Licata savors meaty WRBC victory
Posted: Mar 03, 2010
We’ve all paired bacon with eggs. But bacon with espresso? That takes an innovative barista.
At last weekend’s Western Regional Barista Competition, Pete Licata offered up bits of everyone’s favorite pork product as part of his signature drink, and not surprisingly, the judges took notice, awarding Licata 705 points for his final-round performance and the WRBC title. Licata, who works at Honolulu Coffee Company in Hawaii, twice won the Midwest Regional Barista Competition as a representative of PT’s Coffee. This was his first time competing in the Western regional. “It was a great competition,” Licata says. “It was a huge field, and the other competitors were just stellar.”
But back to the bacon. Licata candied the product, combining it with maple syrup and sea salt, and then fried the mixture in butter. He offered judges small pieces—which he topped with dollops of milk chocolate—on tasting spoons alongside an espresso affogato (espresso shots poured on vanilla ice cream that had been mixed with maple syrup). The judges chewed the bacon and then sipped the affogato. “The salty sweet went with those fatty textures,” Licata says. “That was reminiscent of the taste of the espresso, so it paired really well.” You’ll be forgiven for drooling on your keyboard.
Licata moves onto the United States Barista Championship, to be held April 15-18 in Anaheim, Calif. Ryan Wilbur of Intelligentsia Coffee, finished second at the WRBC with 681.5 points. Third went to Verve Coffee Roasters’ Chris Baca, who had a final-round score of 655. For more coverage of the WRBC and other recent regional barista competitions, check out the upcoming April issue of Fresh Cup.
—Dan Leif
