someone today asked me what the best thing about the Nordic Barista Cup was. i could not answer immediately. i've thought about it a lot since then, and have my answer.

this was the first international competition for the Finns. they were so great - it was incredible to watch them soaking it all in. they were so excited, so amazingly cool. and now they're going to go back to their various bars in Finland with not only the knowledge gained but this enthusiasm and a renewed passion and excitement - and it will spread within those bars.

in essence, i just got to see the germination of a sea change in the Finnish coffee world i think.

the same thing is going to happen in the US as a result of this event - but on a different scale so it will be less dramatic. the US is such a huge country and the shops represented here are such a tiny tiny minority of the coffee businesses in the US that it simply cannot have the viral effect that it could have in Finland.

i hope that, instead, we can replicate an event similar in some ways to this event in the United States - and then use that to create a sea change of our own.

i actually really hope i'll have the chance to come to Norway next year for the next Nordic Barista Cup - if only to see how the Finns do.