Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.04.2005, Page 29

CAPPUCCINO CHANGE-UP:
Iceland’s 2005 Barista Competition
But when the sixth annual national
barista competition was held from
11-13th of March in Iceland’s biggest
mall, Smáralind, I did get a show.
On top of that, with continuous
samples from the competition, I got
enough coffee to keep me buzzing
through a weekend.
First, you need to understand the
rules. 25 bariste get 15 minutes
to make 12 perfect espresso,
cappuccino, and freestyle coffee
drinks. While getting the time
shouted at them, the bariste also
have to produce spotless cups, perfect
froth, and immaculate machines…
oh, and the judges also ask for a
theme.
As the bariste toil at their task, two
judges monitor their every move at
the machines themselves, and the
baristas have mics that they speak
into to entertain the audiences.
The competition proved to be…
brutal. Humiliating. I came to see
fellow baristas shine, but many
of them were put under so much
pressure that it made me squeamish.
The mic was used to apologize more
than entertain—one barista, who will
go unnamed, joked that his frothless
cappuccino was “a trainwreck”. The
judges didn’t laugh.
But amid the crashing and burning,
there was glory. Especially for the
coffee shops of Iceland: Kaffitár,
COMPETING COFFEE
SHOPS’
DOWNTOWN STATIONS:
Te & Kaffi, Laugavegur 24, 101
Reykjavík. 562-2322
Kaffitár, Bankastræti 8, 101 Reykjavík
511-4540
Segafredo, Lækjartorg 5, 101 Reykjavík
562-5200
OTHER CAFÉS
Ari í Ögri, Ingólfsstræti 3, 551-9660
Bar 11, Laugavegur 11, 511-1180
Café 22, Laugavegur 22, 511-5522
Café List, Laugavegur 20a, 511-1420
Café Victor, Hafnarstræti 1-3, 561-9555
Dillon, Laugavegur 30, 511-2400
Dubliner, Hafnarstræti 4, 511-3233
Gaukur á Stöng, Tryggvagata 22,
551-1556
Glaumbar, Tryggvagata 20, 552-6868
Grand Rokk, Smiðjustígur 6, 551-5522

Hressingarskálinn, Austurstræti 20,
561-2240
Hverfisbar, Hverfisgata 20, 511-6700
Jón Forseti, Aðalstræti 10, 551-0962
Kaffi Kúltur, Hverfisgötu 18, 530-9314
Kaffibarinn, Bergstaðastræti 1, 551-1588
Kaffibrennslan, Pósthússtræti 9,
561-3600
Leikhúskjallarinn, Hverfisgata 19,
551-6010
Nasa, by Austurvöllur, 511-1313
Nelly’s, Þingholtsstræti 2, 551-2477
Mojito, Austurstræti 16, 575-7905
Prikið, Bankastræti 12, 551-3366
Póstbarinn, Pósthússtræti 13, 562-7830
Rósenberg, Lækjargötu 2, 551-8008
Sirkus, Klapparstígur 30
Sólon, Bankastræti 7a, 562-3232
Thorvaldsen bar, Austurstræti 8,
511-1413
Vegamót, Vegamótastígur 4, 511-3040
How do you announce a coffee
competition? I still really
don’t know. I know this:
There is a story of a sultan
who dressed up to see what his
villagers were saying behind
his back. When he hid among
the vineyards, he found that
the people were drunk and
were happy. Then he dressed
up at a coffee house, and the
people drinking coffee were
discussing the bad things
about the country. So he
blamed the coffee.
This would be a funny story
once. Twice even. At fifty,
you just pray for death.
C
afés
Segafredo and Te & Kaffe.
For Kaffitar, we were treated to
2001 pumped through Smáralind,
the barista raising her arm like
a triumphant ice skater before
whipping up her drinks. Segafredo
was just as dramatic, though
funnier, with a dedication to the
Danish queen complete with
accompanying photos. (Perhaps
this wasn’t the best political gamble
in… Iceland.)
But nobody was getting in the
way of Jónina Tryggvadóttir of Te
& Kaffe, this year’s champion. It
was her cold, hard confidence that
shook up the entire event. And her
cappuccino change-up will be one
for the record books.
In a move that staggered the
onlookers, at least those of
us left on day three of the
competition, Jónína opened her
coffee presentation with the
CAPPUCCINO. Every other
contestant opened with espresso, an
easier drink.
Her logic, she told the judges
coolly, “I start every day with a
cappuccino.”
With that, and with a specialty
drink named Femme Fidel,
interpreted either as the loyal
woman, or, perhaps, the
emasculated Cuban leader, she had
the judges eating out of her hands.
Nina Cohagen is a barista at
Ömmukaffi.
by Nína Cohagen
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