Are We Running Out of Great Coffee? – Sustainability Panel
I’m happy to announce CoffeeCon LA 2016 will feature a sustainability round table discussion. After hearing Kean Coffee roaster/owner Martin Diedrich talking with his colleagues at CoffeeCon LA 2014, I realized his unique perspective and volume of experience. He grew...
Taste like a Pro at CoffeeCon’s Coffee Tasting Seminar and Workshop
Coffee Tasting Seminar and Workshop Most of us approach coffee as we do wine. We don’t claim to know what’s good, but we know what we like. That’s a great start, but anyone who’s entrenched in the industry, particularly those who cup, or evaluate and compare coffees...
Announcement: CoffeeCon LA 2016, Saturday, January 30. Buy Tickets now!
Whew! I’m so happy to be able to announce this. In case you missed my last post, my wife and business partner Patricia, who’s been by my side for every CoffeeCon since the first in 2011, was seriously injured one week before the Chicago event at the location itself....
New York Coffee Festival. A New Consumer Coffee Event?
For someone who happens upon this site and column for the first time to read this, I am a writer about coffee who also created a consumer coffee festival. I say it both as a boast and a caution. I’m sure I’m unable to be neutral. That said, for as many years as I’ve...
CoffeeCon Chicago 2015 Reflections
We just held the best CoffeeCon ever! I was awed by the quality of specialty roasters and food exhibitors. We believe we really nailed the event in total. I saw many happy faces. Attendees and exhibitors alike said, “See you next year” at the event's ending. Several...
CoffeeCon: Specialty Milk from Kalona SuperNatural™
Since CoffeeCon’s beginning, I’ve wanted everything associated with coffee brewing to be the top tier. Of course, this means milk, too. Although much of CoffeeCon’s exhibit and tasting floor is pure coffee sampled by itself, it would be naïve and bad manners not to...
Dream of Tasting Coffee Like an Expert?
I have a friend who's a recording engineer. I once asked him what he felt was the most important thing he'd learned in order to make his recordings sound so good. He told me the greatest thing he's learned is how to listen. I'm going to say the same thing about...
Coffee Con and InterContinental Coffee Trading Announce a New Partnership
Coffee Con, the Consumer Coffee Festival keeps growing and have partnered with InterContinental Coffee Trading (ICT Coffee) based in San Diego, California to accelerate building specialty coffee consumer awareness. The mission is to educate the consumer on the...
CoffeeCon has hands-on coffee brewing labs: What’s that mean?
You’ll note over the past several CoffeeCon events we’ve converted more classes to hands-on labs. What’s the difference? It’s huge in my observation. The first is the old school way of having the presenter instruct the use of a coffeemaker in front of everyone. Even...
Ken Davids Comes to CoffeeCon Chicago
If there’s one writer who both predicted and created the coffee resurgence we currently enjoy, it’s Kenneth Davids. His classic book, Coffee, A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying is still the definitive coffee text. I’m proud of my own work, but I’d be delusional...