Disloyal to the coffee shop, but loyal to the specialty coffee/ Slow Coffee Festival 2021 experience

28/09/2021

On September 11-12th we were part of Slow Coffee Festival & Aeropress National Championship –  an event dedicated to specialty coffee, fine foods, and crafts. It was our pleasure to be there among roasters,  coffee shops, equipment providers, and of course… coffee lovers. Two days of festival, thousands of people curious about the coffee and the process behind it, dozens of exhibitors, welcoming and very well prepared organizers – Laura & Afshin Roshanian – Founders of Artisan Coffee Gear, thank you for having us, we quite enjoyed being there. 

We met old and new friends, people that tasted our coffee for the first time, and also people that came specifically for us and our coffee. We had a lot of questions about how do we source, roast, and prepare our coffee, the equipment we use, or even who personalizes our t-shirts. And maaan, we missed being part of an offline event, chatting, brewing, sharing the passion for coffee more than we do it in our coffee shops, in our roastery, or behind the keyboards.

On our grinder we had a beautiful Colombia Delagua Micro lot 68,  you can find down below more about the cup profile:

Country of origin: Colombia

Farmer:Luz Marina / Los Olivos

Lot: Microlot 68 – El Retorno

Elevation: 1480m

Proc. Method: 35 h Anaerobic, Natural Dried

Region: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

Variety: Castillo, Colombia

Tasting notes: mandarin orange, oolong tea, rosehips, red fruits, chocolate truffles

Our colleagues, Damian, Andreea and Cristi participated in the competition, besides other 50 guys and girls that challenged themselves with the Aeropress method. The competition coffee was a washed Columbia grown sustainable and provided by Doña Luz Marina. We kept our fingers crossed for all of them and we are proud about their journey – that stopped after the semifinals.

What’s with the t-shirt? 

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 – this was our manifest for the specialty coffee industry on 11-12th of September at @slowcoffee_festival & Aeropress National Championship and remains our message for everyone in this industry.  Why? Because in order for this industry to grow, everyone in this chain must do their part. Better green coffee from the farmers, more roasters who know how to roast, more baristas who know how to prepare it, a broader coffee scene, and more coffee lovers that cherish it in small cups. It’s a process. A slow one, but we are heading in the right direction. It’s a matter of time and vision. And it doesn’t matter that you don’t drink your coffee in our coffee shop, as long as you drink specialty coffee… we couldn’t be happier.

“It`s important to keep in mind that what you receive in your cup involves more people than you ever imagined: from people that pick the cherries by hand to farmers, roasters and baristas.” 

Sincere appreciation to every member of the specialty coffee community who contributed to the growth of this industry, whether they are farmers, roasters, baristas, owners, people in the industry, or coffee lovers. Thank you team for an awesome weekend in Bucharest and a big congrats to everyone that competed at Aeropress National Championship. See you next year! 🙏