Barista Nation in Denver: Schedule Plus Tips on How to Behave

Photo courtesy of Galvanize Denver

Specialty coffee has been exploding in Denver over the past couple years, making the Mile-High City a perfect locale for this weekend’s start-up-themed Barista Nation, the popular grassroots education and networking event.

Home base for Barista Nation Denver is the community-minded incubation space Galvanize at 1062 Delaware St., but a pre-party at Huckleberry Roasters‘ 2500 Larimer shop will kick off the weekend this Friday, July 25, at 7 p.m., including a “pick-a-card-style” latte art throwdown.

(related: Denver’s Huckleberry Roasters Opens Bar Inside Old Shipping Crates)

Saturday’s education sessions revolve around the theme “The Start Up,” with representatives from a whole bunch of Denver’s reputable young roasteries and cafes sharing their thoughts on business and mission planning, equipment investments, financing and media relations. The day will end with an “Idea Throwdown,” including some pretty sweet prizes.

After party? Yes, after party at Metropolis Coffee, within spitting distance from Galvanize.

Sunday’s Boot Camp will be hosted by Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, including several hours of workshopping on topics like “extraction and strength” and water quality be lead by Andy Sprenger (Sweet Bloom), Jason Farrar (Commonwealth Coffee), Josh McNeily (Black Black Coffee) and Eric Yochim (Two Rivers Coffee). Pre-registration is required and space is limited.

(related: How Former Competitors Andy Sprenger and Kapo Chiu Became World-Class Collaborators)

The full details are below, but first here are some tips on how to behave, straight from the Barista Nation team:

Get Hands On With All Of The Equipment Offered! We want you to brew, taste, and ask as many questions as you can!

Don’t Be Shy! We’ve intentionally placed professionals, equipment, tools, specialty coffee, and products for you all to take advantage of. We want to chat and offer our experiences & advice. There will be technicians, engineers, coffee trainers, and business owners there to talk with you.

Ask Questions! Don’t leave wishing you had asked a question, ask away! No question is a bad question. The more you ask, the more you learn. We’ll leave that up to you!

Make Connections! Be sure to introduce yourself to your peers, other cafes, business owners, speakers, and exchange information. You never know what connection you’ll make and where it will take you in life or in your professional career.

Take Photos! We love photos, do us a favor and add the hashtag #BNDENVER to your Instagram, Twitter, Facebook photos! Hint: we randomly give away prizes for the best photos of the day that we find on social media with our hashtag!