scroll to the 28th minute for lem’s spinning marvels.

that’s pretty much how our hack front-porch interview sounds, thanks to the blogson, who kept slamming that thar suthin’ screen door, and a nearby airport, and our blogcam’s ultra-sensitive “windy-mic.” it’s almost too audacious to call this a public service — but that never stopped us before!

herewith, hoffmann’s answers to such zingers as, “is there a crisis of career options for talented baristi?” because, you know, there’s not really a place online where he can consistently share his opinions …

* 7th – ryan dennhardt, barista’s daily grind, kearney, nebraska. very clipped, direct, confident delivery. wore a short, white waiter’s jacket and a mondo-spike. a fascinating wine theme focused on beverage aromas, introducing air at the appropriate times, etc. menu displayed for judges as a wine bottle label. musical mix of electronic, soul, funk, r&b, dance. somewhat rushed at the end, performance grew very intense. the sig included eight shots of espresso (yes, eight) swirled in a wine decanter with fruit juice, vanilla syrup and chocolate. finished with about 10 seconds on the clock. sig video.

* 6th – steve fritzen didn’t see.

* 5th – jon lewis, bumper crop, coeur d’ilene, idaho. highly rehersed routine included a forceful rendition of an ‘i have a dream’ speech envisioning world crises solved by espresso diplomats, etc. trippy. controlled funk music. running commentary the whole performance, centered on “the good life.” sig served in two parts — one blood orange juice and creme anglaise, the other straight espresso. judges asked to alternate between them. sig video.

* 4th – ellie matuszak, intelly, chicago. somewhat of an updoser. extremely confident and professional, always knew where she was headed next. liked referring to the “sparkling” tanzanian peaberry in her espresso blend. served espressos very early — 3:45 into the routine. old-school jazz, film music. all about the grapes. extracted fresh grapes with an antique press, mixed with espresso and brown sugar over frozen grapes in a shaker. served in aroma-enhancing glasses. offered the intriguing notion that the grape helps preserves crema. tons of time remaining. sig video.

* 3rd – amber sather, intelly, chicago. very low-key, understated, classy routine. colombian theme, spanish music, some sounded a bit alt. didn’t talk a whole lot, overall. very simple, very attractive sigs – caramel, half & half and espresso, served with dashes of brown sugar and savory sea salt. 8 seconds left. sig video.

* 2nd – billy wilson, albina press, portland. dressed all black. easily the most polished, professional, creative and impressive performance to my eyes. groove, jazzy and alt mood music. very quick with his movements, very precise. obvious down doser (used hairbender). used water from an extra thermos for warming his cups. the sig was the one i most wanted to try. essentially, an exaggerated hairbender taste experience, served as a foam instead of a liquid (a texture-changing culinary technique called “spuma.”). used kumquat to play off hairbender’s citrus, cocoa to underscore the chocolate notes and some sugar. combined those ingredients with the espresso itself in a nitrogen canister along with egg whites. shook into a foam, left it shortly in a warm water bath. served in conical glasses with straws with which to suck the foam from the bottom. slick. believable. finished with scads of time left. sig video.

* 1st – matt riddle, intelly, chicago. dressy clothes, yellow dominated. low-key presentation, very smooth and poised. spoke when he needed to, but not a ton. jive, rhythm, ballad music. referred to the visual aesthetics of being a graphic designer for intelly. simple, graspable sig with the year’s popular ingredient — star anise. put molasses in his glasses, pulled espresso on top, added milk that had been steamed with the mashed star anise infusing in a tea bag. fig syrup and a simple elegant star design on top. encouraged a full stir. musta been good. five seconds left. sig video.

UPDATE: dan kehn offers an even more detailed description of riddle’s winning routine. nice.

“(this table) is symbolic of nature, where coffee comes from.”
“(the guitar music) is another symbolic feature of my presentation celebrating what we do with what nature gives us.”
“i encourage you to explore the depth of this coffee as you would explore the depth of a friend that you are visiting.”
“it causes your palate to expand, as if someone is lifting your tongue up inside your mouth.”
“with the simplest of ingredients — wood and steel — (the guitarist) can create a moment in music that transcends what we know in the physical and gives us a moment — a moment that will never be experienced again as long as you live.”
“as this drink is put before you, purpose to drink this drink with all you are, with all you have become to this moment in time.”
“this drink lacks pretension (and is) full of integrity … it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”
“we are all like an espresso shot, in that we’re all preinfusing backstage … i feel pretty extracted.”

to which this blog has absolutely nothing to add — except to note that the sigs included star anise, smoked with cherry wood and earl grey tea to remove harshness. when it’s finished uploading, deferio video will be here.

there was also the dreadlocked southeastern champ lem butler’s gig, which included a revamped-but-still-brewed-over-cinnamon-sticks signature drink that has evolved nicely since the last time we blogged about him. video here. (UPDATE: it’s gonna be awhile …)