It’s time to get Bloomin’ again! It’s been a while since the Specialty Coffee Association hosted a Bloom event in the United States—over five years by our count—but that is set to change later this month with RE:BLOOM, the latest installment of the educational and networking experience taking place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Announced Friday, August 30th, RE:BLOOM continues the mission of the Bloom events, seeking to “elevate access to coffee knowledge, education, leadership opportunities, and collaboration across the specialty coffee industry.” This means “curious consumers, avid coffee enthusiasts, representatives from cafes, roasters, universities, research centers, coffee nonprofits, equipment manufacturers, technicians, and allied businesses.”
The bulk of the scheduled curriculum will take place Saturday, September 28th at Carrboro Coffee Roasters and will feature panel discussions, presentations, workshops, and cuppings. Topics for the event are wide ranging and include: Intro to Sample Roasting, the Evolution of US Coffee Competitions, Economic Justice and Career Development, New Models in Sustainability, Water for Coffee, Dialing in Espresso, and Sweetness and Acidity in Coffee.
Leading these learning sessions will be industry leaders like Dr. Nancy Cordoba of Westrock, the SCA’s Sustainability Director Andres Montenegro, Charles Nick of Third Wave Water, Nora Burkey of The Chain Collaborative, head competition judges Scott Conary (World Coffee Championships) and Ashley Whelan (US Coffee in Good Spirits), and member of SCA USA leadership Brandon Bir, Lane Mitchell, and Jess Ross.
The festivities kick off the day prior, September 27th, with a kickoff party at Caffé Driade. There will be food, drinks, live music, and guest DJs.
The entirely of the RE:BLOOM programming is open to all and completely free to attend. To sign up, you just need to register via the Eventbrite page. For more information, to see a full list of events and speakers, or to register, visit the RE:BLOOM official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
