My First Barista Competition

I've been in a latte art competition, but never a full fledged barista competition. It's called The Ultimate Barista Challenge.
Just picture Iron Chef with baristas and coffee.
I competed in the latte art challenge, frappe challenge and cocktail/mixed drink challenge.
I won the frappe match and went on to challenge Ultimate Barista Ryan Dennhardt of Baristas Daily Grind in Kearney Nebraska. I had a wonderful blended drink called the Cherry Cordiall. It's Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia Ice Cream, Cherry Preserves, Pure Almond Exract, Cherry Syrup I made, Chocolate Syrup and 2 shots of espresso. That drink got me to the final round and got a great reaction from the judges. So... why didn't I win? I changed my drink the night before the finale =( POOP on me!!! I decided to try a Banana's Foster type drink instead. Bryers Vanilla Ice Cream, a ripe banana, brown butter, brown sugar, two shots all topped by a caramel whipped cream. Unfortunately my brown butter solidified, ice cream was basically melted and the drink just was not sweet enough. Ryan beat me with a Black Cherry frappe. POOP on me!!! The judges told me, if I had made my cherry drink, I would've won. That makes me feel better and worse at the same time. At least Matt Plantt from the Rancho Klatch won his event and beat Ryan with his cocktail drink. Good job Matt.
This will not be my last competition for sure. I can't wait to do this again.
Here's a few pics from The Ultimate Barista Challenge.