Something hot is brewing in Manhattan.
The New York Coffee Festival returns for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, kicking off Friday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.
At the three-day event running through Sunday, caffeine addicts will have the opportunity to sample unlimited coffee, listen to live music performances, learn about latte art and attend educational lab sessions on new developments in the industry. industry. Single day ticket prices range from $38 to $80 online and in person.
London entrepreneur Jeffrey Young, who launched the first festival in 2012, says the Big Apple is the perfect place for the java jamboree.
“There is no other city in the world that runs on caffeine the way New York City runs on caffeine,” he told the Daily News. “It’s not called the city that never sleeps for any other reason than there’s this energy from the people here.
“And coffee is one of those products that everyone enjoys, and it lifts them up and keeps them in the workaholic culture where they work hard and have a lot of fun,” Young continued. “Our festival is designed to encapsulate all the best roasters in town, with some of the baristas too.”
Before studying finance and economics for his MBA at the University of Houston, Young had an early career as a chef in top restaurants in Paris. Through his culinary work, he discovered the care and dedication necessary to make coffee. She left her job in management consulting 23 years ago to “pursue a career analyzing coffee and coffee trends.”
In 2012, the sought-after coffee market specialist began publishing annual coffee guides for cities like London and New York. His database has served as a rich resource for vendors and coffee growers performing at the festival.
“The last edition was in 2020 and it was supposed to be updated, but we haven’t updated since 2020, so a lot has changed,” Young explained.
The 50-year-old Australian keeps abreast of what’s happening with coffee by touring various corners of the city, interacting with baristas and customers.
“I have personally seen how the conversation has evolved, it has become much more sophisticated,” he shared. “It has become much more widespread. Young consumers are really taking advantage of technology, they order ahead, they have iced coffee, there are a lot of new trends that didn’t exist back then in 2012, that’s part of the culture now.”
The coffee expert added: “It’s more coffee, better coffee and more competition, but at the same time, more people enjoy specialty coffee. Cold beer wasn’t even a thing five or seven years ago, now it’s firmly ingrained.”
Producing The New York Coffee Festival will also serve a special purpose for Young. All proceeds from the festival will be donated to Project Waterfall to provide life-changing water projects in coffee-producing regions in partnership with New York City nonprofit Charity: Water.
According to the organization, more than 700 million people around the world live without clean water.
“We’re very lucky to have our daily cup of coffee, and a lot of people don’t realize that 96, 98 percent of what we drink when we drink a cup of coffee is actually water,” he said. “Behind that espresso machine, or even sometimes with the filtered coffee, there is usually filtered water.
“It’s a real privilege to have that, and why can’t we use this industry to be able to give back to people in coffee growing areas to have the clean water that they deserve as much as we do?”