Charlotte or bust...

The “Super Bowl” of the Specialty Coffee industry is around the corner. The conference, the trade show, and its main event – The United States Barista Championship (USBC), will be held in Charlotte, NC between April 7 ~ 10. My good friend Andy C., one of my most favorite baristi, Phuong Tran, two bigwigs from the portafilter.net, and the heavy hitters in the barista community will all be there.

I have been searching for a package deal for a few weeks now, but I am not able to scored a good deal successfully. The hotel and air for this 2-day weekend is about the same as a 4 ~ 5 day package in Europe with the hotel accommodations from the airlines (hmmm, it is not hard to see which is the better deal). So, the chance that I make this Charlotte trip is very slim.

I see the 2006 USBC will once again be dominated by the baristi from the Great Lakes Regional, the Intelly crew (Matt, Amber, and Ellie), and Steve Fritzen from Coffee Hound, whom all I admire and respect tremendously. They will be joined with and/or one perhaps 2 from PNW regional, 1 from Western Regional, and 1 from Midwest for the final 6.

Alonso!

Formula 1, its 2006 season has officially started in Bahrain today. Fernando Alonso (center) comfortably beat Michael Schumacher (left), but with a close call with Michael after Alonso exited his final pitstop, to win the first race of this season. Kimi Räikkönen (right) fought his way from starting last on the grid to finish 3rd! This year looks like it is going to be another great year in F1, fill with great emotions and actions, and I can't hardly wait...

Lifelong fitness with Dr. Bob Delmonteque.

I can't believe an 86 years old can look this great! I work out and spend 4 days a week in the gym, and I don't look as half good as he does.

Dr. Bob Delmonteque sure has found the fountain of youth. I wish I can look as good as he is when I am at his age, only if I can live to his age....

Bicerin (my version)

I don't know the real deal tastes like, but this one is fine by me.

Tifosi!

BMW, Porsche, Land Rover, and other high performance driving schools are all associated with good times, but they are not as cool and authoritative as the Ferrari driving school.

This shifty idiot, Stefan Eriksson, should have taken the class.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

As the 2006 winter games winding down, so is the chatter on Torino’s favorite drink - Bicerin. I have been unmotivated the last 2 weeks, but I’ll try to duplicate one this week with my leftover Callebaut chocolates.

Posts that contain Bicerin per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

My worthless blog!

I am sorry for you wasting your time reading my blog...A bunch useless information...LOL!

Click here to see how much is your blog is worth. It is not going to be hard to beat mine, and that is for sure...

The norwegian barista championship

This is the newest entry from Thomas Gauperaa’s an espresso lover's blog. He sure got some nice pictures from this competition, especially my hero Luigi Lupi! (Pay a special attention to the steamed milk, and how the foam coats the inside pitcher wall. AWESOME!)

Go USA!

I caught a local news segment showcasing the city of Torino, and there was a drinking chocolate called bicerin: thick hot chocolate with a shot of espresso, topped with fresh whipped cream or steamed heavy cream. I'll try to replicate it and post it on Flickr.

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