Takeaways from the Specialty Coffee Association Expo (SCA)

The annual SCA convention was in Portland Oregon this year. Roughly 500 booths are set up, and tens of thousands of coffee professionals converge for the three day event. My favorite part is how there is this sense of community. Whether it is roasters, importers, farmers, baristas -- seeing face to face the people we do business with all the time felt like I was catching up with old friends -- many of these people I hadn't seen since before COVID, and there was this sense of relief, like, things are normal again!

There was very little focus on cold brew. Not much in the way of recipes, equipment, technology. No one sampling out cold brew. This is different from previous events.

Lots of innovation and creativity happening in the coffee world. Farmers were telling us all about the experimental processing they are doing (throwing chili peppers or fruit in with the coffee as they process it!). One guy was demonstrating a pipe he invented that could brew espresso and then you could sip it through the pipe. One guy was turning used coffee packages into bricks and using them to build houses. One guy had invented a portable handheld device that could perfectly tamp your portafilter with whatever pounds of pressure you desire.

We joked with Dan, our roaster manufacturer. Nicole who we distribute chai concentrate for. Jim from La Minita made us cups of Costa Rica coffee while we rested on his couch (La Minita brings a couch to these events and tells you to "sit down and have a cup of coffee with us!") Miir mugs brought a Rivian EV truck wrapped with their logo and were giving out tumblers with coffee that Madcap roasters was brewing on site. Their section of the floor was like a giant party. A group from Vietnam was brewing Liberica coffee (neither Arabica nor Robusta...it's a third option coming soon...)  

All day We were getting hugs, waves, smiles, it was a great vibe. Reminded me how blessed we are to be in this creative and caring industry.