Nick Cho of Murky Coffee was a favourite in this year's USBC, but unfortunately, he did not make it into the finals.

These photos are ones I took yesterday during the first of Nick's two rounds. He filed a protest about the condition of the middle machine, and the protest was successful, giving him another chance to compete.

Unfortunately, Mark could not attend this round by Nick because of a meeting he had scheduled with a grinder maker, so I was there, snapping away on one of CoffeeGeek's cameras. I cannot tell you too much about Nick's performance other than he looked very intense but was also very fun to watch. His signature drink looked very exciting, and I wish I had a chance to taste it. I think many in the audience would like to taste the drinks these baristas make!

Nick's choice of cups were spectacular, and are sold by a company that advertises on CoffeeGeek from time to time, Terra Keramik.

Mark has put in some comments in the photos, as best he could since he did not attend. Enjoy these photos of Mr. Cho in the competition!

The Cups! Nick's choice of cups are the amazing (and amazingly expensive) Terra Keramik. He also bought a set of Illy Nudes off eBay as "backups". Wowsa Amazing cups - dripping white porcelain with platinum highlighting. Last seconds... Nick cleaning his station in the last seconds (he had 33 left when this photo was taken). Note the can of compressed air. Gettiing into it.... I see Nick's loading up a portafilter with great technique... but he's using the machine's middle group!

The face... I'm pretty sure that Nick isn't happy with the pulls... but it looks like he's just lining up the cups in this shot on the middle group. Watching... Making sure everything's working right. Uh oh... Again, using the middle (and far right) group. This La Marzocco had a (supposedly) faulty middle group. Note the two fisted action by Nick on the right ;) Concentration Pouring the latte art for the judges.

Steaming Milk Steaming milk while the sensory judges and head judge look on. Sig Dring Time Nick comes around to the outside to work on his signature drink. Time is counting down. The setup. Intense setup. Shot glasses for the sig drink espresso, the settings, the knock boxes, the tamper, the dual grinders, yada yada! Judges tasting Judges taste the elements that go with the sig drink, as per Nick's instructions.