Local coffee connoisseur places 8th in field of 55
On March 22, local Scooter’s assistant manager Sarah Havlik competed in the second annual Scooter’s Barista Cup competition held at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.
Celie Holliday, Aurora’s Scooter’s location human resources manager, spoke on how Sarah was selected to show off her skills at the competition.
“Each store could choose whoever they wanted to compete in this competition, but basically it’s a competition of barista skills,” Holliday explained. “The store decides who they want to enter this competition. We had Maddie, our manager and then Sarah our assistant manager.”
Asked about the application process, assistant manager and competitor Sarah Havlik explained the preliminary work that went into competing in Omaha.
“They sent us questions and then we filmed ourselves answering those questions,” she said. “Then they gave us five drinks that we had to make and we had to record ourselves making the drinks as fast as we could.”
Havlik went on to explain the excitement of finding out she was one of the 55 baristas chosen to compete.
“There were about 130 applicants and 55 were picked to perform live,” Havlik voiced. “When I got the email that I had been chosen, my jaw dropped. It was awesome.”
The barista further illustrated the roller coaster of emotions she felt knowing she was one of the top Scooter’s baristas in the country.
“It was already nerve-racking getting the email,” she said. “First, I was like ‘this is awesome,’ then I thought, ‘what have I gotten myself into?’”
In order to prepare for the competition, all selected baristas were sent a list of possible drinks they would be asked to make.
“They were given a list of 16 to 20 drinks that might show up when they competed,” Holliday added. “Sarah did three practice rounds here at our store before she went to Omaha.”
Along with the nerves of competing, the set-up of the coffee station was different from the Scooter’s in Aurora. Holliday spoke about what this looked like.
“They had a kiosk setup with the Frankies (espresso machines) and blenders,” she said. “Basically they set up a Scooter’s within this little area, and they had stadium seating in front of it where people could sit and watch.”
The morning of the 22nd, Havlik stepped onto the floor ready for her time to shine. With a few co-workers and the Scooter’s community around her, she got to work.
“I just had to pretend it was a Friday morning rush,” Havlik said. “I just walked in, prepped, and did it.”
With Scooter’s baristas coming from all over the country, Havlik voiced that she wanted to see how she ranked in comparison to other coffee experts.
“I wanted to see where I stood amongst some of the other fastest baristas,” she said. “I also just wanted to see where I was, what I could learn and just get myself out of my comfort zone.”
Overall Havlik ranked eighth out of the 55 competitors and added that she was very proud of her success.
“I got in the top 10,” she said. “I did a lot better than I thought I was going to do.”
After the competition, the barista reflected on what this event meant to her and how much she appreciated the opportunity.
“I’m really glad I got to do it,” Havlik concluded. “It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve probably ever had.”