The Vancouver Foodster Barista Challenge was a great success featuring Baristas and their Beverage creations at cafes around Vancouver, Burnaby and Ladner. We have a 1st place tie with 2 winners beverages who couldn’t be more different than they are. Each Café featured their Beverage creation on their menu from September 8-30, 2014. and their customers voted for their favourites daily throughout the challenge.
Our media judging panel determined the ultimate winners of the challenge, and this was quite the task as each judge who tasted each creation with a rigorous process based on taste, originality/uniqueness and presentation/appearance.
Our Media judges for this challenge were: Randall Shirley, Joyce Lam and Adrian Harris
The Winners are:
1st Place: Sophie Martin of Momento Coffee House
Signature Beverage Creation: Vanilla Explosion Gelato
Vanilla explosion gelato, 2 shots of espresso, 1/4 teaspoon of maple syrup in the cup before espresso shot, 1 scoop gelato, garnish with smoked bacon crisps and covered with maple syrup a pinch of sicilia course sea salt.
Momento Coffee House
577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver
Tel:604-828-5282
Web: www.momentocoffeehouse.com
Twitter: @momentocoffee
and
1st Place: Ron LaQuaglia of Glenburn Soda Fountain
Signature Beverage Creation: Lemon Ginger Dream ice cream soda
It is an old-fashioned ice cream soda made with lemon and ginger syrups, soda water, lemon sorbet from Rocky Pt Ice Cream and Birchwood Dairy Vanilla ice cream.
Glenburn Soda Fountain
4090 Hastings St, Burnaby
Tel: (604) 500-4548
Twitter: @glenburnsoda
2nd Place: Daniel Wong of Crackle Creme
Signature Beverage Creation: Silky Sarong
Silky Sarong
Featuring Caffe d’Arte espresso, callebaut white chocolate, Lemongrass, Lime leaves, Dried lemongrass powder and topped with saffron powder.
Crackle Creme
245 Union Street, Vancouver
Tel: 778-847-8533
Twitter: @cracklecreme
3rd Place: Erika Driver of Stir Coffee House
Signature Beverage Creation: Tasting Flight
Tasting Flight
Featuring: 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters‘ Ethiopian Suke Quto Organic Single Origin Espresso
Because Erika enjoys transforming one type of coffee bean through different brewing techniques, she has prepared a delicious tasting flight of three beverages. These drinks range from 1-5oz, and include an espresso, pour over, and Gibraltar, using the same beans for each.
Espresso (1 oz): a single espresso shot of Suke Quto.
Iced Pour Over (5 oz): Suke Quto brewed manually, served over ice.
Gibraltar or ‘Cortado’ (5 oz): a single espresso shot of Suke Quto cut with a bit of steamed whole milk.
Stir Coffee House
101-5085 48th Avenue, Delta
Tel: (604) 940-8005
Web: http://stircoffeehouse.com/
Twitter: @StirCoffeeHouse
In the People’s Choice Awards category, the public who tried the Signature Beverage Creations were the ones who had the opportunity to cast their vote throughout the challenge.
The Winners are:
1st Place People’s Choice:
Sophie Martin of Momento Coffee House
Signature Beverage Creation: Vanilla Explosion Gelato
Vanilla explosion gelato, 2 shots of espresso, 1/4 teaspoon of maple syrup in the cup before espresso shot, 1 scoop gelato, garnish with smoked bacon crisps and covered with maple syrup a pinch of sicilia course sea salt.
Momento Coffee House
577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver
Tel:604-828-5282
Web: www.momentocoffeehouse.com
Twitter: @momentocoffee
2nd Place People’s Choice:
Barista: Erika Driver of Stir Coffee House
Signature Beverage Creation: Tasting Flight
Tasting Flight
Featuring: 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters‘ Ethiopian Suke Quto Organic Single Origin Espresso
Because Erika enjoys transforming one type of coffee bean through different brewing techniques, she has prepared a delicious tasting flight of three beverages. These drinks range from 1-5oz, and include an espresso, pour over, and Gibraltar, using the same beans for each.
Espresso (1 oz): a single espresso shot of Suke Quto.
Iced Pour Over (5 oz): Suke Quto brewed manually, served over ice.
Gibraltar or ‘Cortado’ (5 oz): a single espresso shot of Suke Quto cut with a bit of steamed whole milk.
Stir Coffee House
101-5085 48th Avenue, Delta
Tel: (604) 940-8005
Web: http://stircoffeehouse.com/
Twitter: @StirCoffeeHouse
3rd Place People’s Choice:
Barista: Tony Lovse of Main Street Honey Shoppe
Signature Beverage Creation: Honey Breve Stinger
Honey Breve Stinger
We have applied our specialty honey knowledge (with a little help from our specialty coffee friends) to make a simply fantastic “Honey Breve Stinger”. Our latte art leaves a little to be desired, but the right combination of high quality ingredients results in a simple, but delicious comfort drink for those cool autumn days. Buckwheat honey blends beautifully with espresso and adds a rich, full bodied flavour with a subtle sweetness. Enjoy!
Main Street Honey Shoppe
4125 Main Street
Web: http://www.mainstreethoney.com/
Twitter: @mainstreethoney
The full list of participating restaurants can be found here
http://vancouverfoodster.com/2014/09/08/vancouver-barista-signature-beverage-challenge-2/
About Vancouver Foodster
Founded in 2009 by Richard Wolak, Vancouver Foodster is Vancouver’s premier online “Essential Food & Drink Intelligence” guide. The site offers expert advice on the hottest restaurants, parties, and openings this city has to offer, as well as the most interesting dining trends and newest cuisines and food around the region. Vancouver Foodster also runs a series of food challenges with restaurants and chefs throughout the year!
