First Mountain Regional Barista Competition

Jon Lewis delivers peak performance at SCAA's First Mountain Regional Barista Competition

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Barista Earns Title as Region’s Best Barista, but Runner-Up Nolan Dutton will Compete in 2008 United States Barista Championship

Jon Lewis from Long Story Short Coffee dazzled judges on his way to an award-winning performance at the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) Mountain Regional Barista Competition (MRBC) – hosted by Allegro Coffee Company – last Sunday in the Denver suburb of Thornton, Colo. In a hotly contested event, the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho barista outperformed 26 of the top baristas from throughout Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming to earn the title of the region’s best barista.

However, while he qualifies for the 2008 United States Barista Championship (USBC), May 2-5 in Minneapolis, Lewis will forgo entering the event because of the impending birth of his child around that same time. Instead, event runner-up, Nolan Dutton – of Conscious Coffees in nearby Boulder, Colo. – will enter the nation’s premier barista competition, which coincides with SCAA’s 20th Annual & Exhibition. Dutton’s USBC travel and lodging expenses will be covered by event host, Allegro Coffee Company. Heidi Bickelhaudt from nearby Trident Café in Boulder was the MRBC’s third-place finisher.


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