Coming in July: The First Detroit Coffee Week

The inaugural Detroit Coffee Week is happening July 22-27. Photo by Noah Juuhl, courtesy of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters.

The inaugural Detroit Coffee Week is coming July 22-27, offering lectures, training opportunities, competitions, cuppings, parties, prizes and more for the professional specialty coffee community.

Detroit-based company Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters has teamed with the Miami-based event organizer So-Flo Coffee to bring the event to life, with support from the Specialty Coffee Association.

“Consumers are more than welcome to join in and enjoy the week, but many of the learning opportunities will most greatly benefit folks working within the industry,” Amélie Haakonsen, director of sales and education for Dessert Oasis, told Daily Coffee News. “A lot of us were able to travel to SCA in Chicago and see a lot of our friends, but not everyone was able to make it. Allowing free access to this information just makes education accessible to everyone.”

Photo by Noah Juuhl, courtesy of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters.

Primary sponsors for the event include oat milk maker Planet Oat and coffee equipment experts Black Rabbit Service Company, with additional support from espresso machine company Slayer.

There will be 16 opportunities  — eight each on Monday and Tuesday — to complete the foundational SCA barista course. All are free to attend will be sponsored by So-Flo Founder Claudio Martinez,  an Authorized SCA Trainer (AST) and green coffee trader for List + Beisler.

“The SCA has agreed to help cross-promote marketing material and help us spread the word, bringing it under their umbrella of events and support,” said Haakonsen. “We will be hosting free SCA foundational classes, and folks will only be responsible for their certification cost.”

On Thursday, July 25, events will include free green coffee cuppings hosted by importers Cafe Imports, Ally Coffee, Yellow Rooster Coffee Imports, Artisan Coffee Imports and List + Beisler.

Free-to-attend lectures and panel discussions on Friday, July 26, will focus on topics including the stories of women in coffee, sustainability practices in green buying, and branding and storytelling for coffee companies. Confirmed speakers include Ruth Ann Church from Artisan Coffee Imports and Amelia Eramya from Dessert Oasis.

Photo by Noah Juuhl, courtesy of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters.

Competitions during the event will include a latte art throwdown at the Dessert Oasis cafe in the downtown Capitol Park district on July 25, and a Signature Drink Competition on July 27, sponsored by Proper Syrup, that awards its 1st place winner with a trip to Costa Rica.

Most of the educational offerings will occur inside Dessert Oasis’ 9,000-square-foot headquarters in Ferndale. Parties hosted by Dozer Coffee in Ann Arbor and Madcap Coffee in Detroit are an equally important feature of what the organizers hope will become an annual event.

“We noticed that after COVID it’s been difficult to get folks working in specialty coffee cafes and roasteries all back in the same room,” said Haakonsen. “We’re just really hoping that this kicks off more of a sense of community, and makes people excited to join in on specialty coffee events in Detroit again.”

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