60+ Coffee Education Classes

2023 Drink Trends // Friday 9:00am
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 9:00 – 9:45am Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
There’s a noticeable shift happening in the coffee culture landscape, and operators are challenged with revitalizing their offerings. Join Monin to explore 2023 beverage trends to help you create flavorful, signature beverages for your menu. Not only will this help increase your beverage profits, but it will also help your coffee shop become a unique beverage destination. You will leave feeling inspired!
Speaker Bio
Ryan Divis has been with Monin since 2013. She is on the field sales marketing team and works closely with the sales team in planning conferences, tradeshows, customer events and supporting customers’ needs. She is also part of a team that researches and presents beverage and flavor trends to customers both in office and out in the field.
Leveraging Technology To Access Direct Trade // Friday 9:30am
Day/Time/Location
Friday 9/15, 9:30 – 10:00am, Roaster Classroom
Description
Technology can unlock economic opportunity along supply chains by breaking down the barriers to international trade. A supply chain management platform streamlines business between buyers, suppliers, and service providers across the coffee industry on a connected digital ecosystem. Bringing the coffee trading infrastructure online offers tools to diversify the coffee marketplace, streamline logistics, secure payments and government compliance, and optimize efficiency – ultimately, creating opportunities for stronger relationships between coffee producers and buyers.
Speaker Bio
Brianna Dickey is the founder and CEO of CropConex, a software platform designed to enable more efficient, traceable, and profitable specialty coffee supply chains. The platform integrates the value chain in one convenient location, connecting buyers, suppliers, and service providers across the coffee industry, starting with Ethiopia to the US.
Navigating the Specialty Robusta Market: The Power of First Mover Advantage in an Era of Climate Change // Friday 10:00am
Day/Time/Location
Friday 9/15, 10:00 – 10:30am, Roaster Classroom
Description
As the global coffee industry faces a fast-evolving climate, exploring alternative coffee varieties that are heat and disease resistant will be crucial to meet expected global demand. We will cover the robusta coffee market, the green wholesale opportunities in single-origin robusta, climate change and its impact on coffee production, and present the challenges and opportunities for coffee roasters to develop and offer high-quality specialty robusta coffee.
Speaker Bio
Miguel Gomez is a specialty coffee professional who is pursuing an MBA in Project Management and Process Improvement from the University of Houston-Downtown. With over seven years of specialty coffee experience, he firmly believes that specialty coffee plays a crucial role in the livelihoods of farmers, the preservation of natural resources, and the economic development of coffee-growing regions to ensure the continuity of coffee for the benefit of mankind and future generations to enjoy.
Developing a Barista Training Program For Your Coffeeshop // Friday 10:00am
Friday 9/15, 10:00 – 10:30am Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Starting out, or, need to overhaul your barista training program? Learn what makes a successful coffee training program tick with coffee expert and barista trainer, Jake Leonti. Discover how to organize training modules, create foolproof training manuals and programs that will help your baristas deliver consistent service and excellent coffee.
Speaker Bio
Jake Leonti is a coffee and coffee business expert having consulted for clients ranging from Nestlé, Caffe Nero and Virgin Atlantic to small owner-operated companies in ten countries on five continents. Mr. Leonti has worked in coffee for over twenty years with disciplines at every link of the value chain from barista to roasting, green grading and importing. Jake is the current Editor-in-Chief of Coffee TalkMagazine, columnist at Santé Magazine, member of the Roasters Guild and host of the Food and Beverage Therapy podcast.
Introducing the Cezve/ Ibrik brew method (Turkish Coffee) into the modern coffee shop // Friday 10:30am
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 10:30 – 11:00am Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
This workshop will cover a brief history of this method, choosing the optimal coffee and equipment, how to design the workflow, adding Turkish Coffee to the menu and menu alternatives. It will also cover how to explain Specialty Turkish coffee to your customers and how to present and serve.
Speaker Bio
Turgay YILDIZLI
2013 Cezve/Ibrik world champion, Istanbul native Turgay YILDIZLI, residing in New Orleans, is dedicated to elevating Turkish Coffee in the specialty coffee realm. Q grader, AST and coffee roaster, he founded Specialty Turkish Coffee, to provide tools, guidance, and aid coffee businesses in refining their Turkish coffee offerings.
Anatomy Of Green Coffee Pricing // Friday 10:30am
Day/Time/Location
Friday 9/15, 10:30 – 11:00am, Roaster Classroom
Description
How do coffee importers figure out the price of green coffee? This is a common question for people just getting into the sourcing / roasting / buying side of the coffee industry. In this class, we will discuss the detailed answer to this question with a local green coffee supplier. Shipping costs, the fluctuating Coffee Market, region specific premiums and more all have an effect on what you pay as a buyer of green coffee.
Speaker Bio
Drew Cambre is the Sustainability Manager at ICC in New Orleans. He has over 17 years of experience in many different aspects of the coffee world from his start as a barista, production roasting, coffee storage, commodities trading, logistics and now in sustainability management. Drew is a Q Grader and a proud born and raised New Orleanian.
Farming Innovations - Genetic Seeds / Rust Resistant // Friday 11:00am
Friday 9/15, 11:00 – 11:30am, Roaster Classroom
Description
Coming Soon
Speaker Bio
Eric Brenner is Program Coordinator, Latin America and Caribbean; Assistant Director, Center for Coffee Research and Education and has more than 12 years of experience working in international development, primarily focused on agriculture and food security with multiple projects in several countries including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. He is originally from Costa Rica.
Avoiding Business Pitfalls // Friday 11:00am
Friday 9/15, 11:00 – 11:45am, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
All set on what exactly to do while operating your business? Now, let’s learn common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Speaker Bio
Anna Gutierrez
Beginning her coffee career in 1997 as a barista, Anna currently manages the Barista 22 line of syrups, sauces, powders, and fruit beverage bases. Having extensive experience working with distributors and national coffee chains, she’s an expert in product selection, marketing and branding, R + D of specialty coffee products, and training, and has a consistent passion for beverage development. Anna has presented at Coffee shows since 2005, has been a certified United States Barista Championships and former Coffee Fest latte art judge, can be seen emceeing a variety of coffee events nationally, and holds several Signature Drink Competition titles. She has also authored multiple coffee publication articles, is a Barista Guild of America member, is an SCA Level 1 Certified barista, and was also co-featured on Barista Magazine’s April 2012 cover.
Carbon Conscious Coffee: A Colombian case study of regenerative coffee farming // Friday 11:30am
Friday 9/15, 11:30am – 12:00pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
As climate change and outdated farming practices threaten an uncertain future for coffee, coffee cultivators are being driven to higher elevations in search of cooler climes, transitioning to more resilient varietals and even abandoning coffee farming altogether. At Project Pijao, we embrace regenerative agriculture as a systems-based, holistic approach to land management that aims to harmonize with nature. By harnessing the productivity and resilience of native ecosystems, not only can we cultivate world-class heirloom coffee varietals in the face of evolving climactic stressors, but we act to combat climate change by promoting the sequestration of greenhouse gases while restoring our imperiled soil carbon stores.
Speaker Bio
Miles Grovenburg is an internal medicine doctor currently based out of Portland OR where he practices as a Hospitalist and medical educator. He is a principal founder of Project Pijao, a vertically integrated coffee venture which focuses on developing a socially and environmentally conscientious model of coffee production, distribution and consumption. His special interests in microbiology, soil ecology and climate change are aptly applied through his family’s coffee farm, El Testorito, located within Colombia’s famed Eje Cafetero, where regenerative agriculture is embraced as a model for sustainable coffee cultivation. He is a co-founder of Applied Arts Coffee in New Orleans LA, Project Pijao’s flagship roastery which showcases responsibly sourced coffees from around the world and headed by his brother, esteemed chef-turned-coffee-roaster, Baruch Rabasa.
How To Launch An RTD Brand // Friday 11:45am
Friday 9/15, 11:45am – 12:15pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
In the last decade, we’ve seen a massive growth in the relatively new category of ready-to-drink coffee. This category offers unique benefits to roasters but also poses its fair share of challenges. in an industry that deals mostly with dry goods, starting a liquid brand can be overwhelming. In this class, we will discuss the best approach to launching an RTD brand and attempt to answer the hardest question of: “where do i start?.” we’ll be discussing food safety and good manufacturing practices as well as ways to avoid the pitfalls that have ruined many coffee companies.
Speaker Bio
Trey Malone is the CEO of Northshore Specialty Coffee in Covington, LA. He’s also a founding member of Common Collabs in orange county, california which leads the industry in extraction innovation for coffee and tea. Common Collabs operates as a private label, co-packing solution for coffee and tea brands across the US implementing proprietary extraction technology and shelf stability innovations to offer high-quality coffee extracts in ready-to-drink formats.
A New World History & Geography of Arabica Coffee Cultivars. Presenting the Royal Coffee Infographic with the world’s most detailed and accurate coffee family tree // Friday 12:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 12:00 – 12:45pm, Roaster Classoom
Description
The Coffee family tree gets a major overhaul in Royal Coffee’s new and improved genetic map of Arabica’s most famous global cultivars. Take a tour through time and space in coffee plant types, in a new detailed infographic developed by Chris Kornman, author of Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters and Buyers and the director of education for The Crown: Royal Coffee’s Lab & Tasting Room in Oakland, California.
Speaker Bio
Chris Kornman is a seasoned coffee quality specialist, writer and researcher, and the director of education at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room in Oakland, California. He has extensive experience with coffee grading, roasting, sourcing, traveling and tinkering. He is the author of Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters & Buyers.
Coffee Tech: The Problem is WATER, Now What's The Question? // Friday 12:30pm
Friday 9/15, 12:30 – 1:00pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
The majority of issues with maintaining coffee equipment are related to water. Tap water is full of particulates that add wear and tear on all machines…not to mention affecting the taste and quality of your coffee! This discussion panel will talk to cafe owners about the basics of Maintenance plans and how addressing water quality WILL save trouble and money in the long run. To filter or not to filter? How often should a cafe test water quality? What are the early warning signs that a TECH service call is soon needed. This short class could create long savings in your operating budget.
Speaker Bios
Panel
1) Sean Price (Seeds Coffee)
Coming Soon
2) Mark Kennedy (Gruppo Cimbali)
Coming Soon
3) Robbie Mahner (Perfect Shot Espresso)
Coming Soon
Transparency, Green Sourcing In 2023 // Friday 1:00pm
Day/Time/Location
Friday 9/15, 1:00 – 1:45pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
A short lecture accompanied by a long Q&A with narratives that range from sourcing specialty coffee in the modern era to its intersection with public perception and transparency.
Speaker Bio
Jon Allen is the co-founder of ONYX Coffee Lab, a coffee company he started and has been running with his wife Andrea for the past 12 years.
Cold Brew Extraction // Friday 1:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 1:00 – 1:45pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Cold brew. iced coffee. nitro coffee. cold coffee. flash brew. What is the difference and where are we going with this exploding category? Whatever you call it, we’ve seen the cold brew category grow at staggering rates over the past ten years and it’s becoming more and more impossible to overlook. What was initially heralded as a coffee trend has proven that it’s here to stay and has amazing potential for growth. in this class, we will host a panel of industry leaders to understand their approach to cold brew as well as discuss the future of this innovative category and how you can best be a part!
Speaker Bio
Trey Malone is the CEO of Northshore Specialty Coffee in Covington, LA. He’s also a founding member of Common Collabs in orange county, california which leads the industry in extraction innovation for coffee and tea. Common Collabs operates as a private label, co-packing solution for coffee and tea brands across the US implementing proprietary extraction technology and shelf stability innovations to offer high-quality coffee extracts in ready-to-drink formats.
2023 State of Specialty Coffee // Friday 2:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 2:00 – 2:45pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
Noah Namowicz will delve into some of the macroeconomic forces impacting specialty coffee on both the production and consumption side. Through interviews with producers, exporters, roasters, and café owners, Noah will be presenting a “seed to cup” look at what is happening in our industry now and what specialty coffee companies can do to position themselves to prepare for the next wave.
Speaker Bio
Noah Namowicz is a partner at the specialty coffee importing company, Café Imports. Noah is a 14-year coffee industry veteran, formerly was on the executive council of the Barista Guild, spoke at RE:CO Symposium on Culture, and spends his days now overseeing the global sales and marketing efforts for the company. Noah lives in Saint Paul Minnesota with his wife and two young kids.
Menu Development // Friday 1:45pm
Friday 9/15, 1:45 – 2:30pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Your customers eat, drink, and buy with their eyes. In this session we will go over how you can set up your menu to be the perfect representation of your brand, help your customers decide what they want more efficiently, help your baristas sell more things, and ultimately make you more money.
Speaker Bio
Anna Gutierrez Beginning her coffee career in 1997 as a barista, Anna currently manages the Barista 22 line of syrups, sauces, powders, and fruit beverage bases. Having extensive experience working with distributors and national coffee chains, she’s an expert in product selection, marketing and branding, R + D of specialty coffee products, and training, and has a consistent passion for beverage development. Anna has presented at Coffee shows since 2005, has been a certified United States Barista Championships and former Coffee Fest latte art judge, can be seen emceeing a variety of coffee events nationally, and holds several Signature Drink Competition titles. She has also authored multiple coffee publication articles, is a Barista Guild of America member, is an SCA Level 1 Certified barista, and was also co-featured on Barista Magazine’s April 2012 cover.
Black History & Mixology // Friday 2:30pm
Friday 9/15, 2:30 – 3:00pm Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
We aim to educate and excite across the board covering coffee as it relates to Black History, product innovations, and ways to bring your business to life. With so many options at every turn, we want to make sure you stand out in a premium way!
Speaker Bio
Deniseea Taylor AKA Chicken and Champagne wears many hats as a Social Media Influencer, Story Teller, and Cocktail Connoisseur pairing Black History with mixology. From her website, “I create cocktails that pair with Black history. I use libations & knowledge to create cool products to share around the world. In addition to the dope products my interactive classes that cover mixology & history will change your life.”
Coffee Is: A Plant // Friday 2:30pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 2:30 – 3:15pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
Coffee professionals in consuming countries are often less exposed to coffee in its original form – as a plant. This course examines Coffea Arabica’s history, botany, biology, and habitat, providing deeper insight into coffee’s uniqueness and the agronomical factors that persuade quality. Expanding our understanding of the plant creates a cultivates greater appreciation for the work required to produce coffee.
Speaker Bio
Dylan Siemens, Educator at Cafe Imports, has been in the coffee industry for 11 years working as a Barista, Barista Trainer, Menu Developer, and Cafe Consultant. He has held SCA Instructor certification, won the 2017 US Brewers Cup Championship, placed in the 2019 US Barista Championship finals, and then moved into Sensory Judging for Barista Competition. At Cafe Imports, he focuses on developing education curricula and content. He lives in Arkansas with his wife and new son.
The Rise of Micro-Roasting: Flexibility, Innovation, and Freshness in Specialty Coffee // Friday 3pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 3:00 – 3:30pm Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
The specialty coffee world is experiencing a micro-roasting revolution. New technologies like the Bellwether Series 2 roaster are enabling roasters to roast coffee in smaller batches with greater precision and flexibility. This seminar will explore the micro-roastery movement and how it is changing the game for roasters and cafes. We’ll discuss the benefits of micro-roasting 100% single origin coffees in small batches, using coffee as a promotional tool with special menu pairings, empowering chefs to roast coffee in-house, and enabling hub-and-spoke models where micro-roasters supply coffee to other businesses. By the end of this seminar, attendees will have an appreciation for the innovations in micro-roasting and how they can implement fresh ideas in their own businesses. The future looks bright for specialty coffee as the micro-roasting trend unlocks new levels of quality, freshness, and creativity.
Speaker Bio
Justin Bravo, Bellwether Coffee’s Digital Marketing Manager, directs digital media and creative services for the company that builds the all-electric, automatic, and ventless Bellwether Series 2 coffee roaster that enables precision micro-roasting.
The Power of Fermentation and the People’s Palate. How Innovations in Processing Impact Roaster and Consumer Behavior // Friday 3:15pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 3:15 – 4:00pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
A discussion about flavor and innovation in coffee processing at origin, experts in the industry will address topics like anaerobic, carbonic, and co-fermented (infused) coffees and analyze their relevance in the marketplace. Special attention will be given to consumer trends, and how roasters, producers, and coffee buyers and baristas alike can better communicate both the flavors and cutting edge practices necessary to bring these coffees to the coffee consuming world.
Speaker Bio
Chris Kornman is a seasoned coffee quality specialist, writer and researcher, and the director of education at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room in Oakland, California. He has extensive experience with coffee grading, roasting, sourcing, traveling and tinkering. He is the author of Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters & Buyers.
How To Run A Coffee Shop In A Small Town // Friday 3:30pm
Day/Time/Location:
Friday 9/15, 3:30 – 4:00pm Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Running a business is hard. Running a small business is even harder. Running a small business in a small town, almost impossible to keep sustainable for a long period of time. Today we’ll be looking at ways to “make it” as a coffee shop in a small town. Things like overhead, opportunities, and opposition to the less seen things like work/personal life balance, low income, and how to stay physically/mentally healthy.
Speaker Bio
Preston Quillen has owned a Coffee Roastery / Shop in Lower Alabama for over 5 years now. His love for coffee originated in Haiti while he was on a mission trip and came back with a passion to partner with farmers all across the globe in order to support their families and showcase their coffees. Bigbee Coffee is focused on serving great coffee, bringing the community together, all to see a small change in lives around the world.
Take Your Café Beyond Coffee - Introducing Cocktails/Mocktails // Saturday 9:00am
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 9:00 – 9:30am, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Offering alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails in your coffeeshop can creatively round-out your menu. Learn the basics of cocktail creation and how to integrate it into your barista training. By applying the fundamentals of cocktail structure and batching techniques, you can fill the time gap between the morning coffee and the after-dinner espresso with creative cocktail offerings in your café.
Speaker Bio
Rhiannon Enlil is a bar trainer, spirits educator, and beverage history presenter. She is a Certified Specialist of Spirits (SWE), member of the United States Bartenders Guild, certified BAR-Ready, certified WSET Level 3 in Spirits, and an Executive Bourbon Steward. Rhiannon is thrilled to work with the NOLA Coffee Festival in building a collaborative bridge between the craft cocktail community and the coffee industry. She is passionate about cocktail history, New Orleans, and New Orleans cocktail history.
Leveraging Technology to Access Direct Trade with Fewer Risks & More Transparency // Saturday 9:30am
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 9:30 – 10:00am, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Technology can unlock economic opportunity along supply chains by breaking down the barriers to international trade. A supply chain management platform streamlines business between buyers, suppliers, and service providers across the coffee industry on a connected digital ecosystem. Bringing the coffee trading infrastructure online offers tools to diversify the coffee marketplace, streamline logistics, secure payments and government compliance, and optimize efficiency – ultimately, creating opportunities for stronger relationships between coffee producers and buyers.
Speaker Bio
Brianna Dickey is the founder and CEO of CropConex, a software platform designed to enable more efficient, traceable, and profitable specialty coffee supply chains. The platform integrates the value chain in one convenient location, connecting buyers, suppliers, and service providers across the coffee industry, starting with Ethiopia to the US.
The Rise of Micro-Roasting: Flexibility, Innovation, and Freshness in Specialty Coffee // Saturday 9:30am
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 9:30 – 10:00am Roasters Classroom
Description
The specialty coffee world is experiencing a micro-roasting revolution. New technologies like the Bellwether Series 2 roaster are enabling roasters to roast coffee in smaller batches with greater precision and flexibility. This seminar will explore the micro-roastery movement and how it is changing the game for roasters and cafes. We’ll discuss the benefits of micro-roasting 100% single origin coffees in small batches, using coffee as a promotional tool with special menu pairings, empowering chefs to roast coffee in-house, and enabling hub-and-spoke models where micro-roasters supply coffee to other businesses. By the end of this seminar, attendees will have an appreciation for the innovations in micro-roasting and how they can implement fresh ideas in their own businesses. The future looks bright for specialty coffee as the micro-roasting trend unlocks new levels of quality, freshness, and creativity.
Speaker Bio
Justin Bravo, Bellwether Coffee’s Digital Marketing Manager, directs digital media and creative services for the company that builds the all-electric, automatic, and ventless Bellwether Series 2 coffee roaster that enables precision micro-roasting.
Brewing Success: Navigating the Key Business Metrics For Coffeeshops // Saturday 10:00am
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 10:00 – 10:30am, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Are you brewing success in your coffee shop? Join us as we explore the key metrics that every coffee shop owner should be tracking to ensure maximum profitability. From labor costs to food costs and beyond, we’ll show you how to navigate industry standards and track your data accurately on a daily basis. Don’t miss this opportunity to understand the health of your business through data and take your coffee shop to the next level!
Speaker Bio
Niko Philosophos is Head of Sales for Dripos, USA
The Art of the Blend // Saturday 10:00am
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 10:00 – 10:45am, Roaster Classroom
Description
Why do people blend coffee? For uniqueness, for marketing purposes, to create something unique to their brand. Types of Blends: Breakfast Blends, House Blend, French Roast Blend, Espresso Blends. Blends that are named after regions, cities, places and people. How to Blend: Pre-roast, Post-roast or both combined. Blend Style: Harmonious or Tension -creating How to blend: What’s the purpose, plan of action? Build blend, evaluate, lather, rinse and repeat.
Questions to consider when creating a signature blend: Price range for cost of green coffee? Price range for wholesale and retail sales? Restrictions on who to sell it to and how it can be prepared. Do you trademark your blend?
Speaker Bio
Bob Arceneaux has been in specialty coffee since 1988 having worked for PJ’s Coffee and Covington Coffee Works prior to working and owing Orleans Coffee and its various divisions. He’s born and raised in south Louisiana, having graduated from Nicholls State in 1985. And he was a 2-time member of the SCA’s Roasters Guild Executive Council. Bob has traveled to many central and south American countries for judging coffee competitions and coffee buying opportunities.
Green Coffee Demystified - From Flavor Potential to Favorable Pricing, How Everything at Origin Impacts Your Cup (Lecture) // Saturday 11:00am
Saturday 9/16, 11:00 – 11:45am, Roaster Classroom
Description
An introduction to global trends, buying practices, and market movements, this class is a foundation-level green coffee overview. Topics covered include direct trade and spot purchases, the C Market, inventory planning, and Incoterms. Tailored specifically for Roasters and Buyers, attendees will come away with a broad understanding of macroeconomic trends, harvest cycles and coffee availability, and the critical communication skills necessary to make a difference in day-to-day purchasing and sourcing decisions.
Speaker Bio
Chris Kornman is a seasoned coffee quality specialist, writer and researcher, and the director of education at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room in Oakland, California. He has extensive experience with coffee grading, roasting, sourcing, traveling and tinkering. He is the author of Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters & Buyers.
411 on Signature Drinks // Saturday 11:00am
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 11:00 – 11:45am, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Delicious, creative and trending beverages for your coffee business provide an excellent opportunity to build profitability, brand identity and customer loyalty. This session will help get your wheels turning on how to develop these unforgettable and craveable signature drinks your customers will keep coming back for.
Speaker Bio
Anna Gutierrez
Beginning her coffee career in 1997 as a barista, Anna currently manages the Barista 22 line of syrups, sauces, powders, and fruit beverage bases. Having extensive experience working with distributors and national coffee chains, she’s an expert in product selection, marketing and branding, R + D of specialty coffee products, and training, and has a consistent passion for beverage development. Anna has presented at Coffee shows since 2005, has been a certified United States Barista Championships and former Coffee Fest latte art judge, can be seen emceeing a variety of coffee events nationally, and holds several Signature Drink Competition titles. She has also authored multiple coffee publication articles, is a Barista Guild of America member, is an SCA Level 1 Certified barista, and was also co-featured on Barista Magazine’s April 2012 cover.
Sensory Science, Coffee Assessment and Emergence: A new cupping method for the way we taste. // Saturday 12:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 12:00 – 1:00pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
While sensory science has been top of head and tip of tongue in the cupping world of late, misunderstandings remain prevalent. This presentation will discuss the discipline of sensory science, the art of cupping, and how each can fruitfully engage the other. To these ends, we will look at The Rose, a novel, user-centric solution that bridges issues in both specialty coffee cupping and sensory science.
Speaker Bio
Ian Fretheim is the Director of Sensory Analysis at Cafe Imports.
How To Run A Coffee Shop In A Small Town // Saturday 12:30pm
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 12:30 – 1:00pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Running a business is hard. Running a small business is even harder. Running a small business in a small town, almost impossible to keep sustainable for a long period of time. Today we’ll be looking at ways to “make it” as a coffee shop in a small town. Things like overhead, opportunities, and opposition to the less seen things like work/personal life balance, low income, and how to stay physically/mentally healthy.
Speaker Bio
Preston Quillen has owned a Coffee Roastery / Shop in Lower Alabama for over 5 years now. His love for coffee originated in Haiti while he was on a mission trip and came back with a passion to partner with farmers all across the globe in order to support their families and showcase their coffees. Bigbee Coffee is focused on serving great coffee, bringing the community together, all to see a small change in lives around the world.
The Future of Cold Brew & RTD // Saturday 1:00pm
Saturday 9/16, 1:00 – 1:45pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
Coming Soon
Speaker Bio
Panel
Coming Soon
Demystifying Caffeine // Saturday 1:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 1:00 – 1:30pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Red Bull’s product communications team will demystify caffeine, break down what ingredients are in a Red Bull and the history of the company. This session can help answer common questions or objections of caffeine and sugar to best educate consumers.
Speaker Bios
Crystal Mireles is Red Bull’s Senior Product Communication Manager and Dezi Abeyta is a registered dietician at Red Bull.
Understanding the Coffee Flavor Wheel (and How to Talk About Coffee Flavors) – an interactive sensory experience and discussion // Saturday 2:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 2:00 – 2:45pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
The Coffee Flavor Wheel is a beautiful tool but it can look intimidating to use. This short session will expose attendees to a small sampling of the flavor standards, and empower anyone – coffee industry folks and consumers alike – to understand and use the tastes and descriptions in everyday scenarios. We’ll cover some basic best practices in analyzing tastes and flavors as well as communication tools attendees can use in their cafes and roasteries to make the best use of the wide array of flavor possibilities we celebrate in the coffee world.
Speaker Bio
Chris Kornman is a seasoned coffee quality specialist, writer and researcher, and the director of education at The Crown: Royal Coffee Lab and Tasting Room in Oakland, California. He has extensive experience with coffee grading, roasting, sourcing, traveling and tinkering. He is the author of Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters & Buyers.
Building An All Star Training Program // Saturday 2:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Satruday 9/16, 2:00 – 2:45pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
Having an All-Star staff of properly-trained baristas can make or break the success of your business. We’ll walk through how to put together a stellar training program, including the importance of training, instructor selection, necessary beverage-building techniques as well as enforcement of consistency and quality control.
Speaker Bio
Anna Gutierrez
Beginning her coffee career in 1997 as a barista, Anna currently manages the Barista 22 line of syrups, sauces, powders, and fruit beverage bases. Having extensive experience working with distributors and national coffee chains, she’s an expert in product selection, marketing and branding, R + D of specialty coffee products, and training, and has a consistent passion for beverage development. Anna has presented at Coffee shows since 2005, has been a certified United States Barista Championships and former Coffee Fest latte art judge, can be seen emceeing a variety of coffee events nationally, and holds several Signature Drink Competition titles. She has also authored multiple coffee publication articles, is a Barista Guild of America member, is an SCA Level 1 Certified barista, and was also co-featured on Barista Magazine’s April 2012 cover.
Adventures In Roasting: Challenges To Growth For Roasters // Saturday 3:00pm
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 3:00 – 3:45pm, Roaster Classroom
Description
Coming Soon
Moderator Bio
Felton Jones
Mr. Felton Jones, III joined the New Orleans Roast production team in 1993 under the direction of Phyllis Jordan, PJ’s Coffee’s founder. From 1996-99, Mr. Jones moved to a position with Coffee House Inc. where he became General Manager of Coffee Operations and began his journey towards gaining Roastmaster status. In 1999, Mr. Jones returned to New Orleans Roast and PJ’s Coffee at the request of Phyllis Jordan to assume the position of VP of Wholesale Operations and Quality Control Manager. In 2003, Mr. Jones achieved his status as Roastmaster, and Coffee Buyer for PJ’s Coffee. Mr. Jones is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association of America in green coffee purchasing and contracts, and now serves as Chief Roastmaster and Brand Ambassador for New Orleans Roast.
2023 Drink Trends // Saturday 2:45pm
Day/Time/Location:
Saturday 9/16, 2:45 – 3:30pm, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
There’s a noticeable shift happening in the coffee culture landscape, and operators are challenged with revitalizing their offerings. Join Monin to explore 2023 beverage trends to help you create flavorful, signature beverages for your menu. Not only will this help increase your beverage profits, but it will also help your coffee shop become a unique beverage destination. You will leave feeling inspired!
Speaker Bio
Ryan Divis has been with Monin since 2013. She is on the field sales marketing team and works closely with the sales team in planning conferences, tradeshows, customer events and supporting customers’ needs. She is also part of a team that researches and presents beverage and flavor trends to customers both in office and out in the field.
What's In Your Cup?: An Overview of U.S. Coffee Consumption Trends & Consumer Preferences // Saturday 3:30pm
Saturday 9/16, 3:30 – 4:00, Cafe Owners/Managers Classroom
Description
What are Americans drinking? Which specialty coffee beverages are currently the most popular? Do U.S. coffee consumers want highly caffeinated coffee or lower caffeine, functional coffees, espresso-based, cold brew or RTD coffee? How do coffee consumers feel about sustainability? This session will provide an overview of the U.S. coffee market offering insight into consumption and growth trends, changing consumer preferences (among various demographic groups and regions as well as the different types of coffees being consumed, ingredients, flavors, and formats, etc.), cold brew’s surge in popularity, innovations in RTD, and prospects and challenges in the U.S. coffee market.
Speaker Bio
Vanessa L. Facenda has been editor of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal since 2012. Founded in 1901, Tea & Coffee Trade Journal (T&CTJ) is the oldest international business-to-business publication covering the global coffee and tea industries from origin through the supply chain. Vanessa is responsible for the editorial direction and all editorial content for the publication, website and newsletter, including writing a weekly blog and a column for each print edition, as well as writing articles for and multiple sections of the magazine. She is the public face of T&CTJ, travelling to conferences, conventions, trade shows and events around the world. Within the coffee and tea industries, Vanessa has presented at multiple United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization events, the National Coffee Association Convention, ECRM: Coffee, Tea, Coffee & Cocoa, and multiple World Tea Expos. She has also appeared on CNBC and Fox Business News programs. Vanessa has spent most of her career in publishing with magazines such as Brandweek and Retail Merchandiser – where she also served as editor – covering food and beverages, consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, branding, advertising, licensing, and health and beauty, among several other categories. Her articles have appeared in consumer and business-to-business publications including Consumer Digest, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Specialty Food Magazine and Beverage World. She resides in New York.