Local Barista Ian McGee Heads to U.S. Coffee Championships, an Ambassador for Dallas Coffee

Fiction Coffee’s own Ian McGee will compete in the preliminary round of the U.S. Coffee Championships, taking place Sept. 9–10 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event gives McGee the chance to both visit his hometown and showcase his talents in the barista category of the national competition.

The 15-minute competition calls for each barista to make two espressos and two cappuccinos, then create a personally designed signature beverage. Six judges will score candidates on prepping, cleanliness, technicalities and overall presentation. The competition’s aim is to seek a new coffee ambassador.

“For the baristas competing, you have to give a presentation about what coffee means to you,” McGee says. “My presentation is going to be about the relationship between coffee and people.”

McGee’s passion for coffee started nearly a decade ago. After attending college at Angelo State, he worked at a Starbucks in Dallas. His curiosity swelled when he took a job at The Lighthouse Coffee Shop in Midlothian and later at White Rhino in Cedar Hill. This brought McGee into “the world of third wave coffee,” he says, piquing his interest in the craft. He eventually settled into a management role at Fiction Coffee in Deep Ellum last year.

Third wave coffee is a term coined in the late '90s for a movement that started in the '70s emphasizing a higher-quality coffee product. Beans are generally sourced from either local or individual farms and roasted to bring out distinctive flavors, which sometimes are exclusive to their place of origin.

Although coastal cities such as Seattle, San Francisco and Boston are traditionally known for being meccas for third wave coffee, McGee is confident Dallas is on its way up and wants help his city clinch a victory in the competition.

The concept also offers a different approach to customer engagement.

“Moving into third wave coffee was definitely a change of pace,” McGee says. “It was a lot slower, and we were able to really talk and get to know our regulars, and we had time to really perfect our creations and try new things.”

McGee thinks that for a time Texas was a bit behind on coffee culture compared to some coastal scenes, but that's changing, "Now we have a great group of local roasters and independent shops doing things like making their own syrups, experimenting with techniques and working hard to help us be able to rise to any occasion.”

He also sees the Dallas coffee scene as friendly and led by baristas who care about their product. He hopes this competition is a shoutout to the emerging coffee scene in Dallas.

“What I love about coffee is whenever you dive deeper, it’s really all about the relationships,” McGee says. “From the farmers to the roasters to the consumers, getting to know people and their everyday life is extremely rewarding for me and the best part of my job.”