James Hoffmann is Trying to Organize the World’s Largest Coffee Tasting

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Famed UK coffee professional James Hoffmann is trying to organize the world’s largest synchronized coffee tasting.

Why? Why not?

In a short video on his widely followed YouTube channel today, the 2007 World Barista Champion and “The World Atlas of Coffee” author says he’s planning on hosting a live stream of the tasting, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, while encouraging coffee-curious tasters from all over the world to participate.

The event — which might be characterized as one part educational exercise and one part promotional ploy — is squarely focused on consumers, as Hoffmann plans to guide tasters “on how to cup and taste coffee.”

The program is running through Hoffmann’s London-based coffee company, Square Mile Coffee Roasters, which is currently accepting £6 plus shipping (approximately $7.30+) pre-orders for the coffee tasting pack, which includes five 30-gram samples of roasted coffee, a distilled water treatment kit from Third Wave Water to improve water consistency among all tasters, a grind size sample, and instructions.

In the video, Hoffmann explains how extending the timeline of pre-orders, roasting and shipping over the course of the month is designed to increase participation from curious tasters all over the globe.

“I think this could be really fun; it could be really cool,” Hoffmann said. “I don’t think we could get it certified by Guinness, but I do think we could create the world’s largest coffee tasting.”

For the record, the “World’s Largest Coffee Tasting Event,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records, took place just two months ago in the town of Chinchiná in Colombia’s Department of Caldas. An astounding 1,559 people descended upon the public square to simultaneously taste three different coffee varieties as part of a campaign to promote the local coffees and the culture of the region to international buyers.