Was this meant to happen? Or, was this an accident? A coincidence of sorts?
How many times have we as adolescents, then teenagers, now young adults, have we asked ourselves these age long questions of why and how things transpire in our lives?
I would like to make this post a "mash-up" of my travel through Santa Cruz on my coffee tour in January, and the recent trip up to the SWRBC (South West Regional Barista Competition).. since it was entirely an accident, or fate, the way this whole journey has been weaved together.
On my "tour", which I've so lovingly referred to my road trip through coffee along the west coast, I had the very brief opportunity to stop in at Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, CA. I pulled in to SC late one night and was delighted that Verve was open until 11pm, they were polite, friendly and the coffee... well, simple and delicious, just the way I like it.
Fast forward three months, and it was time for the South West Regional Barista Competition, which I had the honor and privelege of volunteering as a judge for the first time. The event was held at the top of the Ritt building in the downtown area of SC and one and a half blocks down from the Verve location I got to visit on the tour. I also had the amazing experience of competing in the 2nd annual Brewers Cup competition, which is a new addition to the regional competition circuit.
Let me be honest, the one and only reason I decided to compete in the Brewers Cup was because I told someone I was going to, when I was at my previous job. So, when I registered for the event, I was employed, when I was on tour I was still weighing out options for employment!
This is where fate vs. accidents come in.
About 2 or 3 weeks before the competition, I was still unemployed, I had signed on to do some consulting work, but for the most part, I didn't have coffee lined up, transportation, funds, a brewing method, nothing!! I was simply too proud to turn away from the competition, because somewhere on tour, I opened my big ass mouth about what a bad ass I was at brewing, and I would rather go broke, beg, borrow and steal to get to compete rather than bow out. My auntie always tells me, "Girl, you better bury that pride before that pride buries you!".
I was brewing some coffee at a friends house one morning, the same friends that encouraged me and gave me gas money to go on tour, and was showing them how to use their V60, grinder, and scales properly, and in my mind, I was having the debate on which job offer I was going to take, non of which were in my area of Southern California, I was moving to either Portland, Sacramento, or San Fran.. Ani and Jason were helping me with my pro's and con's list of what to do! I was torn and knew in every essence of my being tht this was one of those tipping point moments in life; whatever decision I made, it was going to change my path in life and in a very dramatic way, especially if I was moving hundreds of miles away from my from friends, family, and everything I had built up since my divorce. Was a ready to make that huge of a change again? The only thing I knew for certain, was that I needed to stay in coffee, at whatever cost.
I sat down and allowed Ani to give me a facial (I had a pretty big interview that night with Stumptown; and was really excited I might be able to just move to LA and not to NorCal or out of state). As I sat in that chair, watching "How I met your Mother", waiting for the goo on my face to dry, I scanned craigslist for any opportunity worth pursuing near home, and I saw it... an ad for a new 3rd wave opening up in MY city, a little less than 2 miles from my apartment! I sent over my resume, and right after the goo had been removed I had received a reply back from the company, Cafecito Organico, that already had 2 locations in the LA area, they're 3rd location was coming to Costa Mesa, less than 2 miles from me!
Was it fate or an accident that I happened to look at craigslist that day? I already had job offers, and had checked everyday for a month with no success, what encouraged me to do so that day? Why at the very last possible moment did this place decide to open up, right before I had to make a decision to leave or stay?
Now, I had a coffee company willing to sponsor me to go to the competition, really great coffee, and a plan in place for brewing, with a little help from a lot of friends I met through the tour, all over the west coast.
I showed up at the comp, and was just in awe to be there, no intention of winning, I just needed to make sure that my pride was in tact, that I did what I said I was going to do.
Standing at the top of the Ritt, in Santa Cruz, Ca, on Saturday night of the competition, waiting patiently to hear the finalists called for both brewers and barista competitions, I heard my name, and just lost it! I ran up to the front of the crowd and was just elated! This was the pat on the back that I needed that said to me "hey, you're really good at brewing coffee!", I had no intention of every placing and now, I was accepting a Skate deck designed with Verve Coffee Roasters logos. At one point, another finalist, Ant from Sightglass looked at me and said "I'm so glad you look like I feel", and when I saw the photo's later, I looked like an excited five year old on Christmas morning, I felt RAD.
Now, because I had no faith in my brewing capabilities, I did not attend the amazing Mad Men themed 50's party Verve hosted that night, and I went back to my hotel room and contemplated what my soundtrack should be, and what the hell I was going to say in the presentation I was expected to give the next morning. I was unprepared, and of course, I had to perform first in the morning. Thank god my road dog for the journey, Neil, had competed before and helped me to prepare for the next morning and helping create my sound track.
Sunday morning, I do a quick run through of my presentation and before I knew it, my time had come to present before the judges.
Half way through my performance, I probably did either the best or worst thing ever for my career and decided it would be a good idea to compare my coffee to my ex-boyfriends, and getting so caught up in the performance, and the laughter I started to drain my coffee ON TOP of my pre-heat water!!!! So all my hard work, preparation (or lack there of) was futile. I had officially fucked up my coffee, it was diluted and now I had one minute to finish, I called time.
Nick Cho, the King of manual brewing complimented me on my performance and I proceeded to clean up my station and run around frantic to try the coffee I had UN-officially ruined! It tasted ok, but diluted and sweet at best. Even though my colleagues were supportive, I really just wanted to jump off the top of the Ritt at that very moment.
I had lunch at my favorite sandwich shop in SC, Erik's Deli, and awaited the results, my plan was to see who won, collect my swag and catch my flight to Vegas to work for the day..
The closing ceremonies came, and I was as restless as kid in church, I just wanted my embarrassment to be over with. They Verve boys called up all six finalists and started to call the top 3, if I was going to place it was going to be third... it wasn't my name.
This is where it gets surreal... I painted my face with my most graceful losers smile, you know the kind you see on all the nominees at the awards show, and then it happened, they called my name!
I really wished I had a photo of my face, because I literally jumped up from the excitement!!! I walked up accepted my award, and did my best to hold back my tears.
Was the "accidental bypass brewing" supposed to happen? Would I have won if that hadn't happened? Would I have place at all if I had actually drained that water?
The whole scenario was the happiest accident I've ever had in my life. It was like falling in love, winning the big game, and graduating all at the same time.
Now, can I recreate all those happy accidents? Or was this all just fate? Or, was I supposed to place second the whole time?
Well, whatever the reason, I get the honor and opportunity to learn from my mistakes and do it all over again in Nationals in Portland in 9 days...
Wish me luck! or wish me more happy accidents along the way..
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