categories. Ultimate Barista Heather Perry of Klatch Coffee in San Dimas trained several of her own barista competitors and one of which challenged her to the Espresso Frappe Championship! UBC Challenger Amber Johnson of Fix Coffee won 2 categories in the Qualifying Rounds and tried to unseat the reigning Ultimate Barista Perry. Perry won 2 of 3 Challenge Championship categories. Best of Brew Championship and the Latte Art Championship were both held by her with an undefeated winning streak since 2006!

UBC Chef Judge Brian Simon of PrettyPrivateEvents comments, "Specialty Coffee is truly part of the dining experience and participating in the UBC USA shows just how talented these barista can be!" Other judges attending this year's UBC event was Chef Ferdinand Metz (founder of the CIA), Susan Irby, the Bikini Chef and Colleen Priest of Vitamix Foodservice.

UBC Head Judge and Event Coordinator, Danny Johns, states, "Getting to be part of the UBC Judges pool this year was exciting and an eye opener!" Southern California, as in NYC and Houston, are becoming the hotbed of talented professional baristi who are not only great in preparing coffee drinks but experts in food and wine as well"

Ultimate Barista Heather Perry the reigning Latte Art Champion garnered a new Mazzer Mini E Grinder from General Espresso Equipment Corporation (GEEC). Espresso Frappe Champion Jana Bain, a Klatch Coffee Barista, Jana impressed the judges with her "Blackberry Bliss," a refreshing blackberry cheese cake frappe and received an incredible prize, the new "Quiet One" Vitamix Blender. Ultimate Barista Finalists each received the Everpure Pentair Water Claris Filtration System. All participants received barista gifts from Astoria GEEC, Coffee Talk Magazine, BUNN, Ghirardelli, Routin 1883 Syrups, Espresso Supply Inc., Dr. Smoothie Brands, Boyd Coffee Company, CDN, and Innate. The UBC now goes to Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center, September 12 - 14, 2010.

About the Ultimate Barista Challenge.
The Ultimate Barista Challenge (UBC) is an open entry competition. Barista enter one to four tasty bouts of coffee and espresso challenges: Espresso Frappe, Latte Art, Espresso Cocktail and Best of Brew Challenges. Baristi who win the qualifying round, face an Ultimate Barista of their choice in a one-on-one dueling Final Challenge of fast-paced espresso excellence. Top scoring barista becomes the Ultimate Barista! UBC certified judges are chefs within the community, coffee and tasting specialists, food writers and others with a penchant for tasting and talking during the judges dialog following each round. The Ultimate Barista Challenge is owned and produced by WholeCup Coffee Consulting, LLC. With the support of forward thinking sponsors who understand the value of introducing specialty coffee and brewing finesse to the culinary world increasing the overall dining experience and the market for Specialty Coffee. For more information about this cutting edge event, to register, or inquire about available sponsorships, please visit www.ultimatebaristachallenge.com.