LAWCO judges assessing a pour - from left: Guest Judge, Terika Raak (Head Judge), Antoine Franklin (Judge)

Walking into Coffee Fest the morning competition starts is definitely different than any other day. We teach our morning classes, but as soon as those wrap up, we have to mentally lock in pretty quickly. 

Antoine teaching Coffee Fest's Foundational Barista Skills class

Before anyone touches a pitcher, all these thoughts start swirling around in my head: I hope the coffee brews nicely when I dial in. I hope all of this equipment runs smoothly. I hope our third judge is able to mesh well with Terika and me, but most importantly, that they understand the rules in the same way that we do. 

With all that moving around, I finally get the chance to breathe and start to dial in our coffee. More often than not, it takes a little longer than usual for me to dial in. There is no set coffee profile handed to us by our sponsors, so I have to adjust show to show to get the espresso running right. 

Once I’m feeling comfortable with where shots are, we bring the competitors over for a meeting to answer any questions they might have and go over the rules. This is also typically where my nerves leave, and I’m ready to lock in. 

Day 1, we have to go through our first 32 competitors, which seems like a lot, but if all three of us are dialed in, we usually make good time. The last two to three shows have gone really smoothly, with Day 1 setting the tone for the weekend. 
 

Everyone expects the competitors to be nervous, but the truth is, we’re just as nervous before competition starts. We all genuinely care about this competition and take it seriously, which is the cause for the nerves and anxiety. 
 

Once we go through all 32, we finish our day with the excitement and expectation that we get to talk with each competitor that has questions about their round the following day, and then we do it all over again. The day of a LAWCO judge is filled with teaching, organizing, and many other things, which makes the judging part the most fun and rewarding. 
 

 

Want to learn from the best? Antoine and Terika lead our Coffee Skills and Latte Art workshops in the Latte Art Venue at every Coffee Fest show.