The competition was on but the contestants had to wait until after they had been handed their coffee beens before they could race off to one of the barrels containing water. A grinder had been set up on the judge's table in the very center of it for those that did not have, or think to bring their own. This was about half of the competitors.
By a stroke of luck General Davis ended up being the third person to receive their scoop of coffee beans, and he was able to be one of the first make it to the judge's table mounted grinder. With freshly ground coffee in hand the general turned coffee maker raced to fill his pot with water and get back to his little campfire. It was not necessarily a race against the hourglass, but General Davis was under a lot of pressure to get his coffee made and set before the panel of judges, as he was the first one that had to do so.