Competitive barista Gray Kauffman joins us in the O.C. this week to drop some serious coffee science on our asses. Alongside being the new Coffee Education and Innovation Lead at Hitchcock Restaurant Group, Gray recently competed at the U.S. Coffee Championships, and they talk about how they did in the Olympics of Coffee, their background in food science, their previous gig in product development at Caffe Vita, and what it was like to travel to a coffee farm in the mountains of Colombia—the origin of the beans they used in the competition.

Plus Meg and Mark are always working for the weekend, but they’re not too weakened to tell you about what they ate on their lunch breaks! Dig in!

Mentioned in this episode:

Canlis

De La Soil

Lenox

Ananas Pizza

George’s Polish Deli

Rain Shadow Meats

Sankaku

Cafe Suliman

Narrative

Espresso Vivace

Slow Day

Cardoon

Chelsea Farms

Ginger & Scallion

Surreal

Devium Wine

Jude’s Old Town

The Shambles

Lenox

Taco Time

Ramie

Spice SPC Indian Grocery

DeLuxe Bar & Grill

Meyer Bar

00:00 Intro

4:26 How Gray Got Started

13:14 What’s the Barista Competition Like?

18:50 Milk Innovation and Coffee Mixology

22:51 Choosing Music and Beans for Competition

31:37 Meg’s Indian Bodega Treat

37:39 This Week’s Restaurant News

51:07 Evolution of Seattle Coffee Culture

59:52 Re-thinking Freshness

1:08:28 What’s Next for Seattle Coffee?

1:11:12 Mystery LaCroix Tasting

1:14:18 Thanks, I Ate It!

1:29:28 Coming Up Next