OLD TRUMAN BREWERY NEWS // MAY 2013 // TRUMAN REVIEW

{	THE LINE UP THIS MAY	}
	The First Urban Cycle Show, 2 Bank Holidays!, A Stratup Job Fair, Art Exhibitions, Sample Sales & Pop-Up Shops, Artisans Wine Fair, Bespoke Personal Fitness, New Healthy Lunch Venue and FREE RANGE 2013! www.trumanbrewery.com

The London Coffee Festival returned to The Old Truman Brewery at the end of April, bringing with it over 15,000 coffee lovers, foodies, baristas, coffee shop owners and industry folk! As the flagship event of the UK Coffee Week tickets sold out fast, a great thing for the coffee industry and also Project Waterfall the supported charity who receive half the ticket proceeds!

The lucky ticket holders flocked to F Block over the weekend. Alongside an excited buzz, the air was rich with the smell of coffee and gentle mutterings about how far the London coffee scene has come in the last few years.
When inside, visitors had time to explore the themed zones, each offering something different; with food, lectures, art, music and of course coffee!

The whole space had the feel of an outdoor festival with picnic benches carefully placed around on faux grass, these areas created the ideal place to sit and enjoy some of the incredible food on offer, choosing what to eat was quite a chore with Gourmet Burgers, Lobster Rolls & Dim Sum among just a few of the many choices of ‘Street Food’ available. The central hub was home to a full sized band stand occupied throughout the weekend with live acoustic singers, including the fabulous Kadija Kamara. The organisers had clearly worked hard to bring the outside in, creating the perfect environment for our temperamental British weather!

Alongside the wealth of coffee, food and tea stalls (yes a few tea vendors snuck in, we are in England after all!) The weekend played host to numerous talks and competitions including the UK Barista championships; this year John Gordon from Square Mile Coffee Roasters took home the much converted trophy, winning for the third time in front of a packed room of excited spectators!

We were lucky enough to catch Jeremy from Union Roastery providing the keenest coffee fans with a chance to witness the intricate roasting process. He began by letting the crowd smell the earthy unrecognisable sent of the green beans and proceeded to briefly chat his way through the skills that have taken him years to master! Filmed for prosperity you can watch Jeremy's Youtube video here.

For visitors seeking a moment of caffeine free calm The Coffee Art Project was the place to go. The open entry exhibition offered the chance for emerging and established artists to exhibit side by side. As an on-going competition, only the finalists were on display at the festival. The complete exhibition with all entries had been displayed the week previously in Dray Walk Gallery (Images of which are available to view on our Facebook gallery.)

Voting took place throughout the event with Illustrator Claudine O'Sullivan announced the winner on Sunday. Situated alongside the art works were the guys from Make Decent Coffee, for anyone not investing in their own coffee machine or private on-call barista this was the place to learn how to make great coffee at home from the experts!

Chatting over a Tia Maria cocktail in the Hyde Park Zone, freshly inspired by all the passionate traders we met, it became evident we all had our own highlights from the day! The innovative new coffee machines inspired & baffled equally, while Mokarabia’s ‘Basilico’ (Fresh Basil Cold Coffee) had to compete with Alchemy & Union to win drink of the day! Everyone enjoyed the impromptu dancing with the Nude Espresso team at the La Marzocco’s artisan cafe stand and the vast amount of Lindt and Green & Blacks chocolate we ‘Sampled’! The one thing we could all agree on was our decision to come back next year!

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Find out more about Truman East End Lifestyle
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Photography by Libby Mor / Review by Alison Southward

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(The words of the writer do not represent the views of the Old Truman Brewery)

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