The 2015 World Barista Championship is popping off in the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. Exhibit Hall 4F is filled to the gills with eager baristas, beleaguered organizers, anxious well-wishers, stern security guards, and delicious complimentary cups of coffee. All the free coffee.
Perhaps the best multi-roaster coffee bar in the world is operating right now within Exhibit Hall 4F, and for the $15 price of WBC admission, you have access to fourteen complimentary quality coffees brewed eight different ways from an international pool of highly skilled volunteer baristas. We’re talking, of course, about the Marco Brew Bar.
Bryan Duggan (Counter Culture Coffee) and Jacob Moss (Espro) brew at the brew bar.
“The Marco Brew Bar is special because you have a lot of coffees from around the world and you get to try so many different things,” bar manager and Counter Culture Coffee representative Bryan Duggan told us. When we questioned Duggan on what his favorite part of the bar has been, he told us, “meeting the people that make the coffee.”
When asked to point us to maybe a more eloquent volunteer, he introduced us to Malaysia AeroPress Champion Isaac Loh, founder of The Brew Orchestra in Johor Bahru. Loh brewed us a Kalita Wave of Square Mile Coffee‘s Ethiopia Reko. It was predictably delicious, and all the more so for being roasted in London, where Square Mile is based. It’s rare to see European & UK coffees here in North America, and that’s what makes pop-ups like the Marco Brew Bar special.
While brewing Loh told us his favorite part of volunteering at the MBB: “There’s so many awesome baristas from around the world here. My favorite part is learning from them, and tasting all the good coffee.”
Here’s a complete list of the coffees available all weekend at WBC.
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters (Vancouver, BC) — Boliva Estrella
Buna (Mexico) — Mexico Sierra Mixteca
Caravan Coffee Roasters (London) — Colombia El Recuerdo
Coffee Supreme (New Zealand) — Brazil Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza
Counter Culture Coffee (Durham, NC) — Ethiopia Idido
Fernwood Coffee Company (Victoria, BC) — Kenya Kigwanda
Has Bean Coffee (Midlands, UK) — Colombia La Chorrea
MadCap Coffee Company (Grand Rapids, MI) — Spring Fling Blend
Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters (Calgary) — Bolivia Carlos Calleja
Salt Spring Coffee (British Columbia) — Uganda Ihani Micro Washing Station
Small Batch Coffee Roasters (Melbourne) — Kenya Nyeri Kihuyo AA
Square Mile Coffee Roasters (London) — Ethiopia Reko
Verve Coffee Roasters (California) — Colombia Diyer Orozco
Zoka Coffee Roasters (Seattle) — Sitio Dois Irmaos Natural
Hailey Littleton of Novo Coffee serves coffee brewed with the Marco SP9 and Kalita Wave.
The coffees will be brewed on all the single-cup brew methods: AeroPress, Clever, Hario V60, Espro, and the Kalita Wave. Water is delivered with SP9s, Uber Boilers, and Uber Fonts and coffees are brewed using Acaia Pearl scales. Some baristas use Hario Buono gooseneck kettles, and all baristas are grinding the coffees with six powerful Baratza Fortes in the middle of the star-shaped bar. Coffees are delivered in Loveramics vessels.
This is the fourth year of the Marco Brew Bar at the WBC and this one is their biggest one yet. If you’re lucky enough to be in Seattle, drop in for a visit.
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