season's greetings, everyone, and welcome to the first episode of absolita's barista contest airing in december! (at least i think it will be as i write this it's like 10 pm my time but est it's midnight) this week, the baristas were thrown a curveball and were challenged to make soups! will your favorite barista noodle their way to the top, or will they boil over? as always, make sure to use the hashtag #AbsolitaBarista on twitter to sound off on your opinions. now, let's get into the judging on this episode of absolita's barista contest!
as for the judging this week, i think most of you did pretty well, as long as you took it seriously. some of you did not take it seriously, which is ok. we still have a few episodes to cut the filler out of the show.
1st - weetmaster - excellent submission. i am a HUGE pho lover and you really came through with the classic pho experience and gave me even more on top of that. i used to not like egg in soup, but that shit be good as hell especially with a noodle base. i have a lot of good memories of getting pho after class and trying every weird ass recipe, but i think that chicken is just the staple for a dish like this, cuz i think i'm a little too culturally insensitive for some of the more risky kinds of meat you could find in a pho. also full disclosure i would DRINK an entire bottle of that hoisin sauce its sosoosos good aaaa
2nd - kinggeek - another impressive week for the geek! i love instant ramen, and the only thing i love more than making it is putting random shit in it to see how it tastes. egg in ramen is also a pretty good choice, a hard-boiled egg and some spicy flavor will mix really well i love a nice cool egg flavor in that kind of context. i have never really gone to THIS level of extra, but now i'm really considering doing exactly that, because this looks delicious. chicken was a safe bet for a meat in the soup, like i said earlier. just overall really good job.
3rd - mmabatlokoamolefe - of course. the old guard of soups, chicken noodle. i feel like this was a really CLASSIC take on chicken noodle, but i also think that's why it landed. sometimes i just need some chicken and some noodle. this is definitely my go to for like an "i'm sick/cold/it's winter and my seasonal depression is kicking in" comfort soup, and i think you executed better on that fantasy than the other chicken souper. speaking of chicken soupers...
4th - mastropola - you know, after some of your comments on twitter, many people wanted me to cancel your contract with the show. they said you were being insensitive about ladylizard's death, calling you all sorts of terrible things... you know what i told them? monstrupio made ladylizard soup. just kidding you did not do that. joke tings. good chicken soup, and i appreciate that this has a very different vibe from the other chicken soup. that made it stand out for me still. if you had just done a..
welcome back to absolita's barista contest! this week, our baristas were challenged to make me a refreshing water drink to really sate my thirst before we get into the depths of this competition. how did they do? did YOUR favorite barista make a drink that would wow me this week? let's find out. as always, make sure to use the hashtag #AbsolitaBarista to sound off about your thoughts on this week's episode!
without further ado, let's get into the judging. this week had a lot of different submissions, and i liked a lot of what was going on this week! even a lot of the risks that didn't pan out were rather funny. i'll be going down the list, from my favorite submissions to my least favorite submissions. (i will do my best to do critiques for everyone every week, but i'm not going to make promises)
1st - darktyphoon23 - This was really what I was looking for this week. I think you really stuck to a classic water formula with the idea of lemon water, but the presentation really put you at the top for me. I was really hoping a lot more people would incorporate ice into their drinks! Ice is honestly such a key component to having a refreshing glass of water it's not the same unless your tastebuds are going a little numb and you feel the nice, cold sensation of it running down your throat... what were we talking about again?
2nd - mastropola - Yes yes yes this is such a VIBE of a picture. Condensation on the outside of the glass is really the sign of an expertly poured glass of water. She's nice and cold, she looks very refreshing, and you really tapped into the "hot day just mowed lawn find water" part of my brain with this drink. Excellent work this week.
3rd - kinggeek - This also looks super refreshing to me. Lemon and lime really are kind of just the go-to fruits when it comes to water mix-ins, so you really won. I see some ice in there too, and I'm ready to have my thirst quenched. I think you paid a lot of attention to your presentation this week. The little jars in the background give me some Love Island UK vibes when they leave the villa to have a romantic picnic.
4th - akora - The Brita water filter/pitcher 2-in-1 DOES trigger me in a way. My aunt used to use them all the time and uhm, to make a long story short, she is very fucking annoying. However, even despite that, I do really respect the ability to just pull that little tab and have some ice cold water without no DAMN fluoride infecting the brains of our youth.
5th - itsaustin - Easily the best of the 3 bottled water submissions this week. I really love the walmart water bottles because they are super weak and very good for chewing on. I probably sound insane saying that but idc like this is my show and this is my judging panel and the ability to chew on the receptacle that the water comes out of is really a genius idea there is something so satisfying about crushing the weak plastic..
