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London Coffee Festival
Three trends from the London Coffee Festival 2021
Published September 29, 2021
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Anna Nordström
Expert@Löfbergs
After two long years, it was finally time for the world’s largest coffee party, London Coffee Festival.
The entire coffee scene has been hard hit the latest years by lockdown and strict Covid restrictions.
Entering the Truman Brewery again was with mixed feelings of spring break, relief, and gratitude for being back on track again. The London Coffee Festival wasn´t as crowded as previous years, thank god, but still a hustling and bustling melting pot for coffee aficionados. Coffee Masters competitors mixed with roasters, capsules, machine providers, and a coffee-curious public.
For obvious reasons, there was not much news, but I still could spot some trends.
Drinkable decaf
In the last years, there has been a growing trend of micro-roasteries that specialize in decaf. For some of the new roasteries, decaf is a starting point rather than an afterthought. Others come from a caffeinated past but now have decaf as a predominant part of their business. For some people, drinking decaf may be a way to reduce caffeine intake. Others have made a complete switch for health reasons. For whatever reason, decaf is here to stay. With a well-processed decaf speciality coffee, you will taste more of the coffee´s origin and flavour, and less process. Decaf coffee is also shedding its stigma of being a drink that only American tourists and the older generation drink. Now the yogi-millennials lead the decaf consumption, and the demand is sure to continue upwards.
Matcha comeback
Matcha is originating in China but is now associated almost exclusively with Japan. The matcha latte is green tea powder and milk or a dairy substitute. Together it creates a smooth, creamy and caffeinated coffee alternative. Five years ago, matcha was perfectly on-trend, but after a while, we could see a declining interest. But now something has happened. Working from home has made it hard to drink espresso-based drinks, and many have switched to healthy and easy-to-make alternatives. With a big boost of antioxidants, it now seems to be time for a matcha comeback!
Coffee bar at home
Making quality espresso is the pinnacle of the home-coffee bar, and the heart of the bar is an espresso machine.
Working from home has made us longing for espresso-based drinks. And there is a big market out there. You can see machines ranging from cheaper and more plastic versions to Italian-crafted professional-quality espresso machines for the same price as a cottage in rural Sweden.
Hope to share some new trends at the London Coffee Festival when we meet again on March 31st -April 3rd 2022.
About the author
Anna Nordström
My focus is on training, tasting and sharing coffee knowledge. -AST (Authorized SCA Trainer) in Brewing, Barista & Sensory -Awarded the Specialty Coffee Association Coffee Diploma 1st place Swedish Cup Tasters Championship 1st place Nordic Barista Cup 3rd place World Cup Tasters Championship
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