Poised to be one of the best events of the year, East Coast Coffee Madness is already almost sold out
BY SARAH ALLEN
BARISTA MAGAZINE
All he had to say was George Howell and Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood. But when we sat down to talk during the World of Coffee show in Sweden in June, Jérôme Grenier-Desbiens had even more ways to get me excited about the event he and a crackerjack team of coffee pros are planning to take place in Montreal on September 7 called East Coast Coffee Madness (ECCM).
In the wake of such non-traditionally formatted coffee events as the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Coffee Conference (MANE), Barista Nation, and the Nordic Barista Cup, ECCM was born from an inspired group of coffee pros who wanted to see that same kind of outside-of-the-convention-center education and social networking take place on the East Coast and into Canada. The one-day event is built around the vision, Meet + Learn + Grow, with the mission of gathering the growing coffee community in Montreal around workshops, speakers, and a coffee competition in a simple and casual format.
Special features include the aforementioned headlining coffee experts, specialty-coffee pioneer and co-founder of the Cup of Excellence, George Howell of George Howell Coffee in Massachusetts, and Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, the 3x UK Barista Champion who has placed in the final round of the World Barista Championship all three times he’s made it to the international event, and owns Colonna & Smalls in Bath, England, with his wife.
In addition, Bianca Lavoie of ECCM says, licensed Q-graders Jérôme Grenier-Desbiens and Clifford Hansen will do a palate development workshop wherein participants will learn how to train their sensory skills to become better coffee professionals. Another workshop of particular interest is sure to be the one taught by McGill graduate student in food processing, Nnedimma Nnebe, who will lecture on milk processing, from the effects of processing on milk, to how processing effects beverage preparation and taste.
No good coffee event is without an exciting competition, of course, and the ECCM will be no exception, with the debut of a head-to-head brewing contest.
The event is almost sold out, so if you’re hoping to go, get your tickets now by clicking HERE. If you’re not able to make it, be sure to follow @eccoffeemadness on social media throughout the event for updates, photos, and more!
