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(Lemuel works as a wholesale and customer service representative for Counter Culture Coffee in Durham.) “I tell them they need to work in a busy to-go shop for four years, bomb at competition a few times, and bag coffee for a couple years, and keep learning the whole time and then maybe, just maybe, they will be ready if my job opens up.” Beyond his rise through the ranks, the five-time Southeast Barista Champion has plenty to say about competition culture, signature drinks, and the craft of coffee performance.",[16,23,24],{},[25,26,27],"strong",{},"Could you share how you got into coffee and what led you to barista competitions?",[16,29,30],{},"Like many college graduates who don’t find work in their field, I became a barista. I just needed a job, and there was a small newspaper ad for a barista position. Back then I didn’t even know what a barista was, but I liked the early morning shifts. Then I fell down the rabbit hole. A coworker mentioned he was competing, and when I walked into the cooking school where that first competition was held, I was blown away. I wanted to do it right away. First year, I think I was third to last. I was horrible. But I just kept falling down the rabbit hole, practicing and taking classes, and when I won the following year, it was awesome! I was hooked.",[16,32,33],{},[25,34,35,42],{},[36,37],"img",{"alt":38,"height":39,"src":40,"width":41},"BigEastern_2015_Lem",2400,"\u002Fuploads\u002F36862442071821887181.webp",1600,"How has competition informed your coffee education?",[16,44,45],{},"Well, that first year I won regionals, one of the prizes was an all-expenses paid trip to compete in nationals. Thing was, nationals was in Charlotte that year, so Counter Culture, the sponsor, felt bad about sending me so close. So they teamed up with my employer, The Daily Grind, to send me to Nicaragua. That was my first time picking coffee, learning about the lives of farmers, and I came back so stoked I couldn’t shut up. It kept snowballing. The owner of The Daily Grind put me in charge of quality control, hiring staff, writing the training manual . . . and I kept competing. Honestly, I still have so much to learn about coffee. Now I get to teach the same classes at Counter Culture that I once took, which is pretty amazing.",[16,47,48],{},[25,49,50],{},"Do you remember your first signature drink?",[16,52,53],{},"(Laughs.) Yeah, it was a frozen white chocolate mocha with blueberry syrup. It was horrible. That was 2005. My first winning signature drink was also really simple, but it was pretty cool. I called it the Good Morning. Maple syrup in the bottom of the glass with steamed milk, then I brewed the espresso through cinnamon sticks. 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Instead of cupping the coffee and finding ingredients from the flavors I identified, which I usually do, I took a page from a book on molecular gastronomy I was reading and identified the volatile compounds of maple syrup, then linked seven ingredients through their volatile compounds. It’s a complex drink, but I think it’s really unified.",[16,63,64],{},[25,65,66],{},"We’re curious: how have you seen the barista competitions change during the decade you’ve been involved?",[16,68,69],{},"When I first got started, there was no broadcasting of competitions, so if you weren’t there you got wind of it through e-mails or Barista Magazine—we used to fight over those issues. There were also a bizarre number of regions. Some of us veteran baristas would compete out of region for more experience, which I loved because I got to meet some really great baristas that way, and they would school me. 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