Seattle, WA

Don’t you just hate it when you hear about really cool events when they’re nearly over? I just found out this morning that Coffee Fest is this weekend!

It’s not entirely too late, though. Today is the last day so if you want to catch part of it you’ll want to get in gear and head over to:

Washington State Convention & Trade Center 800 Convention Place
Seattle, Hall E & F
Exhibition hours: Sun 12:00pm - 4:30pm

Here is the schedule for today:

Sunday November 11th, 2007
8:30am-10:30am Breakfast with Champions presented by VitaMix

8:00am - 12:30pm Hands-on Barista Training Workshop

8:15am-11:15am Gelato Training Workshop

8:30am-11:00am Roasting Basics Workshop

9:00am-11:00am Hands-on Smoothie Workshop

10:00am-12:00pm Summa Coffee Academy’s Math for Roasters

12:15pm - 1:45pm Coffee Cupping for Retailers and F & B Professionals

12:30pm-2:15pm Hands-On Free Pour Latte Art Workshop

1:00pm-3:00pm Summa Coffee Academy’s Espresso Tuning for Wholesale Roasters

In addition, there will be 1 test scheduled every 20 minutes for Coffee Fest/I.A.S.C. Barista Certification Testing.

Late registration is $30. That’s steep for just one day but it looks like there is still a lot of good stuff going on today so it may be worth your while.

Last night was the The Millrock Latte Art Competition. I’m so bummed about having missed it. The winning entrant was Layla Emily Osberg who crafted a “pristine heart with a thin-layered line” and a “beautiful border.” Osberg walked away with a prize of $5000 which her employer, Blenz Coffee of Vancouver, British Columbia, has promised to double. Not bad for 5 minutes work!

Second place went to Colter Jones of Vancouver, British Columbia, walked away with a cool $1000. Third place went to Justin Teisl of Milwaukee, Wisc. who earned $100 a minute for his entry, taking home $500. Still not bad for 5 minutes work.

Todays competition will challenge six baristas from Washington and Oregon in a competition where they must prepare and serve 12 coffee drinks within a 15 minute time frame. The winner receives an expense-paid trip to the 2008 U.S. Barista Championship in Minneapolis.

Coffee Fest is held four times a year with the fourth location, Hong Kong, new for 2008. The next competition will be held in February in Washington, DC.

Here are a few pictures I found on Flickr. I’d love to see your pictures. If you went and have posted your pictures online, please shoot me a link!

I should ask Gliilan, over at Food History, about the history of coffee!

Coffee, Fest, Art, Latte, Seattle, competition, Barista, training