The coffee crowd will gather at the Helsinki Cable Factory for the rest of the week when the Helsinki Coffee Festival kicks off on Friday. After the professional day on Friday, the festivities will be open to the public on both Saturday and Sunday.
Lehmus Roastery participated in the festival for the first time last year, and the visit was successful, as we were voted the best roastery in Finland 2017.
In addition, we met many curious coffee lovers, for whom the Lappeenranta coffee roastery had been a new acquaintance.
There are many interesting things to see and experience at the festival this year, here are the most interesting things in our opinion:
Five interesting things about festivals
1. Lehmus Roastery's own mega stand + free coffee
This year we decided to really invest in the event, and we have taken over a larger than usual stand at the festival. It is already an attraction in itself, but there is also content: At our stand you can roast your own coffee with an Ikawa roaster under the guidance of our roasting master Visa Tuovinen . From Berlin we have Stuart Ritson, a representative of the Cafe Imports coffee agency, to conduct top-level cuppings, or coffee tastings.
A preview of our stand's furnishings is provided by our logo, hand-made from linden wood, which can also be seen in Helsinki.
Our booth also offers a free filter coffee buffet, cold brew tap, espresso service and various hand brews. There will probably also be small launches, but more on that later. It's worth coming and tasting!
It should be noted that tasting coffees are available in all other booths as well. One of the ideas behind coffee festivals is that you can sample a wide variety of specialty coffees from around the world.
2. See how Finland's best coffee is filtered and how coffee is tasted at the Finnish Championship level 
Hand-pulling at Helsinki Coffee Festival last year. (Photo: HCF / Paavo Pykäläinen )
Festivals also feature competitions in coffee tasting. Tasting coffee and identifying and distinguishing flavors is an art form in itself, not to mention making coffee.
During the weekend, Finnish champions will be chosen in, among other things, the Cup Tasters competition, i.e. coffee tasting (Saturday) and the Brewers Cup competition, i.e. filter coffee making.
Baristas and coffee roasters from all over Finland participate in Cup Tasters, while Brewers Cup involves baristas, i.e. coffee preparation professionals, in the extraction work.
The Filter Coffee and Espresso of the Year will also be selected over the weekend.
From the perspective of Lehmus Roastery and Satamatie 6, the competition to choose the best roastery and café in Finland is also interesting. You can vote at this link .
3. International breezes from Berlin, Tallinn and Cape Town
In addition to domestic small roasters and large roasters, Helsinki is also home to guests from abroad. Tres Cabezas Berlin comes from Berlin, King Coffee Service from Tallinn, and Truth Coffee from Cape Town, South Africa.
It will be interesting to see what they bring with them and whether the atmosphere is different or similar to the Finnish specialty coffee scene.
4. More than just black coffee: coffee beer, tea and Irish coffee workshop
Tea from Théhuone at last year's festival. (Photo: HCF / Paavo Pykäläinen)
Coffee festivals are not just about coffee, there are other things to enjoy while drinking. At HCF you can also eat brunch and street food, as well as taste coffee beers, get to know high-quality tea and learn how to make Irish Coffee drinks in a workshop - among other things.
5. Lectures and knowledge-building throughout the weekend
Panel discussion at the 2017 festival. (Photo: HCF / Paavo Pykäläinen )
Every day, different stages will offer in-depth information about coffee. Presentations will include topics such as making better coffee at home, the effect of water on coffee taste, learning about coffee growing conditions, a latte art pattern workshop, the effect of barrel-aged coffee aromatization on the overall flavor of coffee, and changes in coffee shop trends, among other things.
+1. The waters of the Merikapelihalli are optimized for making coffee.
(Fresh water! Photo: Aqva Finland )
This is something that needs to be added. All water points in the Merikapeihalli, or event area, will be optimized for coffee. What does that mean? We don't know for sure yet, but this information comes from Aqva Finland:
After purification, calcium and magnesium are added to the water so that the water quality is as follows:
Bicarbonates (HCO3-) 42.7 – 54.9ppm
pH 6.7 – 7.3
TDS 75 – 85mg/l"
Now let's talk about hi-fi!
So welcome to the festival, we are at stand number 102. It will be easy to find, we promise. You will meet our entire company staff there, we are there for you. See you!
PS. You can order our coffees in advance from our online store, coffee selection here .
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