SCAA: Coffee Done Right

Every year, the Specialty Coffee Association of America invites members of the industry, as well as passionate consumers, to attend their annual conference and celebrate one of the most popular beverages in America. Held in Atlanta, or "Hot 'Lanta" as it was affectionately called by the Allman brothers, this year's show was as big and beautiful as the city itself.

I feel it would be remiss not to mention a bit about the Georgia Congress Center, which is where the whole event took place. You have to understand that this is not your run of the mill conference center. On the same sprawling campus sits the Olympic Centennial Park as well as the Georgia Dome, so your first glimpse is impressive to say the least. Even though we took up what seemed to be a small corner of the Congress Center, we had actually taken over an entire building. Spanning 2 floors full of breakout rooms, 150,000 square feet of space for skill building workshops, and a show floor that was over 200,000 square feet, I think it's safe to say that the conference was massive.

The first day of the show was dedicated solely to tea. It was great to see the coffee and tea worlds coming together and acknowledging the sisterhood of their industries, and as a member of the SCAA, it was an eye opener to see the similarities and differences in these two worlds. For every coffee house, there is a tearoom; for every barista, an infusiarista (a term I am hereby coining); but diametrically opposed to coffee's "get-up-and-go" persona, is the laid back "take your time and enjoy it" feeling that the tea industry is based on.