Like children let loose on Wonka’s factory floor, MICE (the Melbourne International Coffee Expo) exposed coffee lovers to a jittering coffee wonderland. In conjunction, taking place next door was the WBC (World Barista Championship) making this a real golden ticket event. All too rare for our shores!
We’ve just returned from our first ever “trade show” there and after a quick stop to drop our livers in rehab, it’s back to our version of normality…but not before a few big THANK YOU’S.
Firstly, to Andrew Hetzel of CafeMakers and our Wendy De Jong & Ed Strachan for leading workshops on Acids In Coffee and Varietal Cuppings. Plus a big thanks to all those who came along. The turnout was great and we look forward to offering more workshops in the future. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with Andrew again and look forward to welcoming him to Sydney in July for the first of our QGrader courses.
Thanks to the #milkbabes from Six Simple Machines for sharing our stand (and the house); It was great to be part of showcasing The Juggler to the industry. The response to this first ever purpose built cafe milk on tap system was epic.*
Thanks also to Handsome Coffee Roasters’ Mike Phillips, World Barista Champion 2010, for working with us behind the machine, imparting espresso and slow brew techniques, and sharing the team spirit. We look forward to keeping in touch.
A big thanks to our team. The support was overwhelming, with no less than 19 of our crew making it down to Melbourne for the event. A special thanks to our trainer Dan Ceserano for all the prep, set up and bump out.
A congrats to World Barista Champion 2013 Pete Licata, and World Brewers Cup Champion Erin McCarthy and a shout out to all the finalists including Australia’s Matt Perger. Inspiring stuff!
Finally, thanks MICE2013, we look forward to MICE2014, unless there’s a chance of a SICE2014, in which case we look forward to that even more.
*Spending four days straight with Sean McManus has seen a massive increase in the use of the word “epic”. For this, we are not thankful. But for just about everything else associated with Sean McManus, we are thankful.
For more photos of our MICE escapade, see our Facebook album.
