Veneziano Coffee Roasters has been selected as the only Australian partner to attend the World Coffee Events (WCE) Brew Bar at TED2016.
Veneziano was one of just seven specialty roasters selected from across the globe to participate in the high-profile conference event, taking place from 15 – 19 February at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Canada.
On the WCE Brew Bar, Veneziano will showcase its direct trade single origin Guatemala Finca Potomay alongside brews from six other specialty coffee roasters. They include Intelligentsia, Bar Nine, Kaldi’s Matchstick, Pachamama, SightGlass and Swiss Water.
“We first heard about the opportunity to participate with WCE and TED2016 via the Global Coffee Report website. We submitted two coffees in our application, and was pleasantly surprised to hear that out of the 32 roasters who had applied, we were chosen to have our coffee represented on the world stage at such an iconic and innovative event,” said Craig Dickson, Managing Director of Veneziano.
A team of Certified Q Graders were responsible for sipping the submitted espresso and filter roasts from around the world at the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) headquarters in Santa Ana, California. Veneziano have since sent over 45 kilograms of coffee for the occasion.
WCE has collaborated with the SCAA, the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe, and the Barista Guilds of America and Europe in organising and staffing this year’s coffee service at TED. A total of 10 baristas will man the six WCE full-service and self-service brew bars during the 54-hour event.
“The coffees served at TED were selected by a tasting panel, and the selection was based on not only quality but also messaging behind the coffee,” said World Coffee Events’ Laura Lee. “We want each coffee to not only taste amazing, but also have a compelling story. The benefit each roaster receives is having their coffee story told over and over again to a captive, interested group of world influencers.”
Veneziano’s Finca Potomay is a Maragogype variety coffee. In the town of Maragogype, Brazil, a strange thing happened in a field of the heirloom Typica-cultivar coffee. A plant emerged, bearing much larger fruit than the cultivar normally produces. The planted seeds from this tree also bore gigantic fruit, and therefore big beans, and the new cultivar took on the name of the town. Maragogype coffees are rare these days; the tree is susceptible to coffee leaf rust.
TED2016’s five-day program features TED’s famous 18-minutes talks, plus music, comedy, tech demos, short talks and video interludes.
More than 70 speakers will take to the stage, including musicians, entrepreneurs, and environmental advocates.
“WCE have definitely kicked it up a notch in providing a “ Brew Bar liquid network” – a caffeinated atmosphere so that new ideas and dreams can hatch,” said Laura. “I hope the dream they have been working on becomes more clear – all because of that amazing cup of coffee.”
The theme for the TED2016 event is Dream.
“We certainly dreamt of what it would be like to have our coffee served at TED, and our dream came true,” Craig said.
“We can only hope that the hundreds of TED attendees will try our Guatemalan single origin, fall in love with it, stay alert, and dream big.”
Veneziano will go on to sponsor the WCE Championship Brew Bar at Hotelex in Shanghai in March.
For more information visit venezianocoffee.com.au or conferences.ted.com/TED2016/
Image credit: Marla Aufmuth/TED
