Wake up and smell the Coffee Festival

When: 3rd – 6th April 2014

Where: Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London E1 6QR

£: A standard ticket costs £11.50 (£14.50 on the door).  50% of ticket sales will be donated to Project Waterfall, a charity that delivers clean water projects to coffee-producing countries.

What is it?

The London Coffee Festival, at the Old Truman Brewery, will be celebrating London’s vibrant coffee scene and will launch UK Coffee Week (7th – 13th April).  The festival will feature over 250 artisan coffee and gourmet food stalls, tastings and demonstrations from world-class baristas, interactive workshops, street food, coffee-based cocktails, live music, DJs and art exhibitions.

The Lab will be the educational hub of the festival, running a programme of live interactive demonstrations, hands-on workshops, talks and debates. Highlights will include sessions on brewing methods, chocolate pairing, cupping sessions, coffee cocktails, milk chemistry, roasting and blending, and how to use a refractometer.

Baristas from some of the best independent coffee shops and roasters from across the UK will take over The True Artisan Café (La Marzocco); a pop-up café serving carefully crafted signature drinks.  Visitors to the festival will also be invited to join the team in the Make Decent Coffee Lounge and learn from the experts how to make decent coffee at home.

Independently owned and managed DR Wakefield will be at festival with a brand new feature, Catalysing Coffees.  A concept to showcase DRW’s position in the industry in bringing grower and roaster together with a special focus on provenance, traceability, standards and quality.  There will be a series of green coffee masterclasses in conjunction with some of the festival’s trade partners covering topics such as sustainability, varietals and microlots; while roasters will share a corner to showcase their offering and serve a great brew.

Cravendale will be setting up their very own Milk Bar, bringing with them a whole host of fun activities. Top baristas from throughout the UK will compete in the Cravendale M.I.L.K Battle.  The heats, taking place on Thursday and Friday, will see baristas go head-to-head to see who can create the most elaborate latte art.  The final takes place on Sunday where one barista will win the trip of a lifetime to a coffee country of origin.  Weekend visitors to the festival are invited to visit the Cravendale stand to see if they can beat the barista.

Kahlúa, the Mexican coffee liqueur, will be collaborating with bartending collective The Liquorists and local coffee legends Nude Espresso to host The Kahlúa Coffee House.  The pop-up experience will feature Mexican inspired coffee cocktails such as the Kahlúa Espresso Martini and the Mocha (Kahlúa, Tequila, Cherry Coke and chocolate ice cream).

The good people of Viennese speciality coffee roaster Julius Meinl are bringing their Poetry Café to the festival this year, encouraging visitors to share their favourite piece of poetry with them before the event.  Budding poets are encouraged to visit the House of Poetry to submit their favourite works or take part via The London Coffee Festival website.

Russ Jones AKA The Hackney Globe Trotter will bring the music of Brazil (Friday), Columbia (Saturday) and Africa (Sunday) to the London Coffee Festival. The Hackney Globe Totter’s DJ skills have taken him around the world, and he regularly entertains the masses on music festival stages at the likes of Glastonbury and Bestival.

More info: www.londoncoffeefestival.com