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across the nation. "We'll be able to showcase the diversity of cup profile from Rwanda," says McClellan. "What he's doing is innova- tive—operating different private washing stations in the country and paying top dollar for the best cherry." Sustainable Harvest will also host a second presentation later that day, featuring Brazil's Luiz Roberto Rodrigues discussing the art and science of produc- ing naturals in the Parana region. Katie Gilmer, Sustainable Harvest's other relationship coffee manager, says the featured producers aren't connected by any one type of experimentation. Rather, they all fit under the wide umbrella of growers who produce high-quality coffee in innova- tive ways. "In El Salvador, [Emilio] is doing all these really strict quality-control experiments," she says. "In Rwanda, they're spe- cially picking these growing regions. I see the series like a coffee tasting combined with the TED conference, where you have all these people presenting really cool things, and then you also have the hands-on tasting side." The series has also been a way to connect Portland roasters with the coffees. Gilmer and McClellan say they eventually hope to use Portland warehouse Costa d'Oro to store the coffees purchased through the series, creating an all-Portland affair. In their vision, the format will provide a smaller-scale version of Sustainable Harvest's transparency-minded Relationship Coffee model. Says Gilmer, "In this phase, we have the producer coming up here to meet directly with these roasters, so there is that direct contact and total transparency because while they're in Portland presenting their coffees, talking about them and introducing their farms, we can also have those price discussions at the same time." Roasters and others interested in participating in the cuppings taking place during SCAA can contact Gilmer at katie@sustainable- harvest.com or McClellan at adam@sustainableharvest.com. —Chris Ryan MEET A FEW OF THE USBC HOPEFULS As thousands head to the SCAA Exposition, many eyes will be turned toward one of the show's signature events, the United States Barista Championship. Nearly 100 baristas in total will take part in the event's two contests: the barista competition and the Brewers Cup. The North Central and South Central regionals had yet to take place as of press time, but the other four regionals were in the books—and the winner of each netted a ticket to the USBC. Here's a partial picture of which baristas will be battling for the 2012 title: Southwest: At the Southwest competition, which took place in Santa Cruz in March, Jared Truby of hometown roasters Verve Coffee won the barista event with a Costa Rican coffee called Finale de Cosecha, which translates to "end of the harvest." A veteran barista competitor, this was Truby's first victory, which he attributes it to a newfound confidence. "I always had this doubt or nervousness onstage that wouldn't allow me to just be myself," he says. "I finally somehow got over that hump this year. It'll be a whole new game for me." continued on page 22 freshcup.com April 2012 21