Local Coffee Shop Barista Qualifies For U.S. Barista Finals

Not Your Average Joe is a coffee shop with exceptional coffee and even better people, now both are on display all around the country. 

With five locations, the coffee shop currently has 44 employees with special needs. 

“Both of my parents are deaf, and so I’m kind of already in the world of disabilities,” Sabrina Denham, Not Your Average Joe manager, said. 

Sabrina manages the Norman location and is a skilled barista. 

“A barista is the person who makes the coffee into whatever you’ve ordered, so like a latte, a cappuccino, a cortado,” Denham said. 

 And no question about it, she knows her stuff when it comes to coffee. 

“I think one thing that I have really learned is how to pair different syrups and flavors with different types of coffees and drinks,” Denham said. 

Denham recently competed in the qualifying rounds for the U.S. Barista Competition in Baltimore, Maryland. 

“Figure out what I could do that was creative enough, but also paired well with the coffee, that I could show the judges,” Denham said. 

After many tries, she finally created the perfect espresso for the competition. 

“It's like a flavor bomb in your mouth. Like you wouldn’t expect it to be so flavorful. But my goal with that drink was to make an espresso drink that anyone would want to drink,” Denham said.  

As is typical in competitions, everything didn’t go as planned and Sabrina thought for sure she would not continue to the finals. 

“And then they called my name, and I was just like ahh, thank God,” said Denham. 

Her coworkers back home were completely excited for her. 

“Here comes the underdog, the new face on the scene, Sabrina made the finals in Portland, the first person in Oklahoma to do so,” Not Your Average Joe executive director, Tim Herbel, said.  

“I love that she is going to the finals, I’m just very excited, and I just love her,” Not Your Average Joe coworker, Danielle Robinson, said.  

The competition will be tough, she is one of 18 baristas to advance to the finals in the U.S. and the first ever from Oklahoma.  

She will head to Oregon in April for finals, and when she wins there it’s off to Greece for the world competition. You can track her progress on their Facebook and Instagram pages, @NYAJ coffee.