I’m beyond excited to be heading to France next week with Anastasia Chovan of Unic to participate in the Barista Nation Paris event! Barista Nation, which debuted in May 2011, is a one-day educational and community-building event that brings together baristas from different cities and regions to learn together, share ideas, play on new equipment, take workshops from industry leaders, and basically just celebrate the craft of coffee.
Barista Nation has taken place in such locations as San Francisco, Tokyo, Minneapolis, Vancouver, B.C., Portland, Ore., Seattle, and elsewhere, but Barista Nation Paris ”which will be held on October 15 ”is the first time this remarkable, free event will be held in Europe. I couldn’t be more honored to have been asked to participate!
Other guest speakers will include the beloved Sonja Grant, who has chaired the World Coffee Events board, owns one of the best coffee bars in Reykjavik, Iceland, and has been a champion of baristas for the last 15 years; Nils Erichsen of Mahlkönig, one of the world’s leaders in grinding equipment; Christophe Rubino of Cafes Richard, who is the 2012 French Cup Taster’s Champion; French Barista Champions Ludovic Loizon (2011-2012), and Anthony Calvez (2008-2010), and the always awesome David Walsh of Marco, among many other distinguished industry experts.
Look here for updates from the event, as I’ll be blogging from the ground in Paris beginning October 10! Sonja, Anastasia and I are taking some time to visit both the historical cafes of Paris, and the new wave of specialty shops, and we can’t wait to see (and taste!) what we find!
One last note: Even if you’re stuck stateside, you can get in on the Barista Nation action in the next few week by signing up for Barista Nation Texas, which takes place November 5 in Dallas. For more information or to register, email baristanation@gmail.com, and stay tuned to Barista Magazine’s and Barista Nation’s Facebook pages!
