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darbyDarnit NewsNews Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Houston Man Wins Latte Art Competition to Become One of Only Nine International “Ultimate Baristas” - Clancy Rose takes top honors at Texas Restaurant Association Tradeshow - June 26, 2008 (HOUSTON, TX)…Clancy Rose, an accomplished competition barista and head coffee roaster with Cuvee Coffee in Spring, on Sunday, June 22, won the Ultimate Barista Challenge in the latte art category at the Texas Restaurant Association's Southwest Foodservice Expo held at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The Ultimate Barista Challenge, coordinated at major food and restaurant events all over the world, features professional barista who duel against each other at espresso stations – not unlike the popular television show “Iron Chef,” only featuring coffee instead of food. Baristas compete in one or more of four categories, including latte art, frappe, blended brew, and espresso cocktails, and have 10 minutes to prepare several specialty espresso drinks for a panel of renowned judges comprised of coffee specialists, trainers, food writers, chefs or sommeliers. The winner in each category secures the right to challenge one of the reigning international champions and, if successful, earns the title of "Ultimate Barista.” Before this event, there were only four national, and seven international Ultimate Baristas. After edging out the competition, Rose challenged and successfully defeated one of those champions and became an Ultimate Barista. He now will travel to various food, restaurant, and coffee conferences and trade shows around the world to compete against others seeking to rise to the same prestigious rank. “I spent a lot of time preparing for this competition and it is a tremendous honor to represent the coffee and espresso industry as an Ultimate Barista,” said Rose. “At Cuvee Coffee, our passion is educating and teaching others about the intricacies of coffee, and these competitions help me keep pushing myself to discover new brewing and preparation approaches in an effort to realize the perfect cup of espresso.” The event also crowned another new Ultimate Barista. Lorenzo Perkins of Caffe Medici, an espresso and coffee house located in the Clarksville neighborhood in Austin and Cuvee Coffee customer, also took top honors in the best of brew category, using Cuvee's Rwandan coffee, and bested the Ultimate Barista. Rose trained at Cuvee Coffee barista training center with one of the other competitors, Silence Huang, who tied for second in the latte art category. Silence, who works for Cuvee Coffee as a trainer and international business development, is preparing to open a specialty coffee shop in Taiwan in 2009. Before joining Cuvee Coffee, Rose worked as a barista at Caffe Medici. He also served as assistant manager for Texas EXpresso in the University of Texas Alumni Center, another Cuvee customer. During his tenure at both coffee shops, Rose participated in several barista jams, at which specialty coffee and espresso industry experts and baristas gather, exchange information, compete in challenges, and consume massive amounts of coffee. Some of those events were sponsored by Cuvee Coffee. He also placed second at the 2007 SCAA South Central Regional Barista Competition. Rose also provided freelance barista training and produced online barista training videos. Rose and others at Cuvee Coffee provide twice monthly training seminars for budding coffee entrepreneurs and home enthusiasts. Rose also is scheduled to participate in several barista competitions in 2008, including the United States Barista Championship. About Ultimate Barista Challenge For more information about the Ultimate Barista Challenge, visit www.ultimatebaristachallenge.com. About Southwest Foodservice Expo The Southwest Foodservice Expo, produced by the Texas Restaurant Association, is the largest foodservice trade show in the region. It is the only show where foodservice professionals have the opportunity to see all of the products and services available to help them run their businesses profitably under one roof. For more information about the Texas Restaurant Association and the Southwest Foodservice Expo, visit: www.restaurantville.com. About Cuvee Coffee Headquartered in Spring, Texas, Cuvee Coffee is a specialty coffee micro-roaster that provides independent coffee houses with sustainable, single origin, and estate coffees from Africa, South America, and Central America. Each of the coffees is roasted to order in small batches. Cuvee Coffee also provides barista training and sells high-end espresso and brewing equipment. For more information about the company, visit: ALL darbyDarnit NEWS RELEASES
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