BY TANYA NANETTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Photos courtesy of San Francisco Coffee Festival

The entire Bay Area coffee community is gearing up for the new edition of the San Francisco Coffee Festival, the eighth annual edition of the coffee event that brings together California roasters, coffee lovers, artists and more under one roof for a weekend full of caffeine.

On November 9-10, at the Festival Pavilion at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, along the North Waterfront of San Francisco Bay, more than 50 roasters will join dozens of exhibitors to share all their exciting coffee innovations with the local community.

Roasters to See at San Francisco Coffee Festival

Are you curious to try a new roastery? Or would you like to meet the team behind your favorite café?

Established and renowned local roasters such as Ritual Coffee will share space with exciting projects such as 1951 Coffee Company, the nonprofit specialty-coffee organization that promotes the well-being of the refugee community, and Frinj Coffee, pioneers of coffee-growing in California).

And when you’re at the San Francisco Coffee Fest, make sure to catch a glimpse of smaller businesses like River Phin Coffee, in its first coffee festival presence. Vy Nguyen, founder of the small roastery specializing in Southeast Asian coffee, works directly with small farmers to bring their unique flavors to a wider audience.

“It is important to cultivate the relationship with small farmers in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, where my roots come from,” says Vy, adding what her expectations are for the festival. “I want to share some of my heritage and the unique products of the locals with a wider audience who have never tried them. We will show both specialty arabica and fine robusta and how to prepare the latter, so that it is easier to approach as a consumer.”

Little Green Cyclo Coffee is already a familiar face to those who have attended the festival in its recent editions.

Monica Wong, co-founder and CEO of the small roastery, is making her fourth appearance at the event. She’s excited about the chance to return, this time to showcase their new line of directly sourced Vietnamese coffee beans and ready-to-drink Vietnamese specialty coffee in a can, perfect for sharing with everyone, everywhere.

“Last year I was a guest speaker on the ready-to-drink coffee theme and I am so excited to be back … we love this event!” Monica shares with us. “It gives us a chance to connect with Bay Area coffee lovers and share with them new flavors and other initiatives we are working on in the coffee industry.”

Check Out the Schedule

Before you get lost in the roasters’ area, take time to check out the festival’s food vendors for some good eats to get your energy up for the busy schedule. There’s so much planned for the weekend, it will be pretty easy to miss something interesting!

The two-day event will feature a series of educational panels called “Coffee Talks.” Join sessions with leading Bay Area specialty-coffee legends, covering topics such as:

• The Intersection of Nonprofits and Coffee
• Drip Wisdom: Navigating the Nuances of Coffee Extraction
• We Should Open a Coffee Shop

If you’re in the mood for fun and can juggle the intricate patterns of latte art, don’t miss the opportunity to pre-register to participate in the two-day latte art competition presented by Heirloom Coffee Roasters. Up to 32 contestants will fight to the last milk pour for a chance to take home the ultimate prize of $1,000!

Works of Art

If you love art like you love coffee, the San Francisco Coffee Festival has some special events in store for you.

Check out Jarold Cadion, a Bay Area artist with a unique approach who has been part of the festival since 2019. “I am a portrait painter who paints with coffee, and if you come and meet me at my booth you will be able to find me painting live,” Jarold says. “I will also bring prints, coasters, and stickers of my work, plus maybe a few originals available.”

Live Music

Six local musicians will also share the stage for an amazing soundtrack, giving attendees a chance to discover new music. One of these is Jonah Melvon, back on stage for the third year in a row.

A lover of music and coffee (just check out his latest project Almond Mocha, or his song “Sunday Mornings”), Jonah explains why he keeps coming back to San Francisco Coffee Festival.

“I’m an independent artist and that’s probably why I love the idea of people doing their projects independently so much,“ Jonah says. “And that’s exactly what’s behind [the] coffee fest: a group of great independent coffee companies coming together, sharing their great coffee and great stories. It’s a great experience to discover the culture of all these people from all over the Bay Area (and even other parts of the country), to experience coffee culture and music in vibrant San Francisco, and that’s what keeps me coming back.”

The San Francisco Coffee Festival is sure to be exciting, filled with delicious coffees, interesting people, and guaranteed fun!

Be sure to grab your tickets before they sell out!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.

Subscribe and More!

Out now: It’s the October + November 2024 issue of Barista Magazine! Read it for free with our digital edition. And for more than three years’ worth of issues, visit our digital edition archives here.

You can order a hard copy of the magazine through our online store here, or start a subscription for one year or two.