in all of it’s shiny, studly glorious La mana-ness.

come play.

Brought to you by the Espresso miracle workers at Nuovo Simonelli. Nuovo Makes some darned fine espresso machines and grinders. Also gracing our coffee playground will be the sweet Aurelia from Nuovo Simonelli. This is the machine that was the ONLY other heat exchange machine to almost match LaMarzocco for temperature stability. This is a bitchin machine coffee friends.

And the Barefoot has been pulling espresso sweetness on the Victoria Arduino Lever machine for the last month and loving it. Come play. Come extract. Drink great espresso.

By Sal Pizarro

Mercury News

First it was wine. Then it was specialty beers. Now coffee is the latest beverage to rise above its proletarian origins and develop its own elitist culture.

“The Bay Area is really experiencing an espresso renaissance,” said Andy Newbom, owner of Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara.

Coffee, Newbom said, has entered a third wave of popularity. The first was your standard Folgers drip, the second was the espresso revolution started by Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee & Tea. And now, discriminating coffee lovers are going beyond chain coffee shops and are willing to pay a premium for higher quality and more variety.

“It’s very similar to the wine industry,” says Newbom, 33, who prefers the very Silicon Valley title of “chief espresso officer.” “It’s just beginning, so it’s not as developed. But in the last five years, it’s really begun to take off.”

This weekend, Barefoot Coffee Roasters will host the Western Barista Guild Jam at the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell. The two-day event is primarily for professionals — cafe owners, chefs and baristas — but there are a couple of components for the home brewer.

If you want to elevate your morning cup of coffee, the event’s Home Espresso Festival on Sunday will feature the latest espresso machines for your kitchen. Also Sunday at the Iron Barista Competition, teams will compete to make four drinks and a food item using coffee and a secret ingredient. Go to www.westernbaristaguildjam.com for details.

“If we want to get anything out of this,” Newbom said, “it will be to get people to treat coffee as culinary art rather than a caffeinated drug.”

And it will be there at the Western Barista Guild Jam.

It longs for your hand and heart. Do you long for it in return?

This beauty is being sponsored by the Friends of the Barista over at Creative Drinks! Those coffee rockers! And Creative Drinks is also the technical masters who are maintaining all of this luxe equipment for your brewing pleasure all weekend. So be sure and thank them when you see them and if you need some great equipment service in the Bay Area give them a call. The team at Creative Drinks are top notch in everything they do!

Confirmation is in… the beautiful Heather Perry (United States Barista Champion 2003, Western Regional Barista Champion for as long as I’ve known her) has just confirmed that Coffee Klatch will be bringing the world famous Belle Kara Yirgachefe, and the Coffee Klatch Belle Espresso!!!

From the “Best of Ethiopia” auctions comes another of our “World Exclusives”. The Belle Kara is a Natural Washed Yirgachefe and was far and away the Best Coffee in the Auction. This process produces a naturally sweet and fruity cup, Apricot, Blueberry, and Tangerine with a hint of Chocolate with tantalize your taste buds.

Kenneth Davids of Coffee Review’s take on the Coffee Klatch Belle Espresso:

Intense aroma: brandy, chocolate, caramel. In the small cup medium in body but smooth in mouthfeel, crisply pungent yet caramelly sweet, with a tightly knit, understated complexity: brandy, caramel, cedar and flowers, hints of which persist in the roundly rich finish. Masters milk with a gentle, brandied chocolate authority.

this is definetly in MY top 7 reasons to attend!

While you’re in the Bay Area… if you’re looking for cool things to do… it might be a fun idea to check out Ritual Coffee Roasters up in S.F. A hip little joint with good coffee, fun baristi, and a neat atmosphere… They use the famous Stumptown’s beans and they’re always rockin’ rad drinks. They are located at 1026 Valencia St. San Francisco… about 45min. from Barefoot…

Also Check out Pacific Bay Coffee Co. An amazing Micro-Roastery… beautiful roaster I might add… (I’m not talking about Keith and John.) Total 3rd wave coffee crazies! Besides their coffee, which rocks, their staff is some of the friendliest… I don’t know how they do it, but they always remember my name while making my perfect capp… Check them out… 1495 Newell Ave, Walnut Creek… about 45min. from Barefoot as well!

Hey Baristi!!

Getting excited about the event, only 5 days away! Can’t wait to show off my skills…

Bring your tampers, and tools, whatever you feel most comfortable working with…that’s the only way to guarentee you’ll have what you are used to using at the event. All of the tools provided at the jam are from … they’ve got a ton of great tools, everything you could ever need for you or your store. Check them out and drool over all their cool products!

So all of us not quite on top of it Baristas who will be attending the Jam. A few tidbits to streamline the process. Since there looks like there will be quite a few coffee hands at the Jam and early morning registration will be a serious bottleneck unless we do a few things to move it all along (nothing to see here! keep it moving!)

So to streamline the whole process:

• Please print out and complete your registration form and either fax it in to the SCAA or bring it complete with you when you arrive.
• We will NOT be accepting credit cards for registration at the door. So if you are using a credit card then it is better to fax your app in to Michelle TODAY.
• Those who fax their application in have their space reserved and will be guaranted a spot in case we sell out.
• If you want to reserve a space for you and your team then please email us and let us know your cafe name, your name and the names of all your Baristas who are coming. Or better yet fax in your registration forms.
• For Barista Guild members you must bring your member card if youhave it. We will have a list of members but help a friend out here.
• If you are joining the Barista Guild to join the Barista community and to save the $25 registration then also download and complete the BGA application and bring it with you.

The Western Barista Guild Jam is shaping up to be an incredible good time! We have Coffee people coming from Seattle, all over California, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and maybe even some midwest folks. The speakers are getting jazzed up and the machines are getting warmed up.

And we are getting excited about welcoming you al to our wonderful little Bay Area.

Now you can register for the world famous Western Barista Guild Jam online! Click here To Register.

Spaces are filling up fast so reserve your spaces today and join the millions of kick booty Baristas who are making it the thing.

Pass the mustard and pull the shot

A little friendly podcast action going into cyberspace about the Barista Guild Jam. Word is getting out there. It seems thee whole world is coming to play coffee with us.

Are you?