<div>... and they work in our backyard...er, I mean the heart of Deepistan!</div> <div> </div> <div>I am not sure if it is their attention to details or just that their coffee is so good that makes me love these guys so much, but I may have found nirvana at this place, since being away from spots like it in Seattle for so long. As much as I love San Francisco, I have to say I really miss baristas that KICK ASS, and now I don't have too!</div> <div> </div> <div>Go Ritual, GO!</div> <div>G</div> <div> </div> <div>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.<BR>The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:<BR><A href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/06/BAG1BI4C291.DTL" target=_blank><FONT color=#003399>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/06/BAG1BI4C291.DTL</FONT></A><BR>
---------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>Thursday, April 6, 2006 (SF Chronicle)<BR>SAN FRANCISCO/Pouring in the rain, they are the hot shop/Regional <BR>finalists in barista contest head to national championships for $1,000 prize<BR>Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer<BR><BR><BR> The champions of San Francisco don't need a thermometer to know what <BR>150<BR>degrees feels like.<BR> "When it's 150, it starts to get uncomfortable to hold it," Ryan <BR>Brown<BR>said. "You can't leave your hand on the milk pitcher for too long."<BR> Brown and his friend and co-worker, Gabe Boscana, also know what 21 <BR>grams<BR>of ground coffee feels like, and it does not feel like 22 grams of <BR>ground<BR>coffee. The two of them are mainstays behind the espresso machine at<BR>Ritual Coffee in the Mission District, where coffee is a serious thing,<BR>where there are no blenders making frozen concoctions with sprinkles
<BR>and<BR>where nobody sells mints, candy bars or CDs.<BR> It's just coffee, and the occasional croissant or slab of zucchini <BR>bread.<BR>The coffee is a sufficiently sacred fluid that those customers who <BR>deign<BR>to buy baked goods seem to know, without being told, that the dunking <BR>of<BR>them is simply not done.<BR> Boscana and Brown, both finalists in a regional contest, will depart <BR>today<BR>for Charlotte, N.C., and the four-day U.S. Barista Championships. Such <BR>a<BR>competition not only exists, even though it is sponsored by a coffeepot<BR>company, it is the real thing where 43 baristas from around the country<BR>compete for a $1,000 prize -- and where speed, grace, precision, <BR>texture<BR>and the proper wiggle of the milk-pouring wrist all have their place on<BR>the judges' clipboards.<BR> On Wednesday, the two friends were getting in a final shift of wrist<BR>wiggling at the coffeehouse before departing for the
contest and the<BR>possibility of glory. The wiggle as one is pouring the 150-degree <BR>steamed<BR>milk keeps the stuff light and foamy atop a caffe latte, and also <BR>enables<BR>the baristas to etch a leaflike pattern of brown coffee and white milk,<BR>called a rosetta, into the top layer of the beverage. It's the sort of<BR>thing that every customer appreciates, even the ones who immediately <BR>cover<BR>their cups with black plastic lids.<BR> "These fellows pay attention to details," said regular customer C.K. <BR>Teo,<BR>a graphic designer who appreciates a graphic design wherever it may be.<BR>"It's a small thing, but life is a collection of small things."<BR> Larry Badiner, the city's No. 2 planning official and another <BR>regular,<BR>said the pattern atop his $2.25 double macchiato "makes it a slightly<BR>nicer experience and gets the day started well."<BR> Both champions are devoted to the art of preparing a proper shot
of<BR>espresso and the long line of customers that stretches out the front <BR>door<BR>onto rain-splattered Valencia Street, while nearby coffeehouses go<BR>wanting, is soggy testament that not all coffee is created equal, even <BR>for<BR>those who desecrate it with Equal.<BR> A shot of espresso is made from 21 grams of finely ground coffee. It<BR>should take 27 seconds to force the steamed water through the coffee.<BR>Boscana times each one. If it's more than a couple of seconds off, the<BR>champions of San Francisco throw the shot away and adjust the grinder.<BR>Rainy or humid weather requires a finer grind, and the current Old<BR>Testament-style onslaught of rain interspersed with bursts of sunshine <BR>is<BR>playing havoc with the coffee mill settings.<BR> Boscana also takes little sips every so often, to make sure all is <BR>well.<BR>Both baristas load the ground coffee into the espresso baskets and tamp<BR>them down by hand, even though newer
generations of machines do it<BR>automatically.<BR> "You need to do it by hand," Boscana said. "It gives you control. <BR>Espresso<BR>and warm milk change so quickly. Seconds count."<BR> Boscana, a 27-year-old photography student from Brooklyn, and Brown, <BR>a<BR>25-year-old literature student from Walnut Creek, say they are not <BR>going<BR>to let this competition thing go to their heads and they will be back<BR>behind the giant red, two-nozzle, three-plunger La Marzocco espresso<BR>machine at Ritual Coffee next week, win or lose.<BR> Brown says he has given up on franchised coffee bar chains, <BR>especially the<BR>one that starts with an S. The S-word does not easily pass through his<BR>lips.<BR> "Starbucks," he said at last, "is OK. But it's silly to compare. I <BR>don't<BR>think their goal is about coffee. They're trying to be something else.<BR>They sell things to take home. They have blenders and syrups. There's
<BR>no<BR>reason to despise them, but we're after something else."<BR><BR> E-mail Steve Rubenstein at <A href="http://us.f609.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=srubenstein@sfchronicle.com&YY=43434&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a"><FONT color=#003399>srubenstein@sfchronicle.com</FONT></A>. <BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>Copyright 2006 SF Chronicle<BR></div><BR><BR>Gretchen Larsen<br>Senior Project Manager<br>Gargani + Company, Inc.<br>510-291-4226 office<br>415-425-2985 cell<p>
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