The Barista as Gymnast  This was prompted by discussions such as
this and this and this.  Every couple of months the debate comes
up somewhere online concerning the merits of the Barista
Competitions as performance vs. microcosm of bar life. On the
one side there is the camp of those who say these are silly
displays of frilly pansies creating impossible drinks for
sternly snobbish coffee aficionado judges. There is, they claim,
no parallel between pumping out the well rehearsed one dozen
drinks demanded for competition, and preparing an ever-changing
flux of tickets in a busy cafe. The argument usually takes the
position that because the two arenas are so far removed from
each other, the competitions have little to no value as a market
driving force (or spectator event, for that matter).  The other
school of thought I have seen is something of an apologetic
approach, explaining the hidden similarities. A Barista must
craft their performance to the taste of the judges, and play to
them to score well, just as t