Sheffield's first ever coffee festival to take place this month

The Sheffield Coffee Festival will take place on May 22 and 23 at a number of different venues across the city including Foundry Coffee Roasters; Smith Street Coffee Roasters; Steam Yard Coffee Co and Albie’s Coffee.

It has been organised by Jordan O’Shea, who owns Whaletown Coffee Co. in Crookes and Cuppers Choice Coffee Roasters in the city centre.

“I wanted to create an event that would celebrate coffee and bring people back into coffee shops. Lots of people have missed coffee shops, which isn’t just down to the coffee, it’s the atmosphere too,” explained Jordan, who has been involved in the industry for the last decade.

In addition to Sheffield participants, the festival is set to feature coffee producers from across the country such as Bristol-based Full Court Press; Caravan Coffee Roasters from London and Casa Espresso Coffee Roasters from Shipley.

The events on offer include tasting rooms; latte art workshops; home brewing workshops and the Northern filter championships, which will see baristas compete to brew the perfect cup of coffee, using Cuppers Choice coffee in the first round and a coffee of their choice in the second.

The filter championships will take place on the evening of Saturday, May 22 at the Saw Grinders Union at Globe Works, Kelham Island, where audience members can expect to enjoy “brews, booze and barbecues.”

A pop up called “Sheffield Coffee Lab” will also be created next to Albie’s in The Social on Snig Hill in the city centre.

Jordan said he believes people’s interest in coffee has increased during lockdown while people have been working from home, in part because it has afforded them the opportunity to take more time over making a cup of coffee.

“I think people have realised that specialty coffee might cost more but the event behind it is bigger. You’re directly supporting farmers, directly supporting local businesses,” he added.

Jordan added that staff at Whaletown have seen a 300 per cent increase in sales of home brewing equipment over the last year.

The 250 tickets for the Sheffield Coffee Festival sold out in just 33 minutes, but those without tickets can still attend free coffee tasting events at Foundry and Smith Street.

Work to arrange next year’s festival is already underway, and for more information please visit: https://www.sheffieldcoffeefestival.com/

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