The great barista battle is brewing

The National Barista Championship beginning Friday will showcase some highly sophisticated coffee preparation -- and for three local competitors, the experience is as rich and savory as a perfect demitasse of espresso.

By KRISTIN TILLOTSON, Star Tribune

Grind. Brew. Extract. Steam. Serve. Repeat. And repeat again, several hundred times, quickly and gracefully.

Since early February, Adam Palmer has spent 30 hours a week in a Zen state, practicing for the Olympics of coffeemaking, the U.S. Barista Championship to be held this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center. As one of three young Twin Cities men competing in this creme de la creme contest for coffee fanatics, he knows that no ordinary cup of Joe will tickle the picky palates of judges who consider coffee a high art, not a mere beverage.

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