Great Lakes Coffee Showcase is happening this Saturday!
BY ANDREW BETTIS
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE
Chicago is a city brimming with coffee purveyors, and on Saturday, February 27, an event will seek to bring Chicago-based roasters together, along with regional roasters. The Great Lakes Coffee Showcase (GLCS) is a new grassroots coffee event, and will take place from 3-9 p.m. at Everybody’s Coffee in uptown Chicago.The event will consist of brew bars featuring regional roasters, coffee equipment exhibits, the Midwest Regional AeroPress Championship, and a New Gotham Coffee Community Latte Art Throwdown to end the night. And to top it all off, the event will be free and open to the public.
The GLCS is organized by a few Chicago-based roasters and baristas, including myself. Our intention with the event is to create a sustainable way to foster regional connectivity among coffee professionals and enthusiasts. With the demise of regional barista competitions, we wanted to find a way to collaborate with other professionals regionally in a self-sustaining way. As it turns out, Everybody’s Coffee has a similar vision with their space, evidenced by their collaboration with Chicago roasters in hosting a showing of A Film About Coffee.
The aesthetic of the event will be much more similar to a coffee party than a showroom floor, and there will be an after party consisting of beer and ice cream at the Bow Truss on Broadway. So mark your calendars and get ready to guzzle!
Here are the 2016 Midwest Regional AeroPress Championship competitors:
Joshua Dusk-Peebles, Everybody’s Coffee
Sam Burchett, Geometric
Will Ferris, Standard Market
Philip Burchett, Geometric
John Petrenko, Bow Truss Coffee Roasters
Zak Wosewick, Anodyne Coffee Roasters
Matthew Gasaway, Intelligentsia
Cat Mendoza-Mungcal, Mojo Coffee Roasters
Erik Czuprinski, River City Roasters
Zack Piccozzi, River City Roasters
Benjamin Elliot, Cultivar Coffee
Eli Ramirez, Shift Coffee
Cortney Kern, Barista Maniac
Michael Butterworth, Quills Coffee
Dylan Frye, Pilcrow Coffee
Graham Mcnamee, Ipsento Coffee
Don Lawrence, Intelligentsia
Kayla Placencio, Beans and Bagels
The Great Lakes Coffee Showcase and Midwest Regional AeroPress Championship are sponsored by: Rancilio, Bow Truss, Pentair, Curtis, Aerobie, BonaVita, La Colombe, Acaia, Department of Brewology, Barista Magazine, Pilcrow, Big Shoulders, Abacus, and the New Gotham Coffee Community
Also appearing: Metric, Intelligentsia, Halfwit, Gaslight, Metropolis, Ruby, Kickapoo, Cafe Integral, Groundswell, Ipsento, Dark Matter, Passion House, and Counter Culture Coffee