Andi was one of 26 baristas competing in the Millrock Latte Art Competition being held at Coffee Fest in DC. Five baristas from Fridays and five from Saturday advanced to the finals to be held tomorrow.

Andi made the cut. Andi will now face off against competitors not just from our region, but from across the country, including Portland OR, Seattle and Chapel Hill.
Contestants had five minutes of prep time to get used to the grinder and espresso maker. They then had five minutes to try to make as many artful lattes as they could. Andi pulled off three beautiful lattes, two rosettas and a heart, with more than 20 seconds to spare.
It wasn't that long ago that Andi would be nervous to try latte art with anyone watching over her shoulder. Now, she can pull off great-looking drinks with an audience of hundreds of spectators and four hard-to-please judges watching her every move.

Whether Andi wins it all tomorrow isn't all that important to us (although with a $1000 prize for winning, we're sure winning is on Andi's mind). For us to watch her growth into a professional with the confidence and ability to compete and score well at this level is an amazing award for both Andi and all her colleagues at Aldo Coffee Co.
YEAH ANDI!!! WE KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!!!! CONGRAGULATIONS!!!!!!!!! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!
Posted by: cara | February 25, 2006 at 08:50 PM
Thank you to everyone at Aldo for your support! Thank you to Melanie for giving me the opportunity to represent Aldo and being there for me! Thank you Cara and Petra for the morning cheer, that was awesome! I really liked it and it made me feel special. Thanks to Lois for being my morning support while I prepared for the competition. Especially to our customers, thank you for cheering me on everday and for all of your kind words!
I would like to go back and compete again someday. It was very exciting! Although the judges would not tell me where I finished in the ten competitors, it doesn't matter because I went to have fun and hopefully to do well for Melanie! Yes, I had a lot of fun!
A special thanks to my husband, Bill, for coming with me and supporting me through this exciting time!
Thanks to Brenda & Lucy for watching our kids, allowing us to go to Coffee Fest!
Also, Congratulations to Belle on doing so well in her competition!
A big thanks, once again, to everyone.
Andi
Posted by: Andi | February 27, 2006 at 05:05 PM