happy coffeepalooza ’23

This was quite the weekend for coffee obsessives in the nation’s capital. Friday was National Coffee Day, Sunday was International Coffee Day, and these critically important holidays bookended Saturday’s first annual DC Coffee Festival. Held at Dock 5 in Union Market, the event sold out in advance for both sessions.

The hall was filled with roasters and cafe operators, plus a few different coffee-related businesses and a couple food purveyors. Thankfully the good people from Topo Chico were giving away free samples of cold soda water, as things got a little sweaty in a packed hall on a humid day.

Almost all the stands were making pourovers (Fellow Products’ gooseneck Stagg electric kettles were everywhere). I’m not really a fan of that process, but its prominence was understandable given the need to push out a steady supply of drinks. It did lead to a preponderance of “clean cups” of fruit-forward light roasts that started to taste a lot alike.

Far and away the most distinctive coffee I tasted was the Peach Masceration from Vigilante Coffee. I always get a little skeptical at very detailed tasting notes – my palate can pick up “chocolate,” “fruity,” and “ya burnt” but can’t really discern between berry and stone fruit varieties. This was an exception, with a very pronounced taste that was definitely peach. I liked it, it was almost more like a tea than a coffee, and would be terrific iced.

I didn’t taste every coffee on offer, after a dozen or so it was a bit too much. I managed to limit my purchases to two tees, a bag of beans, and a pack of instant coffee singles.

It was great to see roasters I hadn’t known of before, meet operators who were enthusiastic to talk about their business and their product, and to see a diverse crowd of attendees and proprietors. I’m already looking forward to next year’s edition.