At this very moment there is a ship floating along blissfully somewhere in the Mediterranean. It’s a cruise ship, some would even call it a themed cruise. It’s not a Disney cruise or a Weezer cruise or even Chris Jericho’s Rock N Wresting Rager (all real by the by). It is a coffee cruise, but not just any old sweaty coffee cruise filled by bad coffee made expensive by good marketing. It’s the “World’s 1st Specialty Coffee Tasting and Barista Demonstration Cruise.”
How am I just now hearing about this?
So there I was, perusing the Specialty Coffee Association events calendar, as one is wont to do. Amongst the posts for coffee fairs and expos and cuppings, there I saw a listing for this fateful maiden voyage, and immediately I was met with feelings of morbid curiosity and FOMO (Yo-Ho-Ho FOMO as it is known on the Seven Seas). What, exactly, is a specialty coffee tasting and barista demonstration cruise?
According to the SCA listing, this “world’s first” adventure is a seven-day cruise that embarks from Rome, Italy and ends in Athens, Greece, making stops along the way in Naples, Mykonos, Kusadasi (Turkey), and Santorini. It is being put on by Café Trips and Tours in cooperation with Celebrity Cruise Lines, who will be provided their latest member of their fleet, the brand-new Ascent.
“We are thrilled to bring this unique and exciting event to life,” said Martin Guerra, founder of Café Trips and Tours. “The Celebrity Ascent ship is the perfect setting for this event, and the 7-day itinerary through the Mediterranean promises to be a journey filled with delicious coffee, stunning views, and cultural discoveries.”
So where does the coffee come in? According to the listing, attendees will “have the opportunity to sample a variety of specialty coffee blends and brewing methods in each port, as well as attend barista demonstrations and workshops pre- and post-cruise.” On the Café Trips page, it lists as part of the cruise optional visits to local coffee roasters in Rome, a stop into one of Italy’s largest coffee roasters in Naples, and an option to visit Athens coffee roasters that have won Barista Championships. Admittedly, the coffee specifics for this premier voyage du cafe haven’t quite been pushed past first crack.
Alas, the cruise already left port on July 27th and will be making final landfall tomorrow, August 3rd, thus my ability to do the hard-hitting, in-depth journalism this story demands (read: book a seven-day Mediterranean cruise on the company dime) has been severely hamstrung. That’s why we are putting out the call, sending out espresso-S, looking for individuals who are currently aboard the Specialty Coffee Tasting and Barista Demonstration Cruise. If you are such a person or know such a person, contact us immediately. We have so many questions we need and our readers need answers to.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
