you da man for posting from abroad. i guess you have your reasons for keeping many of the details a secret. but dang … i’m dying to hear more about your routine and drink.

excellent point about “understanding the rules of the game.” jay recently posted his opinions on the competitions — obviously a departure from the way many people compete and are judged. entertaining, but not geared toward winning, obviously. your approach makes sense for someone who’s going to all the trouble of competing — work the system (in a good way).

you don’t have video fo your routine, do you?

How come my score was so big? I guess what I produced appealled to the judges. I worked very hard on my coffee (which is how I ended up being a guest in El Salvador, seeing the farms whose coffee and I used and meeting the people who grew and milled it), and I understand the rules of the game – a lot of people complain that comps aren’t like real life, but if you choose to compete at least be sure of how you will be judged.

And I practised. A lot. I read what I could, learnt what I could and I guess I go to Bern for the real test of how I rank on a global scale. I’d like to be the first person from the UK to make top 6. That is the goal I will be shooting for – whilst of course I’d like to win I don’t think you should aim solely for that.

After WBC I might post up scans of my UK scoresheets (they aren’t as flattering as the score implies!) and an fuller explanation of my blend and my sig drink (which is mostly a foolish endeavour as I am using food technology that no one in the world has yet mastered).

Right – I am off to a co-op and then lunch at the beach, followed by an interesting approach to a barista jam where I work in 4 different coffee shops over a 3 hour period!

I do love coffee.