written by hayley arendse

This Specialty Coffee Expo was one for the books. Look, I say that every year, but this year I really mean it. From a stellar lineup in the Roaster’s Village, to my first experience of setting up and breaking down twenty-four machines – it was the best one yet.

I’ve been lucky enough to attend this event since its first iteration in 2022 at Fourways Mall. However, working in the Roaster’s Village meant that there was never time to watch the topic of this blog post: La Marzocco’s Crush the Rush Competition. Fast forward two years and I found myself (a brand new LMSA employee – I had a month under my belt) running Crush the Rush off adrenaline and a YouTube video of the previous competition. Yes, the rumours are true. Your girl was a touch nervous.

Let’s run through a quick explanation for those of you who aren’t familiar with Crush the Rush. It is a fun competition based on speed, with three rounds for the team competition on Saturday, and one round for the individual competition on Sunday. For the civilians out there, speed of service is one of the key components to success in our industry, especially during a customer rush.

 

Eight teams were made up of three people, with teams going head-to-head on two Linea Classic S. Baristas generally love two things: a good dose of healthy competition and free merch. With bags full of La Marzocco merchandise, some unique to Expo Seam x LM Mini stickers and bragging rights up for grabs, there was some stiff competition. A different menu board of eight drink orders would be chosen for each round, and the teams would consist of two people on the machine (one pouring espresso shots and the other steaming and pouring milk) and one runner to deliver the beverages to the judges’ table. Each drink had to be made and presented in the sequence upon the menu board and accepted by the judges. Any spills, incorrect milk texture or drinks presented in the wrong order would be sent back to the team to redo, setting them behind their opponents. These rules also applied to the individual rounds the following day, with the exception of battling head-to-head.

 

Each round also featured various obstacles or curveballs, such as changing a drink order on the menu to takeaway when the barista has already started pouring into a ceramic cup or asking for alternative milk at the last second for round one. Round two involved our friends at Ice Team, producers of high-quality gelato and industry suppliers. The baristas thought they were only serving an espresso – imagine their surprise when halfway to the judges table, the runner was informed that the order has changed to an affogato. Prepared portions of vanilla gelato were waiting for them at the ice cream stand, halfway across the event space. We’re nice people at La Marzocco South Africa, I promise. The third and final round consisted of a mini foosball tournament. No spinning the handles! Each team member had to score a goal to be allowed to start working on the machine. This slowed one team down significantly and their opponents snuck the win.

We had the most entries ever into Sunday’s individual round, with thirteen competitors, two of which came all the way from the Eastern Cape. There were some records broken for Crush the Rush solo times – both for the quickest competitor (4:48 min) and, surprisingly, the slowest (11:11 min). The home enthusiasts gave the pros a proper run for their money.

Spectators this year was large, and wonderfully engaged. They cheered up a storm for their favourite competitors and had the opportunity to win some prizes in a La Marzocco quiz too.

Maintaining the energy of both the crowd and the contestants was no mean feat, but luckily, I had good old Sinjon, MC extraordinaire and our Brand Manager, to emulate and rely on. He is available for weddings, bat mitzvahs and braais. Thank you to event organisers, Jason and Cezanne Zeeman, for all that you do for our local Specialty Coffee scene, especially the work that the public doesn’t see.

A massive thank you from La Marzocco SA to everyone who showed up to watch and compete in Crush the Rush.

We had the best time. See you at the next one?