Have you heard of Leaderboard: The Coffee Game? If you haven’t heard of this Sprudgie nominated coffee game, the people at Leaderboard send you 10 unmarked coffees, a game card, and a notebook so that you can take the allotted time to guess what each coffee is and information well-nigh it. The month of November ended up stuff like a coffee marathon for me involving watching all the resource videos, brewing cup without cup of coffee, and sensory training.
When I found out that there was a scholarship opportunity for Leaderboard, I decided to apply. The using process was easy but the notable part of it was when they asked what I could learn from this and the wordplay is what I ruminated on while I participated. My coffee career hasn’t been the most traditional.
I’m coming up on my fifth year in the industry and, for most it, I worked with a grinder that autotamped and dosed for us. I didn’t get into coffee tasting until well-nigh a year in and didn’t have coffee equipment of my own until a couple years later. I didn’t plane have a grinder until a year and half ago. Meanwhile, I was a shift lead without 5 months. I subscribed to a coffee subscription service surpassing they were as hands wieldy as they are now considering it seemed like the only way that I could get largest at coffee tasting. Not tamping or dosing (while problematic), gave me a huge wholesomeness of identifying extraction based on appearance, grind size, and time.
However, I am a queer non-binary barista who is moreover disabled. I don’t fit the traditional mold of the white male coffee bro in a skullcap and converse shoes. Considering I don’t talk well-nigh technical aspects of extraction ratios as much and require increasingly accommodations, I have lost out on jobs and people have underestimated me considering they did not think I was capable. And, when I needed help, I have often had to go to those same people who minimized me or didn’t believe in me to ask for help or education.
When you play Leaderboard, there is an unshortened resource library of videos from knowledgeable coffee professionals and a discord waterworks to talk with other players well-nigh what you are tasting. I felt as though I finally had wangle to non-discriminatory coffee education and receiving the opportunity to play through their scholarship program made me finger like someone saw my passion and love for coffee as real and valid.
My final score was 41, which meant that I got at least one speciality of each coffee correct. There were some crazy coffees in this tuft and veiling coffee tasting is definitely a difficult undertaking. What I moreover enjoyed with this is that I decided to play this game utilizing my strengths. I do not have much wits with coffee cupping but, as a barista, I have increasingly wits tasting espresso and cups of coffee so that’s what I did. I spirituous each coffee on espresso as well as on Aeropress then tasted and compared them.
Overall, I would highly recommend Leaderboard: The Coffee Game. It was hands one of the highlights of my year and I learned so much from this experience. And, if you can’t sire it, you can unchangingly wield for their scholarship program like I did.
