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PARIS, FRANCE synergy I couldn't help but notice amongst these old and new factions of specialty coffee, and I explained my excitement about where Paris was now—perfectly poised to represent among the best of Europe's quality coffee centers. From there, attendees split themselves among the first three sessions, all held between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.: "H2O: More than Molecule," taught by Christophe Latuilerie of BWT Water, in which baristas learned how water quality and compounds affect their coffee; "Stella di Caffè: A Star is Born," a session led by Mario Levi Sr., UNIC's lead engineer and co-owner of UNIC with his brother, Jean-Pierre Levi; and Mario Levi Jr., the head of UNIC's Paris office, and Jean-Pierre Levi's son, where baristas interested in the inner workings of the boutique espresso machines could examine all the moving parts and ask questions; and finally, "Grind on Demand: The Daily Grind," led by none other than Nils Erichsen and Frédéric Poirier of the lauded grinder manufacturer Mahlkönig. Even with three sessions being held at the same time, the crowds for each were large, and attendees sometimes moved from one session to the other; all were so packed with information, they wanted to glean all they could. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., attendees grouped by the long bar to learn about milk from Peter Hernou in his session, "From Cow to Cup." I had had a chance to talk with Peter about his training philosophies in the days before Barista Nation when we had been hanging out in Paris. I was interested to hear that he sometimes stops his students when they arrive at a session with only one thing on their mind: latte art. He told me that his main goal is to really get them to understand milk and why it behaves the way it does, at different temperatures and with different steaming techniques. Only after they have thorough knowledge of milk will they be 30 barista magazine able to use it for latte art successfully. As attendees craned their necks to watch Peter's demonstrations, another large group had followed Patrick Masson of Maison Jobin, along with Cafés Richard's Christophe Rubino, the reigning French Cup Tasters Champion, into the cupping lab to taste a variety of Cup of Excellence– winning coffees. And then it was time for lunch, held in the formal dining area and bar attached to the Académie du Café and the main Cafés Richard offices. But this was no ordinary sandwich-and-salad affair—not the way the French, and the Cafés Richard team, in particular, do it. We began with some wines from the Richard vineyards (another of the family's hugely successful business ventures), which were followed by a magnificent table atop which were countless exquisite dishes, each created using either coffee or tea as an ingredient, and all conceived by chef Marcel Pauleau. There were ceramic spoons holding single scallops with a matcha sauce. Delicate lamb chops arrived with droppers filled with coffee oils, to be dispensed just before eating. There was also a side table—I'll call this the table of my dreams: it was piled with plates and platters holding some of the best cheeses France has to offer. The decadence just went on and on, and was an intellectual exploration of the flavors of coffee and tea like I had never experienced before. Sated and ready for an afternoon of more workshops, we returned to the Académie du Café to choose among the equally intriguing three sessions held between 2 and 3 p.m.: "Coffee and Chocolate: Alchemy for Gourmets," from Laurent Baron of Monbana; "Create a Coffee Bar in Your Image," led by Sonja Björk Grant, in which she explored the philosophy she developed for her own company, and offered tips for personalizing one's own coffee bar; and "Brew