Welcome back to the FINALE of Absolita's Barista Contest! We're... a little behind schedule, for no reason in particular, but I'd wait until the end of time for our baristas. Well, not really, but it was only like a week and Miss Sydney was working on other productions at the time (her daily edgic series- please do check it out if you haven't already). So, we pulled some strings and got a few extra days before we had to shoot!
I want to jump right into the critiques, as that's gonna be a very meaty helping of words on it's own. I'm going to score each drink out of 10 and reveal the placements after all of the critiques, so as not to give away the outcome. Nobody wants a coffee with spoiled milk, after all.
Let's start with our first drink: the hot coffee round.
KingGeek - Miss Ashanti, I'm a little conflicted when it comes to this drink. I am a bit of a sucker for latte art, but that's about all I have that really blows me away here. I do appreciate a simple approach to coffee, I really do, but this is the finale of ABC. I feel like you should have done more with this outside of really selling the cozy style and aspect to your drink (which you did nail, to your credit).
MmabatlokoaMolefe - You definitely hit the mark this round, I really do like what you did. I respect a classic mocha but I think you kind of took it one step further when it came to your idea. Nutella + Coffee isn't something I would immediately go to as an idea, but it's one that's really excellent in its simplicity. I really love Nutella (hazelnut? more like make me nut) and I am honestly kind of shocked that it took this long to have like a nutella-themed drink on this show? But I am happy she made it to the stage eventually, so thank you for that. Well done on this one.
mastropola - I like this a bit. I think you also had a bit of a risk and did something not necessarily unexpected, but definitely something that was pretty classic as well. I love the Italian flair here that is definitely a hit, and I think one of my fave vloggers I always send you videos of really endorses pralines so I can get behind that even though... I honestly don't know what the fuck a praline is? Like really, what is she? I guess she's supposed to be like a nut, or something, but... huh?? Either way that's fine I'm happy for her, or sorry that happened. Congratulations to her.
Now, onto the iced coffee critiques.
KingGeek - I think you took a generally simple approach to all of your drinks this week. Uhm, whether that was out of being in a rush, or if you wanted to keep it lowkey, I don't know, but I think unlike your first drink- this time it REALLY worked for me. I actually loved this idea top-to-bottom, it reminds me of a chai tea with lots of nice spices and I could go dumb (go stupid ahh) on a glass of this. I think for iced coffee I was hoping for something refreshing and this simplicity was a very refreshing angle to take. Your plating was pretty simple, but I don't think you needed to do anything too extra to make this work. This was a hit.
MmabatlokoaMolefe - So, we have definitely had like s'mores drinks before, which is fine- I wasn't counting this out just because she was a bit derivative. However, I think you could have taken more of a lesson from the other s'mores drink submitted a couple weeks ago, and went a little less extra on the marshmallows and such? Like this was... a lot of marshmallow fluff. This is giving me type 2 diabetes just based on the visual alone, and honestly that's kind of an overplayed disability at this point. Where I can give you credit is the plating is immaculate, and otherwise the flavors of this do seem to be pretty delicious and refreshing, so you did score a few points for this drink. Not bad, just a bit TOO much for my tastes.
mastropola - I don't quite know where to start, but I do have to give you your props for this plating, like this is what Witos wanted her coconut smoothie to give me but didn't. I think this drink looks delicioso. I think chocolate/coconut is a pretty good flavor combo, although maybe a bit expected, and this kind of ticks all the boxes for me. This strikes a great balance between refreshingly simple and a bit funky and exciting. I really have nothing else to say, my brain is rotting from writing these critiques so just know you did well on this theme.
And finally... the branded coffee critiques. This could be a make or break theme!!! It's truly anyone's game.
KingGeek - This is... honestly kind of cute, but I'm conflicted on it. I'm not a HUGE Dunkin' person but I do fuck with them, and a lot of times when I just need a bit of a coffee boost and I'm out and about for whatever reason, I wouldn't NOT go for a black coffee. I like being able to add whatever I want to my drink and sometimes I just like the bitterness of a nice dark roast, but I probably wouldn't drink an cold brew black coffee, I really prefer black coffee to be hot in general. Is the fact that you got me a black coffee supposed to be like... you sending me over to the little station to fix it myself? I think that's kind of a miss if that was the intent here. You're the one who's supposed to be making the drink, so judging it at face value... this is kind of just okay. Sorry gal.
MmabatlokoaMolefe - Starbucks secret menu shit is honestly usually kinda good but not worth the psychological torture of asking for a secret menu item, so I'm glad that you made it for me instead of me having to awkwardly fumble over my words trying to think of the best way to ask for a secret menu item. That being said, this cake batter frappuccino is pretty tasty-looking. I'm honestly not sure what I could compare this to when it comes to imagining what it tastes like, as I've never really had it, but if it actually tastes like cake batter then I'm happy for her, because that sounds really good.
mastropola - This was kind of unexpected, uhm, I don't think I am familiar with Scooter or his coffee, but I am glad that golden retrievers can own successful businesses. That's a big step for the furry community. Either way, I actually love this tbh. Just the look alone of the espresso mixed with the milk creating the little smoky-ish vibe to it as they blend together... I shake my iced coffees like Shakira's hips and this is always a treat to watch. Also, I think you kind of appealed to my performatively anti-capitalist sensibilities by choosing a small business, so you kind of win points there. You didn't really give me a flavor palette to work with, unfortunately, so I kind of have to project my own idea of what I think this would taste like, but I kind of just see it as a simple coffee drink with a bit of milk and sugar, maybe a slight vanilla or hazelnut or sweet cream vibe- which honestly I don't mind very much, considering your other drinks were pretty defined.
So, that's all of my thoughts on the drinks in this finale episode!!! Now, it's time to get into announcing how you all performed. Before I finish, I really do want to thank all 3 of you for playing and taking this more seriously than I was expecting people to. I worked really hard on this game and regardless of how you guys place I hope you guys had a fun time, because I really did!!! This was one of the dumbest ideas I've ever had but it turned out to be a fun thing to spend time on every couple days and I think even though it got a bit messy at times, for the most part I did a good job?? I think??? lmao idk
But without further ado, let's get into our third placer, with 21 out of a possible 30 points...
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KingGeek! Ashanti, although I had high expectations for you coming into this finale, I don't particularly feel like you hit that bar I was hoping you would. Despite that, I think you did a great job throughout this entire competition and you were an amazing contestant to host. Congrats on making it to the end, and I hope your barista-ing career can propel itself to even higher heights!
So, that leaves our top two as Mmaba and Mastro. The villain vs. the underdog. Between the top two, only one point separated the two of you.
With 24/30 points, our winner is...
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MASTROPOLA!!!!!! Congratulations Sydney!!! Honestly I think a lot of people will cry that this is rigged but it doesn't shock me that you won considering you out of all people would know my tastes pretty well, and I really did prefer your drinks the most of the three finale submissions. Amazing work, gal. I'm glad you made it here and I'm proud of you.
MmabatlokoaMolefe, you will end the competition in 2nd, but that's nothing to sneer at. You did submit a lot of amazing drinks and kept me on the edge of my seat near the end. I was always wondering what you would come up with and if you would make it another week! You beat out many strong competitors to get here and you should be proud of yourself as well. But not as proud as Sydney, of course.
That's really it for our finalists. I'd like to tag everyone else as well, however, as the chart will be posted below and you can read all about this season! I saved all of the submissions and the guest judging info that was held secret is also available now.
If you have any questions or concerns, post them in the comments below. I will make sure to ignore them. (jk i will answer whatever you ask!!! maybe! don't get too brave)
That's... really it. Thank you guys for giving me something to do over the winter, I get lonely. This was a lot of fun and whether you were first boot or first place, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. (but you probably didn't D:)
