Hello World! Here comes Pete Licata and Hawaiian Coffee

Step right up ladies and gentlemen and witness the amazing.  The truth is out there.  And it goes by the name Pete Licata.

/files/u1/logo_region.png" alt="Western Regional Barista Competition (WRBC) " title="Western Regional Barista Competition (WRBC) " align="right" height="108" hspace="10" vspace="10" width="290" />Today, Pete Licata, barista trainer for Honolulu Coffee Company (Honolulu, HI), won the Western Regional Barista Competition (WRBC) with a smooth, classy performance that should impress anyone.  Not only did he add a dazzling technique for his espresso shots (layering the portafilter with different coffees of different particle sizes) but he used 100% Hawaiian Coffee.  


Yup, you heard me.  Coffees from a generally discounted coffee origin won a regional barista competition.  It seems I’m not the only one who thinks these coffees are worth drinking!


Pete’s coffee’s came from two farms in two different Hawaiian regions.  The larger portion came from Hula Daddy in Kona, Hawai‘i.  The variety, I imagine, was ‘Typica’.  Moreover, the coffee was composed of three different processes- washed, pulped natural (aka honey), and dry processed.  What a complex concoction!


The smaller portion of the coffee came from MauiGrown Coffee in Ka‘anapali, Maui.  The variety used was ‘Mokka’, probably dry processed.  As far as I know, this is the only commercial producer of ‘Mokka’ on the planet.  Yeah, it’s good stuff.

All the coffees were roasted by Hula Daddy's superstar roaster: Miguel Meza.

Contrary to what I told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin last week, Pete is not the first Hawai‘i barista to compete in an SCAA competition.  According to Chester Huan, Melody Haldwell (living on Kauai at the time) competed in the WRBC back in 2005.  Chester competed in the US Barista Championship in 2003 and the WRBC in 2006.


Pay attention, World!  It’s a whole new game with “The Pete” at the helm of the espresso machine.  Oh, and be prepared to be dazzled by Hawaiian coffees!