Two weeks ago we took a very quick 72-hour trip to Atlanta for the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s annual trade show and coffee competition. This is a brief recap of some of the highlights as seen from our perspective.
The weather in Atlanta was near perfect. The classic Hotlanta humidity was vacationing further south. Sunny, cool and dry every day – it was perfect weather for walking and Ubering.
This was the first year we were at the annual show without a competitor and a focus on the competition side of the show. Instead, we spent a lot of time walking the exhibit floor and reuniting with a number of old and new coffee friends.
Highlights include pulling shots of our Peru La Fortuna at the Slayer booth as well as spending time with Slayer’s amazing team of technical people, trainers, and sales reps. 
Next up, meeting the man behind the Kees van der Westen. Personal scrapbook moment.
We followed that up by a cameo of our mug at the Not Neutral booth.
It’s also always a thrill to see all the new and updated coffee roasters on the exhibit floor and this year did not disappoint. Some of our personal favorites included the Diedrich, Joper, Probat P/2, Buhler and the St. Louis team from First Crack with their Proaster models.
A few product highlights included the PourSteady, N Bottle, and the La Marzocco Linea AB –it’s going to happen this year. Honorable mentions included other single serve brewing equipment like Marco’s SP9, the Bkon, and Bunn’s water carbonation system (think SodaStream on tap).
And lastly, we think that St. Louis’ own Evan Jones coverage of the Brewers Cup this year for SprudgeLive helped elevate the prominence of the Brewers Cup and will continue to do so in the years to come. Evan not only provided Cliff Note-like highlights for each competitor’s presentation, he also included detailed notes on the competitors’ brew devices, their competition coffees, and their brew recipes; thus elevating the entire industry’s coffee game.