Seattle Coffee Fest 2008
When I realised that I would be in the right hemisphere during this years Seattle Coffee Fest, I made an extra effort to make sure I could get there. All up, I got to spend a week in what felt like coffee Hollywood … happily stumbling across one famous café / roaster after another.
The city itself was surprisingly nice, I’m not sure why surprisingly or what I expected, but I found myself continually saying how I could live here. It just had that little something something about it that got me wanting to know more. It was big, but small enough to get around on foot, with that artsy, creative, musical, full of life city vibe, that dare I say reminded me a tad of my home town Montreal, only nicer weather.
My main mission being coffee, I booked a hotel right in town a couple blocks from the convention centre where Coffee Fest was being held. This was my first CF but I had an idea of what to expect. It’s basically a trade show for all things coffee/tea and café related. So there were roasters, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, green bean importers, parts etc … as well as a big range of super sweet (as in sugary) smoothie blended drinks which are not really all that popular in Aus. So I spent the weekend walking around and perusing the offerings.
Firstly, I had way too much coffee, with my daily intake a lot lower than when I am teaching at the academy, my tolerance levels aren’t what they used to be. Not to mention, a double shot is pretty much the standard in Seattle, I actually ordered decaf at some places (I know!) simply because I wanted to have a taste so bad, but knew any more caffeine could result in serious system overload. I even meekly requested a single shot at some point only to be shown a naked portafilter with a double basket and a sorry no-can-do look.
Synesso was first on my list and I spent a bit of time at their stall meeting the lovely people responsible to making such a fine piece of equipment, but also, ogling the new triple pump three group Synesso. Yep, one pump per group, three pressure gauges, it’s never been done as far as I know. Also had a chance to try out the Nuovo Siminelli Aurelia, the new WBC sponsor which was both interesting and scary. Overall, some good, some great, some bad and some interesting coffee (namely the cold pressed Sumatran from café vita). One stand did allow me to have a single shot and that was pulled on a Synesso by Vince Piccolo from 49th parallel. It was their epic blend that I’ve tasted a lot of lately, which really opened up and stood out as a single.
I literally did just walk around and stumble across so many famous café’s ... Café Vita, Stumptown, Victrola, Vivace, Herkimer, Stickman and more … I even found myself outside the original Starbucks at the Pike Place Markets. My favorite, maybe because of proximity, but also for the atmosphere and friendly barista (very important) was definitely Victrola. This was where I ordered a decaf espresso and still came out smiling.
The vibe in most of the café’s was really inviting, lots of wood, lots of high ceilings, lots of sweet sweet equipment and big chilled-out spaces. Some of the barista’s were super friendly, others were not, no need to name drop, but I certainly understand what it’s like to be really interested only to have a barista snub you, not nice. I certainly hope, with the growing trend of talented career barista’s in Perth, they remember the value of good customer service. It’s great to be able to produce a fine cup of coffee, but quite another experience altogether to be able to do it with a smile.
Little to no clovers around which sort of surprised me as I thought they would be everywhere.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I competed in the Millrock Latte Art competition. Didn’t place but I posted my pictures on the flickr link if you’re interested.
I would certainly go back and do it all again, I loved it!
Coming soon … my trip to LA and the new addition to the kitchen bench.
Cheers,
Jen
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