When I lived in San Diego, I was interviewed about home coffee roasting from the local weekly newspaper. After the interview the reporter asked if I was a member of the local home coffee roasting group. I didn’t know one existed, so I got the information and then spent many Saturday mornings over the next few years with a group of local home roasters.
The San Diego Home Coffee Roasters usually met at Caffe Calabria. Although we started out just demonstrating different methods of home coffee roasting, the group expanded to cover all things coffee related. Caffe Calabria hosted coffee cuppings and brewing demonstrations for us. One Saturday we even got latte art training from one of their employees.
Photo Coffee Beans Coming Out Of Roaster by Flickr user shawnmebo
Up until that point my coffee education had been primarily on the web or as a customer. Meeting fellow coffee enthusiasts expanded my knowledge of coffee further. When I left San Diego and moved to Seattle, I went looking for a similar type group and found The Coffee Club of Seattle.
The Coffee Club of Seattle is hosted on Meetup.com. I’ve been with the group as member since August 2007. Last June I became an Assistant Organizer and then became Organizer in January. The group has over 600 members and we get together 3 to 5 times a month. About half our meetings involve some coffee education such as roasting tours, coffee cuppings or brewing demonstrations. The other half the time we just get together as friends and drink coffee.
Photo Stumptown Coffee Cupping by INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero
If you live in Seattle, feel free to join our group. If you (unfortunately) live elsewhere, consider seeking out or forming your own coffee club. You might learn something about our favorite beverage and make a few friends. People who like coffee tend to be cool. 🙂