Caffeine Nation

The Houston Chronicle 's Alison Cook reports that Blacksmith's David Buehrer has qualified for the U. S. Barista Championship, placing 5th out of 36 contestants. Cook writes: "What helped him score as high as he did, says Buehrer is having a team of 3 other Blacksmith staffers on the scene, 'all focused on making sure that everything that could go wrong didn't. That I had every utensil, every piece of glassware, every setting, every gram of coffee, every single thing I needed to get the drinks off the cart and onto the judges' table.'" [Houston Chronicle]