Last week, Alex, Sarah, Stine, and Soren headed south for a couple of days at the London Coffee Festival. Within minutes of arriving, it felt like a reunion - familiar faces everywhere, coffee friends from across the industry and plenty of conversations before we’d even made it around the first floor.
There was a real focus this year on automation and new technology, with equipment manufacturers showcasing all of their new tech. We spent time catching up with friends from La Marzocco, Conti, and Ceado while also getting hands-on with some exciting new equipment launches throughout the show.
Naturally, there were plenty of coffees tasted along the way, alongside an increasing amount of matcha and alternative specialty drinks, and some creative signature drinks from exhibitors across the festival.
We witnessed beautiful design concepts with genuinely interesting innovation and automation. Sparking lots of conversations around sustainability and efficiency in busy café environments.
Meanwhile, Alex entered the Auld Reekie Roaster latte art competition - in tiny cups, no less. Competitors had three shots to produce their best pour on any machine they liked, and Alex chose the La Marzocco Strada on the Home bar setup. A fun out-of-the-blue event, results coming soon…
The evening continued with the La Marzocco party at Origin before heading across to the Minor Figures party at Protein Studios - a classic London Coffee Festival Thursday night.
Friday Showcasing
We headed to the Brew-It Group showroom at the BDC, a fantastic space where we were shown a range of new machines and grinders. We also caught up with the team from Ceado, who talked us through some of their latest grinder technology developments.
Back in Spitalfields, it was time to prepare for our guest slot at the La Marzocco True Artisan Café. For espresso, we brought along one of our recent Showcase releases: Showcase #04 from Costa Rica.
This particular lot of SL-28 was processed at La Lajas Micromill in Costa Rica’s Central Valley as a Black Diamond Natural - a carefully controlled aerobic natural process with an intentional curing stage. The cherries undergo rigorous harvesting and sorting before spending a day drying on raised beds to remove surface humidity, ahead of patio drying. The result is an expressive and beautifully structured coffee with loads of sweetness and clarity.
We served the coffee both as espresso and as our signature drink: The Aerocano.
What is an Aerocano?
An Aerocano is a modern take on iced espresso. Using the espresso machine’s steam wand, the espresso is gently aerated over ice to create a texture similar to nitro cold brew - light, frothy and incredibly refreshing.
We’ve been putting our own spin on the drink with some orange and rosemary-infused brown sugar syrup, tonic water and dehydrated orange. It was great to share it with so many people throughout the afternoon.
Collaboration
Just in time for the guest slot, Stine and Soren arrived straight off the train from Glasgow, bringing some extra energy to the stand as the Friday festival buzz properly kicked in.
We were also delighted to be joined by Robyn from Mossgiel Coffee House. Mossgiel have been longstanding Dear Green customers and collaborators, so it felt really special to showcase their business alongside ours in London.
Robyn spent the afternoon chatting to visitors about Mossgiel’s organic milk, sustainable dairy practices and café setup, which includes organic food, local produce, and their own exclusive Dear Green organic blend. Brilliant people, brilliant business and valued collaborators - we were proud to host them at the festival.
Friday evening wrapped up back at La Marzocco, where Alex and Soren entered the Barista vs Bartender competition, finishing in second place before a much-needed sleep.
Heading Home
It’s always energising to spend time with people across the coffee community - catching up with old friends, discovering new ideas and being reminded how creative and collaborative this industry can be.
Tired, happy and slightly over-caffeinated, we made our way back to Glasgow already looking forward to next year.
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