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PU LL: E V EN T S BARISTA NATION LOVEFEST IN SAN FRANCISCO THE DAY OF BARISTA NATION SAN FRANCISCO dawned to a bright blue sky, with accompanying pleasant, Mediterranean-esque temperatures— even though it was the middle of January. The weather lured loads of people outdoors, and particularly in the Mission District, with its buzzing mix of shops, restaurants, and cafés, a lively energy infected the city and created a great atmosphere for the one-day Barista Nation event. Held halfway between two Mission District coffee icons, Ritual Coffee Roasters and Four Barrel, at the Women's Building, the event opened with the usual grab bag of goodies from sponsors, some awesome pastries, and, of course, coffee. From the start, the maximum-capacity crowd (more than 200 people attended, making it the largest Barista Nation yet) had a plethora of different educational sessions to choose from. Helen Russell, president of Equator Coffee, led with a presentation on her experiences traveling to origin and the challenges of bringing exceptional coffees back to her Bay Area roastery. Meanwhile, the 2012 top prize winner of the El Salvador Cup of Excellence, Ernesto Menendez, and Shannon Neffendorf from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters spoke about the new trend of coffee growers and roasters collaborating to improve coffee quality. And I gave a presentation on how doing good in business can also be good for business. These were natural outgrowths of the theme of the event, "The Good Café," which in turn was a play off the Good Food Awards, which had just been held the night before. As the Barista Nation continued, the classes seemed to multiply as did the energy. Brant Curtis from Wilbur Curtis gave an interesting presentation in a classroom on "The Purpose of Profits," and Emma Bladyka from the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) spoke on the difficult times the world will face with climate change and its effects on coffee production. Meanwhile in still another room, Rip Pruisken from Rip van Wafels, and Jeremy Kempel, president of the new equipment startup, Blossom (with prototypes of the machine on hand) talked about the rewards that follow in working for something you believe in. Only during the lunch break did the various threads of the event get woven back together as everyone dined in the main room, while 2012 United States Barista Champion Katie Carguilo delivered the keynote address. She spoke about her journey from her days as a college student looking for a parttime job and finding it behind the bar as a barista, to her work today on the customer-support team at Counter Culture Coffee in New York. After the keynote, participants split up again. In the balcony, Sauro Dall'Aglio taught hands-on classes on Unic's Viper espresso machine, while Katie's speech's themes were echoed in an afternoon session led by Devorah Freudiger from Equator Coffee + Tea and Alexandra LittleJohn from Verve Coffee, as they fielded multiple question from the audience about how to find a long-term career path in coffee. Jason Burton from the LAB in Kansas City, Mo., and instigator of the proliferating Caffeine Crawl events, talked about the different strategies he has seen in microbreweries, distilleries, and cutting-edge coffee shops, and how they might be implemented in more cafés. Growing your business by building a close relationship with your customers and developing a local coffee culture, no matter where your shop might be located, was the subject of "Friends with Benefits," a discussion led by Chris Baca and Jared Truby from Verve. Finally, the group reassembled with a panel discussion moderated by Julia Barber from Reg Barber Enterprises, in which a number of women who had built interesting coffee careers for themselves spoke about the roads they had traveled to end up on the stage. After the wrap, of course, it was time for food and beer. Mexican and Indian street food was served from a couple of trucks parked out front, and locally brewed beer was on offer as well. Soon the traditional latte-art 20 barista magazine In January Barista Nation San Francisco celebrated the ever-growing coffee community in the Bay Area, where local cafés and roasteries like Sightglass Coffee—pictured here—continue to build national reputations for excellence. throwdown was kicked off, as was the Bay Area Coffee Community, a new social network for coffee pros and enthusiasts, with the competition. By the time Barista Nation closed its doors, night had fallen on the City by the Bay, and the folks who had traveled from afar for the event—like the guys from Augie's Coffee in Redlands, Calif.—were beginning their long trip back home. Those guys in particular are the ones that really bring events like Barista Nation to life. They've made a pact to travel to any barista event held in California (I met them in September at Barista Nation Los Angeles), so they can support and promote the Golden State's barista community. And it's because of them and folks like them that Barista Nation San Francisco was such a success the first time in 2012, and now a second time in 2013. Next year, there's sure to be a third incarnation. —Kenneth R. Olson