This feels like a tragically delayed summary piece on Dublin Coffee Festival. It happened back in April. That feels like a lifetime ago at this point. But thoughts on it are still fresh. In advance of the Belfast edition I thought it worthwhile to reminisce.

Now, usually, one might think immediately that a coffee festival sounds intimidating, that in attending you would need some knowledge or face the wrath of baristas abound. I have to tell you that was not the case. The entire festival was a space entirely vacant of gatekeeping. Everyone I spoke with was inviting, friendly, enthusiastic and most importantly, passionate. Every interaction I saw brought that same energy.

The coffee community is one of the most passionate I have met and their welcoming to attendees only made that passion infectious. I came away from the festival with a greater admiration for all things coffee, my attention to detail and want of care in making and consuming it only increased. I think that’s important particularly with coffee plants being one of the most exposed/impacted in regards to the climate crisis – that is to say, developing a greater appreciation of both the crop and the craft, provides for the respect coffee is due.

And it wasn’t just all coffee! There was a wonderful assortment of beverages otherwise, one of which (the name escapes me) produced mate, a caffeinated herbal drink with origins in South America which was delicious, swiftly followed up with a taster of Lucky Saint (alcohol-free) IPA which was like the real McCoy and delightful sips of Sips by Tom, cocktail syrups galore. Palate cleansing and extending.

Unsurprisingly, big players were present too, namely Monin and Oatly. Both were serving up inspiring mixtures that I genuinely might have never tried beyond the festival. Monin handed us an indulgent ruby chocolate infused iced coffee with chocolate syrup and delivering a sugar punch (but a good one). The Oatly tonic coffee with cold foam sent me somewhere – it made sense entirely, the tonic bringing out flavours in the coffee I hadn’t experienced, almost aerating it? Who knows. It felt Marmite-esque, but I was very much in the enjoyment camp.

Canned goodness.

Now I’m a stickler for branding and by Jove, coffee folks have outstanding branding (and merch). One that stood out amongst the crowd for me was Club Óige, a coffee roaster based in rural Ireland. Theirs was equal parts nostalgia, Irish, and clean. It definitely stood out even amongst strong contenders for me. Oh and their coffee was delicious too.

Club Óige, represent.

On visiting the festival merch stand, I was similarly met with enthusiasm and passion with a brilliant recommendation to visit Nostos. Nostos is an Odyssey/Greek ethos inspired (before the movie might I add) coffee roaster based in London. The recommendation was to try their “…blueberry muffin flavoured coffee…”. When you hear such words, you wonder “Is it infused? Flavoured? Surely not! Surely this is an exaggeration!”. It tasted like blueberry muffins. It was the nicest coffee I have tasted so far in my new journey, and it fascinated me again that given care and attention that coffee naturally could be made to taste so juicy, sweet and warming (in a homely sense). I, of course, got a bag and continue to use it sparingly for that rare treat, very much kept to me and not given out freely to others.

Mozart indeed.

Finally, we ended our time at the festival speaking to the representative of InterAmerican Coffee, a green coffee commodity trader and importer. Even though we made clear that we were in no way experts let alone representatives ourselves of any coffee companies, cafes, or the like, he stepped us through their work, coffee futures on commodity markets, explained their logistics, amongst other things. I would be lying if I said some of this might require a little more reading to fully comprehend, but again I appreciated the passion and willingness that really summed up the festival as a whole.

I look forward to attending the Belfast edition in the coming weeks. I wish I could bottle the motivations toward coffee, but if anything I will get another rush very soon.

Merch was necessary.