Barista Up to the Challenge: Hercules Woman Competes in Peet's Company-Wide Challenge

If Hercules resident Sam Watson goes up against three other Peet's baristas Friday to determine the company's best drink-maker and she doesn't win, it won't be for a lack of trying.

A barista for three years at in Pinole, she said she's spent more than 60 hours in the past month practicing her skills at steaming milk, pulling the perfect espresso shot and assembling drinks. She won competitions with other Peet's baristas at the store level, then in district and regional contests to make the finals. Friday's test, at the company's Alameda roasting plant, will determine the top drink-maker among the more than 160 stores in five states.

Watson credits her practice time and plenty of support, feedback and suggestions from fellow employees for her success.

Four judges will determine the fate of the competitors. They will score participants on technique, presentation and the taste of the drinks. Watson will be judged on the making of three drinks: a shot of espresso, a traditional cappuccino and a unique signature drink of her creation. She must make four of each drink so that each judge can taste all of them.

She will use clear shot glasses to make the signature beverage.

"When the espresso comes in, then I pour on the milk on top you get to see the layering effect. Then I display them on a tray so it looks like I'm a cocktail waitress."

She named the drink A Taste of Peet's.

"I felt that in this tiny little beverage you get the amazing taste of the espresso, you get the full-bodiedness of our coffee, you get the creamy texture of the milk-foam and then you get the hand-crafted barista skills putting it all together."

The baristas are given 15 minutes to make each drink four times, so concentration, steady hands race against the clock, making for a test of nerves.

"I shake, that's for sure," Watson said with a laugh. "I'm always told that I make it look really easy, which I laugh at afterwards because I'm a wreck back there. Oh, my gosh. But with all the people around me, with judges right next to me, in front of me, behind me, a camera guy a video guy — I block it all out. The only thing I'm focusing on is me and looking at the judges." I really just get into the zone of geeking out with coffee. It works."

Although the competition is intense, Watson, who is quick with a laugh, said she has worked closely the other finalists, who are from stores in Oakland, San Luis Obispo and Portland. They went through two days of training together, which included a tour of the roasting plant and special cupping of coffee with Peet's vice president of coffee, Doug Welsh.

"Whatever the outcome is, to meet all those people and to have gotten treated they way I've been treated in the last month is worth it all because they treat us like superstars. It's been a lot of fun."

Watson, a Hercules resident, has squeezed in her practice time between work and taking classes at Mills College in Oakland, where she's studying infant mental health. If she wins on Friday, the company will make a donation in her name to the Bay Area Crisis Nursery in Concord.

"I not only know a lot of people who volunteer with that organization but I've heard many speakers at my school talk about it. I find what they do for families and children very inspiring."