Coffee Fest Chicago 2015 - It's Going Down in Chi-Town

Friday May 22, 2015 // By Matthew Moseley

Coffee Fest Chicago 2015 is officially two weeks from today!  Which means all of the competitors are finalized and you can start mapping out where to find your favorite brands on the show floor.  Also, if you haven’t reserved your spot on one of the Caffeine Crawl routes yet now is the time before they all fill up!  Caffeine Crawl is a great way to experience the specialty coffee scene in the area and make sure you get enough caffeine to keep you moving through the eventful Coffee Fest weekend.  There will be 12 routes for Caffeine Crawl Chicago spread out over two days, Thursday 6/4 and Friday, 6/5 before the Coffee Fest show floor opens.  

Now on to the main event!  As usual, Coffee Fest will putting some of the top coffee shops in the area head-to-head for an all out battle to see who serves up the best drinks with the highest level of consistency and service.  America’s Best Coffeehouse is the ultimate test of barista by encompassing all the necessary skills of drink preparation with the all important facet of service because without great service customers are hard to come by.  Speaking of customers, this competition relies on attendees to act as café patrons so take a look at your show guide when you pick up your badges at check-in to find out when you can taste some great beverages and put your vote in for who you think was the best coffeehouse competing.  The six competitors in Chicago will be Cabin Coffee Co., The Caffeinery, Muggswigz Coffee & Tea, PT’s at the Crossroads, Quill’s Coffee, and Vint Coffee.  Find out more about America’s Best Coffeehouse or see footage from past competitions on Coffee Fest’s website here!

If you’re in search of the next guest roaster to tamp into your portafilters, you won’t want to miss the action at America’s Best Espresso.  This competition allows top roasters in the area to present their favorite shots of espresso to a panel of judges looking for shots with exquisite flavor complexity and an overall pleasant sipping experience.  Also, here’s an insider tip, members of the audience get a chance to sample the competitors espresso so brush up on coffee trivia cause a correct answer or a quick raise of the hand could score you a shot to die for!  To see the full bracket of competitors primed and ready to operate some of the top machines on the market, from Nuova Simonelli, Rancilio, and more, go here.

Last, but not least, the competition that proves coffee is not just a treat for the taste buds, but can also capture an eye with mystifying design in the form of latte art.  Catch the Latte Art Championship before the show each day!  This is a truly captivating competition and always rather easy to spot because it will be in the front of the crowd forming nearby morning coffee.  Take a look at the Latte Art bracket, here, to see if your favorite barista will be pouring for a chance to be crowned the Central region’s champion.

So, who can you expect to be showing off new products and ready to help you get the most out of items you stock?  Almost half of the brands in our catalog, that’s who!  So, whether you’re in search of new applications for your most popular syrups and sauces, signature recipe ideas using the classic smoothie and frappé flavors, or a new flavor for your patrons to snack on while taking your coffee to-go; you will find a friendly face to chat with.  Torani, David Rio, and Pacific will not only be exhibiting and sampling some of their newest products; you can also register for their Drink Innovations Lab which will take you through some industry trends, help you to integrate the flavors that consumers are demanding into your menu, and give you some hands-on training for creating recipes that are sure to please your customers’ palates!  You can also get to know our Colorado neighbors from Bobo’s Oat Bars and hear which bars are their favorites as well as discover a flavor you didn’t know they offered.  DaVinci and Big Train will be there hosting classes in the morning and offering you tips for taking their tasty products to the next level.  That’s only a fraction of all our awesome partners, so find all the brands we distribute exhibiting plus their booth numbers, here.  And, of course you will be able to see the BPS® crew at booth #714 and enter our Coffee Fest raffle for a chance to win either a consumer model Toddy Cold Brew system with a special Ethiopian Coffee, that’s so new it’s still on the way to us as we write this, or a Latte Art starter kit filled with all the tools you’ll need to make those espresso drinks as visually appealing as they are appetizing!  You can also snap your #CheersBPS photo when you stop by for a chance to win a Free trip to a Coffee Fest show next year.

For a complete list of Coffee Fest Chicago exhibitors follow take a look at the Coffee Fest Exhibitor list.

We can’t wait to see you all at Navy Pier in Chicago starting Friday, June 5th!