Spread the Jam Evenly on the Sides

* Seems like jamming has become a common sight at the café nowadays, be it in music or coffee. Last Thursday, we held our third Pinoy Barista Jam, an activity that started as a practice session for our barista friends from other cafes (Bo’s Coffee Club, Al Fresco Café, Jet Black Java) who got in the semifinal round of the Grand Barista Cup last August.

* A barista jam is not a new concept. Coffeehouses in other countries conduct regular jams where baristas from different shops come together in a single venue to share and display their skills in preparing different espresso-based beverages like lattes and cappuccinos. The jam goes on and on until supplies run out.

* Here in Los Banos , Café Antonio is a willing host for such jams in support of our profession as baristas and our group, Pinoy Barista. We want to provide a venue where baristas can make as many lattes as they want without worrying about how much each drink is costing them. Registration is free. The coffee beans and milk are provided. But baristas can also bring their own milk and beans to the jam.

* It is this kind of freedom in our barista jams that the barista enjoys the most. The expression of creativity has no limits. We can do latte art on almost anything we can get our hands on. And aside from providing a free venue, we are also able to provide good quality souvenir photos of the barista’s coffee art courtesy of our photographer friends and resident Pinoy Barista photographer, Zadl Suministrado of Nikon Club Philippines.

* Among those who participated in last week’s jam were senior baristas Mike and Lucky (2010 Philippine Barista Cup Champion) of Bo’s Coffee Club in Cebu; latte art extraordinaire Christian of Classic Confections; Andy (2010 Grand Barista Cup Semifinalist) of Jet Black Java;  former San Francisco Coffee  barista, Michael; and our Café Antonio baristas Neil, Ramhil, Joyceann, Jeg, and Ian. Official Pinoy Barista t-shirts were also sold during the event to help promote the group and support its cause. Free coffees were given away to everyone who went to the shop.

* Thank you very much to all those who participated and witnessed the event! We hope we could organize more events such as this.

The Word Evil Is Overrated, There's Another Word For It And It Starts With An "H"

* We've been closed for a week and everybody's been wondering what the hell happened to us. LB Square is under new management and the transition that happened last week from the old one to the new one was, let's just say, HYPER-HASSLE. I won't tell you the details here, but I'm sure Elbi peeps already know the skinny on it. I think the HYPER-HASSLE description says it all anyway.

* We've been through a lot these past several days, I feel like I'm 40 years old already. But God is good, in spite of it all, the Indie Music Fest pushed through last Saturday night and a LOT of people came. It's our first time to organize an event of this magnitude so it was a learning experience for us all. Thirteen bands were supposed to perform, unfortunately, only seven came on time and performed. We're sorry for that.

* What's important right now is we're rollin' once again and taking the punches as they come. It's a treat working here at the cafe, you get to taste all of life's delicacies, be it exotic emotional surprises or routine mainstream favorites. When you see the big picture, viewing it from afar, let's say the moon, you'll see the beauty of it all. Just like the Earth, from afar it's beautiful but when you go down and actually experience the intricacies and the details of it all, you'll find out that the beauty of it all comes from the never-ending conflict between the good guys and the hassle-doers. 

* Have a good week everybody. Get your free coffee on Wednesday, it's Barista Jam time!