PHOTO VIA FLORIDA COFFEE FESTIVAL
The Florida Coffee Festival (Instagram) returns to Orlando’s Milk District on Sunday, November 15, with a weekend of coffee, matcha, competitions, and education leading up to the main event at Festival Park
Guests can sample free coffee and matcha from more than 50 local coffee shops, roasters, and matcha brands. More than 100 local art and food vendors will sell their work, and the park will have live music, food trucks, handmade art, and goat cuddling. There will also be a Florida Latte Art Throwdown Championship and an espresso and matcha martini bar by Bull & Bush.
VIP ticket holders get early entry, complimentary parking and pedicab shuttles, a VIP area with separate restrooms and vendors, and food from The Gnarly Cuban, El Tinto and Nam’s Sando’s. They also get a drink ticket for the Bull & Bush bar or the Golden Hour Wine Bar, all-day goat yoga with Alaska Farms, a coffee cupping, and a tote bag with swag.
The festival’s weekend begins Friday, November 13, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Burrow Cafe in the Mills 50 District, with a Build Your Own Brewer Competition. Teams of two get random food-safe materials to build a working pour-over brewer and make a cup for the judges. A $750 prize pool is on the line. The event is free, and RSVPs are requested through Partiful, HERE.
On Saturday, November 14, Oh Hey Cafe at 1325 Lee Road [GMap] will host two events. Beyond the Bar runs from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., aimed at coffee professionals and current or future shop owners. It features a keynote on scaling a business by Erica Escalante, founder of The Cafe Operator (Instagram), and a panel led by Amélie Boulanger of Detroit’s Washed Up Coffee (Instagram). It’s free, but RSVP is required.
Industry Night follows at Oh Hey Cafe from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with pizza, drinks, a coffee cupping, an on-site tattoo artist, and a Latte Art Throwdown for a $1,500 prize pool. Guests get in free, and competitors pay a $20 entry fee.
Tickets and details are available HERE.
