Slow, Dark and Wet: The Debut of a Lithuanian Coffee Event

photo by Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories

As of this writing, the weather in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, Nov. 23, is forecast at around 4 degrees Celcius (approximately 39 degrees Farenheit), with mostly cloudy skies and a chance of showers.

Dark times, indeed, but a fine day to spend inside the capitol city’s Galerija Vartai, where the first annual Dark Times coffee conference is being held, described by its organizers as the first ever conference dedicated to specialty coffee in Lithuania.

The event was organized by Emanuelis Ryklys, owner of Old Town Vilnius’s roastery and retail shop Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories. Since opening less than two years ago, Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories has been incredibly active in creating opportunities for dialogue with consumers (as its name might imply), slowing down the bar, hosting regular in-store events, tastings and its Sunday Coffee Club, so it makes sense that Ryklys is leading the way.

The event will involve presentations from professionals in seven different fields related to the coffee industry, including a botanist to discuss coffee plant biology, as well as representatives from Czech Republic-based We Brew custom coffee glassware and Dutch green coffee importers This Side Up. Ryklys will discuss slow coffee culture, and says he plans to discuss a pour over tool he’s in the process of inventing.

Tickets to the event are available here.