I’m getting ready for a trip to Tokyo next week to join the Barista Nation team at the first ever Barista Nation Tokyo event! I almost said it was the first international Barista Nation, but that’s not quite right: Barista Nation had a great session in Vancouver, B.C., a few months ago, and will return to Salt Spring Coffee in Vancouver for the second installment of Barista Nation Vancouver this coming June (for details, check out the Barista Nation website).
Barista Magazine has proudly supported the Barista Nation model as it has grown and developed over the past year and a half ”it’s one of the most unique, and user friendly, coffee events in existence. The brainchild of coffee industry vet Anastasia Chovan, Barista Nation was created to foster education and community within the professional barista and specialty cafe owner communities. The success of Barista Nation has earned it the attention of quite a few international roasters who look forward to hosting their own Barista Nation events in such far flung locations as Paris, Dubai, London, and more.
But at this very moment, all of our attention is focused on Japan, where our kind hosts, Key Coffee, will welcome the stateside Barista Nation team, as well as tons of baristas and cafe owners from around Japan.
Obviously, I don’t have a grasp of the Japanese language.
Before Barista Nation begins, Anastasia and I are going to do a cafe crawl around the city. We’re excited to visit Hiroshi Sawada’s Streamer Coffee shops, Bear Pond and many others!
But the main focus of the trip will be spreading education and excitement about coffee to the barista masses in Tokyo. Please check Barista Mag’s Facebook page often next week, as I will be updating it with photos and news.
