In March 2024, Frank La of Be Bright Coffee took first place in the Barista Championship at the U.S. Coffee Championships. The victory earned him a spot in the World Barista Championship, which takes place May 1-4, in Busan, South Korea.
Contenders for the U.S. Barista Championship have 15 minutes to present an espresso, a milk beverage, and a signature beverage to four sensory judges. The drinks can be presented in any order but each competitor must give a TED Talk-like presentation while preparing the coffee. Two tech judges follow the barista to make sure technique and protocols are followed.
La first presented an espresso using Ombligon, a relatively new variety of Colombian coffee produced by Nestor Lasso. In Spanish, the variety translates to "bellybutton" because it's named for the dimple in the coffee cherries. La describes the floral, aromatic, candy-like sweetness of the roast: "It tasted almost like a Haribo gummy bear." He extracted it over frozen spheres to capture more compounds.
He used the same espresso for the cortado but used more coffee in his basket to bring an intensity to the flavor and shortened his extraction. Tasted on its own, it would be sour and tart, La explains. When a lactose-free milk is added, it harmonizes with the espresso. He froze the milk and let it defrost in the refrigerator for two days then evaporated it.
"What the judges are looking for is synergy with your coffee," La says of his high-scoring signature beverage. There needs to be a purpose behind the ingredients. La also served a long-pulled espresso that he cooled then combined with a milk punch made with Oolong tea, a grape cheong that sat for 200 hours, and a coffee saccharum.
To prepare for the national competition, La says he practiced pulling the three coffees more than 50 times.
Located around the corner from Pink's Hot Dogs, Be Bright Coffee sits along trendy Melrose Ave., ready to sate your caffeine fix. Photo courtesy of Be Bright Coffee.