SCA Chicago 2024: Chicago. Pt. 2
A Specialty Coffee Association Expo diary experience.
Editor’s note: More photos coming soon. Check back! Don’t forget to check out Part 1:
THURSDAY 4/11/2024: Chicago
All the effort to get here last night was worth it. Despite a poor weather report, it stays mostly dry all day, making walking the best way to explore. Chicago pays attention to the details.
On foot, I can take note of the intricate details of the door knockers, breathe in the blossoming cherry trees, and pause to photograph the iconic font choices adorning the signage in storefronts that have been around a lot longer than me.*
Stop 1: Olor Coffee Bar features a storefront tucked just around the corner from the convergence of Clark, Broadway, and Diversey—three well-traversed thoroughfares. If you’re walking, keep an eye out for the green Moka pot sign. If you’re driving, well, blink, and you might miss it. Inside the front door, you’re one step from the coffee bar, with just enough space to turn in a circle. There is no seating. You are here for coffee. I order a batch drip, which is set in the space just wide enough for me to set down my phone.
Stop 2: Printer’s Row Coffee Co. It is gloomy, but muggy. Take off your coat and the wind bites you. It makes walking a fun treat. I’m seating in my rain coat by the time I reach Printer’s Row Coffee Co. It’s only a mile, or so, away, but I’m enjoying the stroll so much I miss the turn and add a few blocks to the traverse.
First thoughts: Is that a for lease sign? Oh, shit…Oh, no, that’s next door. That sign! That font! I’m home.
I’m a sucker for a good font, and PRCC’s is perfect. Inside, the baristas are wearing masks, which I appreciate, and it reminds me that mine is around my wrist. I realize we’re living in the post-Covid world, but I haven’t been sick since I started wearing a mask. That’s not such a bad thing.
There is a narrow bar angling along the front window, cornering at 90 degrees around a well-loved roasting machine and disappearing into a shelving unit filled with merch. Nicole is the owner and one of the day’s baristas. She pulls me a shot of their Nicaragua roast in trade for some coffee samples I’ve brought along. I’ll fast forward a bit; it is the single best shot and coffee, generally, that I’ll have all day. Not just all day, but all tomorrow, too.
Stop 3: Coffee Lab + Roasters. This stop is an accident. I’m headed further down the road when I see their sign in the window, and my feet pull me inside. It’s like they have a mind of their own. I’m not mad, tho.
Co-Owner Luke left his corporate science job to buy this cafe about a year ago. That kind of life change takes commitment (or desperation!) to change. We make tentative plans to connect for a future podcast, and I take my drip medium-roast Mexico (Chiapas) to go.
Stop 4: Heritage Bikes & Coffee. It’s as if someone in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago looked into my brain to see what two things are most often causing the ol’ neurons to fire. They serve Intelligentsia—classic and safe for a reason. Oversized bags of Black Cat Classic Espresso** sit on the bar next to an old Underwood typewriter. The vibe is vintage general store without the pretension of recent gentrification.
Barista Izzy takes my order, a straight shot. It arrives in a red ceramic espresso mug on a saucer. I take it outside to sit at a patio table so I can make notes while cooling down. It is pulled perfectly. It is a lovely complement to the light rain that has begun pattering on the umbrella above.
*Special shout to every bar that still hoists the original Old Style: On Tap signs.
**Tasting notes of: Dark Chocolate, Raw Sugar, Marshmallow (courtesy of Intelligentsia’s team of tasting experts).
Stop 5: Crop to Cup at Dayglow (Kimball Arts Center). A true world-represented event. There are cuppings—big (20+ coffees) and small (5ish)—going on in multiple rooms of the arts co-work space, and a coffee bar with at least 30 different roasts you can request a cup of to be ground and brewed fresh on the spot.
I meet a man named Charles, whose trip from Kenya makes me regret complaining about the drive from California, and Jared from Hacea Coffee Source gifts me a cupping spoon (my second) because I’ve forgotten mine. The cuppings quickly turn into a free for all at the big table, and I think, Umm…maybe I’ll hit up that brewed fresh table instead.
For the first time all day, I feel myself start to fade—on to the next event. It’s nice these lined up so smoothly time-wise and…shit...
Stop 6: Big Star. So, the calendar on my phone didn’t sync with the Central Time Zone. I’m two hours early for the event at Yeti. I don’t even know if I want to stay. I was hoping to be chilling early tonight, but Big Star is next door. Neither Jared nor I have eaten, and it is beer and tacos.
I suppose we could take a sit. A beer? Sure. A better beer? Why not, and holy moly, is that…no…it couldn’t be…it is. One of my great old friends, who I haven’t seen in a year and who I’m fairly certain is living in LA, walks in the front door. Let’s call him Rooster. I stand. His mouth drops. We hug. He’s the night’s DJ. He’s spinning jazz on jazz on jazz.
Stop 7: Yeti + Black Rabbit Service + Coffee Breath + Proud Mary Coffee party. Former Coffee People podcast guest Double J is co-hosting, so we’re here supporting. Yeti is getting into coffee in a big way and is displaying their soon-to-be-released Yeti Rambler French press pots. I end up going home with one. I’m going to put it on the nightstand. Break into my apartment? You’re getting smacked with a Yeti French press.
FRIDAY 4/12/2024: OFFICIAL SCA DAY 1
Oh my god, it begins. And it begins in pure confusion. To be continued.
ROAST! INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Hey Everyone, I’m currently in Chicago at SCA. If you see me (or hear me) say hello! Ask for a coffee sample from some of our great partners, including: Me & My Uncle Coffee, Acento Coffee, Marea Coffee, Coffee Cycle Roasting, Crossings Coffee, and Cape Horn Green Coffee Importers.
A huge, on-going thank you to all of this show’s industry partners.
Click these links!
Roastar • Zumbar Coffee & Tea • Steady State Roasting • Mostra Coffee • Coffee Cycle • Camp Coffee Company • Ignite Coffee Company • Ascend Coffee Roasters • Marea Coffee • Cape Horn Green Coffee • Hacea Coffee Source • Crossings Coffee • Acento Coffee Roasters • Sivitz Roasting Machines • Craft 42 Roasters • Me and My Uncle Coffee Roasters • Cozy Canine Coffee
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