Helsinki Coffee Festival 2017

Helsinki Coffee Festival 2017 is the third in its series of coffee events for Finnish coffee professionals and all kinds of coffee enthusiasts. This year it was held on the 21.-23.4.2017 in Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki, for the second time in a row. With its almost 6000 visitors, it beat the visitor record of earlier years. Slurp has been a part of the festivals since its establishment, and this year was no different!

We compiled a compact festival report, that will tell you all things necessary and important, like the overall festival vibe and the winners of the various competitions.

The atmosphere and program

Once you stepped through the Kaapelitehdas doors, you immediately got to tap into the relaxed but mystical festival vibe. The overall lighting was dusky and the exhibitors spots were lighted by skillfully placed spotlights. In the background, lounge music played by various DJs was playing for everyones pleasure.

Almost every exhibitor offered the chance to taste something – mostly coffee, but also tea, chocolate, ice cream, almond milk and other delicious things. On the Slurp stand, we didn’t offer anything to taste, but rather focused on telling people about the Slurp service. Regardless to no samples, enthusiastic listeners were found almost endlessly. From Friday to Sunday, we actively spoke to visitors and shared the word of micro roastery coffee.

The program was very ranged and surely met to everyone’s tastes. Different coffee related workshops were arranged on multiple stands. The stages were chock full of conversation that ranged from the origin of coffee to new trends, for example coffee matured in a whiskey barrel. Tero from Slurp was also on the stage every day to tell the audience about marketing of specialty coffee and about how to choose the right beans for different brewing methods.

The highflyers of Helsinki Coffee Festival

The Weekend was full of excitement also in the form of various competitions. Prizes were given out in various coffee related categories. The best espresso and the best filtered coffee were also awarded for the first time this year. The choice for these was made from the selection 15-16 different roasteries. The competitions focused especially on the sweetness, balance and aftertaste of the coffees.

The best filtered coffee

1. Rost & Co., Finca Montejo, Guatemala
2. Jaettu sija: Cafetoria Roastery, Karimikui AA, Kenya; Jaettu sija: Good Life Coffee, Wote, Ethiopia

The best espresso

1. Johan & Nyström, 5th ESTATE
2. Kaffa Roastery, Espindola, Ecuador
3. Paulig, Amaro Gayo By Asnakech Thomas, Ethiopia

However, the choice of the best roastery and the best coffee shop was up to the audience instead of a jury. In the poll held on the Helsinki Coffee Festival site and in the event let the audience vote for their favorite roastery and coffee shop. Altogether, the poll received 4337 votes.

Finland’s best roastery

1. Lehmus Roastery, Lappeenranta
2. Kaffa Roastery, Helsinki
3. Paulig, Helsinki

Finland’s best coffee shop

1. Kaffa Roastery, Pursimiehenkatu 29 A, Helsinki
2. Johan & Nyström, Kanavaranta 7 C, Helsinki
3. Good Life Coffee, Kolmas linja 17, Helsinki

Paavo Pykäläinen Photography / Helsinki Coffee Festival 2017

International level competitions

On top of all other competitions, the main events of the festival were the Finals of Brewers Cup and the Finnish Barista Championship. These competitions are standardized on an international level all up to the method of execution and judge certification. In Finland, the competition is held by SCAE Finland (Speciality Coffee Association of Europe – Finnish Chapter).

The Brewers Cup on Saturday, was won by Aleksi Kuusijärvi. He works in Helsinki, especially in the coffee shops Sävy and El Fant and also in the business of Good Life Coffee -roastery. Kuusijärvi is heading to Budapest, Hungary to represent Finland in the World Championship in June.

The winner of the Barista of the Year competition was the reigning champion, Jarno Peräkylä. He works as the main barista in the Caffi coffee shops owned by Bean and Burner roastery. Peräkylä also has experience with roasting coffee. He will travel to Seoul, South Korea to compete in the World Barista Championship in March.

Next year again!

Once again, the festival made it easy to notice that the Finnish coffee community is large and increasingly interested in the makings of quality coffee. Also coffee professionals and foreign coffee enthusiasts were present in growing quantities. Helsinki Coffee Festival is the biggest coffee event in Finland by far – after all, it is the biggest coffee event in all the Nordic countries. We warmly recommend the Festival to all friends of great coffee in the future too!

This is a good place to continue with the coffee year 2017. Once again, congratulations to the winners!

The Slurp festival gang says thank you and signs out!

Rafael, Antti, Tero, Maria and Manuel

The hero photo: Paavo Pykäläinen Photography / Helsinki Coffee Festival 2017

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