A day in the life of me starts with a cup of coffee. I’ve been a coffee lover now for almost ten years and there has not been a day in my life without the good old coffee bean. I started drinking coffee at the age of 14 and it has brought me through stressful days at uni and work, but it also gave me the caffeine twitches when I obviously had too much. If you had asked me about my secret potion that helped me to push through the Kayla Itsines weeks in the past, my answer was ‘espresso’.
Now that I am currently on a detox, but already had bought the tickets for the London Coffee Festival, it was even more difficult to limit my consumption. How I got on the detox plan and how I’m doing is another story that I’m going to share with you soon. However, as there’s still a lot of coffee love running through my veins and it’s been my first time at the London Coffee Festival this year.
The coffee scent when I arrived was intense and the party already going. All of that happened on Friday after work at Brick Lane, when hipsters and coffee junkies got together for the joy of the holy bean in the aim to get stoned by a good cuppa java. Sounds like a party right?
The first thing I laid my eyes on as soon as I entered the venue were the cloth bags and London Coffee Festival goodies. I had a long day and I just wanted to be a kid at least for this moment, so I was cheeky enough to grab a second one.
Like at many trade shows, stalls from different brands and coffee shops were set up across the place and split up between two levels. On the ground floor, visitors were offered the latest ‘coffee technology’ with machines for the professionals in the barista business. Since I don’t have a clue how to use a proper £3,000 espresso machine I didn’t even think about touching it, but if you’re a coffee bean connoisseur like me, you probably found the first floor the most interesting bit of the venue; the tasting room, barista and latte art shows.
Indeed, I was right at the action to look the maestro over the shoulder. Some drew you a leaf, some drew you a rainbow unicorn on top of your foamy cappuccino. I was impressed by almost everything they’ve done and have always been curious to learn the skill. Believe it or not, but it’s the small things that I love about drinking coffee; whether it’s an artsy Frenchie or a simple heart looking back at you; it cheers me up on grumpy Monday mornings. I made it my mission to learn at least the basics of ‘foam drawing’. So I stood there and tried to follow each of his steps carefully, but a couple minutes later I’ve already forgotten everything. At least I tried.
From food and spreads made out of coffee, one could try everything the brew heart asked for. The stalls were a bit mixed and you came across non-coffee brands like Propercorn and Vita Coco too.
After a couple rounds of freebies, mainly the coffee bits for me, I’ve stumbled upon a small stand called ‘Flat Brew’. If you’re into all kind of spreads, especially chocolatey one’s this one might be of interest to you because it comes with its own espresso spread. The taste is similar to Nutella but stronger in flavour and the coffee bean definitely comes through. For £5 a glass it was worth the buy and I already had it for breakfast the second time this morning.
The London Coffee Festival provided guests with plenty coffee alternatives. Besides coffee, they offered teas, nut bars and various Danish sweets too. With tickets for £25 for two, I was a bit disappointed and I don’t think it’s worth the price. The ads specifically conveyed a wrong message to the beloved coffee consumer, who probably expected more of a tasting than a trade show. Compared to a number of displayed coffee machines, the festival didn’t offer much when it came to coffee tasting, but a lot when it came to healthy vegan nibbles. Although I’m into tasty energy balls and coconut shavings, my main purpose to buy the ticket was to learn about the different facets of coffee. Nevertheless, the event itself was well visited and definitely didn’t see unsatisfied guests at the end of the day. However, it was worth the experience but I wouldn’t waste the money for the second time. You might be better off spending the money at your favourite coffee place, with a couple cuppa java or an ice cold brew on the go.
Although I’m into tasty energy balls and coconut shavings, my main purpose to buy the ticket was to learn about the different facets of coffee. Nevertheless, the event itself was well visited and definitely didn’t see unsatisfied guests at the end of the day. However, it was worth the experience but I wouldn’t waste the money for the second time. You might be better off spending the money at your favourite coffee place, with a couple cuppa java or an ice cold brew on the go.
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