Spro Down!

Espresso drips from Spro’s espresso press.

Closing out the day-long Barista Jam at the soon-to-be-opened Spro Coffee shop in Hampden. It’s like a block away from my house. The following photos are of the latte-art “throw down” Saturday, February 13, 2010.

I pitched this story to Larry Perl, editor and writer for the Baltimore Messenger, one of The Patuxent Publishing Co.’s newspapers. The Messenger covers my neighborhood.  …here is Larry’s story.

I wanted to make sure that this story wasn’t merely a business profile. I always feel those are kinda cheap unless there’s a good hook to it. Nor did I want the article to be “event” oriented. Rather I thought the more interesting angle is about the coffee and how nerdy some people can get about it. This place doesn’t treat coffee like Starbucks, or most of the local coffee shops. Their attitude about coffee is more akin to a specialized wine bar. For example, two or three of the staffers are prepping to compete in the upcoming regional coffee competitions. How’s that for geeking out?

Surrounded by “coffee nerds” Spro barista Jess Carmer prepares her latte art piece during the “throw down.”

Spro owner Jay Caragay, from Cockeysville, makes his first latte art in several months during a latte art throw down, part of his coffee shop’s day-long barista jam. His drink was later poured out, losing to Phil Proteau, who drove from Philadelphia to teach the latte art workshop.

Devlin Rice, from Mount Vernon, brings his latte art creation to be judged.

losing out the day-long Barista Jam at the soon-to-be-opened Spro Coffee shop in Hampden, a few of the attendees participated in a latte-art “throw down” Saturday, February 13, 2010. Two lattes are paired side-by-side and the winner of the two is pushed forward. The losing drink is poured in a bowl — or in the case of one drink, sipped by judge Anisha Jagtap. There were two judges, Jagtap, who’s hand is pushing the winning drink, and Scott Conary, not seen, from Chapel Hill, NC. He coached Jagtap, owner of Hampden desert shop, Puffs and Pastries, in their decisions. Being the chair of the United States Barista Competition, his opinions were better formed. The winning latte was made by Phil Proteau, who was on hand to teach the Jam’s Latte Art Workshop.

Judge Anisha Jagtap, owner of the Hampden desert shop Puffs and Pastries, sips on one of the losing latte art entries.

Spro barista Lindsay Wailes, from Westminster, receives comfort from her friend Shawna Potter, of Catonsville, after her latte art entry is poured out. Closing out the day-long Barista Jam at the soon-to-be-opened Spro Coffee shop in Hampden, a few of the attendees participated in a latte-art “throw down” Saturday, February 13, 2010. The two are flanked by Phil Proteau, from Philadelphia, left, who came up to Hampden to teach the latte art workshop — he won the “throw down” — and Tim Brisnehan, from DC, right.

Phil Proteau, who drove from Philadelphia to teach the latte art workshop at Spro’s barista jam, celebrates his latte art throw down win.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 4:00 pm. It is filed under Essays, Photojournalism, Photos, The Patuxent Publishing Co. and tagged with Baltimore, community journalism, photo series, The Patuxent Publishing Co.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.