The First Vancouver Coffee Mini-Fest is Kind of a Big Deal

Vancouver. Big buildings. Great coffee.

Coffee Potluck, the grassroots group focused on building and promoting Vancouver, B.C.’s specialty coffee scene through events such as last year’s “adult” latte art competition, is preparing to host the city’s first all-day festival devoted to coffee.

Taking place this Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. — followed by an afterparty at The Birds & the Beets — the Vancouver Coffee Mini-Fest is happening at a Mount Pleasant neighborhood pub called The American.

“This event will establish Vancouver’s local coffee community on the map of specialty, where the ‘coffee city’ first initiated the café culture, it will showcase transition and progress of the present day,” the Coffee Potluckers wrote in an announcement of the event.

Event highlights include a “Roasters Tasting Village,” where guests can taste the liveliest brews from a number of roasters along Canada’s West Coast, as well as the sanctioned Western (Canada) regional Aeropress championship, the winner of which will be sponsored by local favorite Timbertrain Coffee Roasters and Patrick O’Malley’s Genius Coffee Equipment to attend the National Aeropress Championship next month in Manotoba. The Western regional latte art competition will also take place during the event.

Coffee Potluck image for the Vancouver Aeropress Competition.

O’Malley, a certified Q Grader with a depth of coffee knowledge, today began teaching a one-week SCA complete coffee diploma program off-site, leading into the event. Yet perhaps the most compelling part of the program is a women’s panel discussion beginning at 2 p.m. that will be moderated by Coffee Potluck Co-Founder Vania Ling.

“Vancouver has a vibrant, but unsung coffee scene,” Coffee Potluck wrote. “The role and perspective of these industry leaders is not only inspiring, but this discussion will shed light on the many paths that a coffee career may lead… and spur on a greater conversation of how this small burgeoning coffee scene is reflective of growth culture found in larger industries like STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.”

Admission to the Vancouver Coffee Mini-Fest is free, and the afterparty at Birds & Beets is open to the public beginning at 7:30 p.m.