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C Photo / The Barista League

Competitions have evolved over

the years where baristas are now

sourcing extremely expensive coffees,
bringing in tropical ingredients, and

creating beverages too extravagant

for the average café menu.

“A lot of times people will have traveled to where the Terroir directly translates from French to mean “soil
coffee is growing,” says Joe Marrocco, 2011 US Barista or land”, but in wine (and coffee) it takes on a deeper
Champion and VP of Coffee Sourcing and Product Devel- meaning, calling to the complete natural environment
opment at The Roasterie in the USA. “They’ll do a drink including the climate, soil, and surroundings. Eckroth
that represents something they’ve had while traveling to explains that using ingredients native to coffee producing
the growing region. Like a caipirinha from Brazil.” Made countries can elicit “lively and playful life to the flavors
with lime, sugar, and a Brazilian alcohol called cachaça, it’s that surround a coffee’s earlier stages” during cultivation,
a tropical, citric, and slightly earthy beverage. growth, and processing.
Eckroth went this route, becoming inspired on a cof- Competitions have evolved over the years where
fee buying trip, by using a tart Colombian citrus fruit called baristas are now sourcing extremely expensive coffees,
lulo on the World’s stage. Eckroth explains, “I ran into lulo bringing in tropical ingredients, and creating beverages
for the first time while on a sourcing trip to Colombia and too extravagant for the average café menu. However,
Inmaculada [coffee farm]. We saw it growing and also according to Marrocco, in earlier days of competition
shared a drink that was similar to lemonade but with lulo baristas would often compete with the signature drinks
as the base rather than lemons.” While personal inspiration they served in their shops rather than creating a drink
makes for a compelling story, ingredients used on the world exclusively for the stage.
stage must also complement the coffee. For Eckroth, lulo
ticked this box as well. “When looking for ingredients, I In Specialty Cafes
needed things that had synergy with my coffee while still
matching the drink profile I wanted. Lulo hit three different Though competition has grown and changed, cafés
important points for my drink. First, it had a distinct and around the world continue to showcase unique signature
pleasant flavor. Two, it added a balancing tartness and drinks that utilize ingredients complementary to their
acidity. Third, it tied directly into the origin of my coffee.” coffees. Sometimes these flavors come from coffee produc-
Local to where Eckroth was at the time, yet global when ing regions, sometimes they are seasonal and local to the
prepared on the World Barista stage in Austraila. cafe, and – in origin countries – sometimes they are both.
Díaz also used Colombian ingredients to complement When a café is located in a coffee producing country, baris-
the Colombian coffee used in his 2023 US routine. “This tas have the advantage of using local produce and highlight
year I integrated panela sugar, eggs, and coffee blossoms. ingredients that are grown alongside coffee.
In the South of Colombia we have a dessert called ponche Díaz, who spends his time between Colombia and
made with egg white, yolk, panela, and 1 shot of aguardiente the USA, says he sees a lot of Colombian baristas utilizing
or reduced wine. Showcasing the treat created a unique “coffee cascara, coffee blossoms, panela, local cacao,
synergy since both my coffees were from the south and guava, passionfruit. They use these ingredients to create
only very true locals would know what ponche even is. It synergy with their drink and they are also very familiar
really did remind me of the first time I visited Cauca and with the many ways to present them and manipulate
had ponche and I said I have to do this in the barista stage. them.” He tells me that Colombia is one of the leading
Using ingredients from the origin of your coffee has been producers of panela in the world, so it is no wonder that
a great way to bring a piece of the terroir to the table.” it is used frequently alongside coffee.

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