I’ve had the joy to attend the Specialty Coffee Show on Red Square in Moscow for the past two years, and I’m delighted (and soooo excited) to be heading back again next week for my third year! Produced and hosted by Soyuz Coffee Roasting, one of Russia’s leading roasters, the event challenges everyday consumers to try something outside of their comfort zone ”and in Russia, any hot beverage that’s not tea qualifies. But after the success (tens of thousands of visitors to the weeklong festival) of the first year, it was obvious they liked it. And last year, when the show returned to Red Square, it was even more massive, and people clamored to get a taste of this quality coffee that was being served.
As the coffee event is held in conjunction with a music festival named after Moscow’s famous Spasskaya Tower, a special signature drink was created called the Spasskaya Tower. That’s on the menu along with cappuccinos and espressos.
But who is preparing these drinks, you ask? Well that’s part of the party! Soyuz invites the World Barista Champion along with a handful of some of the other most talented baristas on the globe. Not only must they make terrific coffee drinks throughout this evening festival, they’ve gotta be able to shake their groove thang: the event that Soyuz Coffee hosts is one big party, from start to finish.
This year another component of the festival will be educational sessions taught by the visiting baristas, which will take place in the afternoons each day.
The whole thing starts a week from Monday ”September 2. For details about the educational sessions, you can see my post from a couple weeks ago HERE.
For now, it’s all about getting excited for these wild and crazy (and superduper talented) baristas! To help us along, Soyuz has created these pretty hilarious Wanted posters for each of the nine baristas who will work the festival in Moscow’s Red Square in just one week.
If you find any of these baristas, please return them to Red Square. We really, really need them to make their awesome espresso beverages for the people of Moscow!
