The one day event happened in the iconic Lanes of ‘The Valley’, Brisbane’s buzzing lifestyle centre. It was the brainchild of Sam Holman from The Black Lab Coffee Co. This was the second year for the event and it was a cracker!
There are 3 Lanes in the Valley, California Lane, Bakery Lane and Winn Lane. Alchemy was in good company in Winn Lane alongside Peter from Cravve Chocolates, the Native Supply Co and No 5, the funky little cafe that was buzzing all day.
California Lane had Wolff Coffee, Fonzie Abbott, Padre Coffee, Supreme, Neighbourhood Coffee, The Monday and Harvest Cold Press Juice were there showing their new Kombucha range and their distribution of Oatly Oat Milk for Queensland. California Lane also had a Green Garden chill zone and a very active stage that mixed music with Latte Art competitions, Aeropress demos, cold brew demos and Espresso Martini masterclasses.
Bakery Lane featured Grinders coffee, the Black Lab, Single O, Told You So and a Nitro Brew station. There was a dynamic stage with music and coffee education activations aplenty, and also festival tours lead by the organisers which came through in waves throughout the day, these were lead by a guide and were booked out well before the event kicked off.
There were also Masterclasses held on stands. Reverend’s led a “How to” on Pourover coffee, Cold Brew was made clear and simple thanks to the guys at LTD Espresso and How to make Coffee Cocktails was on at the Bowery later in the afternoon.
The Lanes are cosy as you would expect, and this made the event seem very busy, as a line up of 10 people at any stand blocked progress, however there was a great atmosphere. Coffee and cafe enthusiasts loved getting to meet the founders and thought leaders from the Brisbane coffee scene. The program was educational and lively with lots of sampling across all stages and through the stages and of course the gorgeous Queensland winter weather served up a stunning blue sky 24 degree day.
Alchemy loved being a part of this event and focussed on serving hot and cold Golden Lattes, Chai Lattes and Matcha Lattes to visitors who were clearly delighted to see all things cafe included in the coffee driven event.
As the afternoon rolled on, the mix of drinks transitioned from coffee to booze or more accurately in many cases, coffee and booze and the good times continued until 10pm, when the fun was blended into the Valley on a typical Saturday night. Patrons buzzing after several espresso martinis pinballed out into the rest of their evening feeling like they had been part of the coffee family for the day.
Overall, the Lanes Coffee Festival was a triumphant celebration of Queensland cafe society with coffee roasters and cafe suppliers collaborating to share what we are doing here in Brisbane. The feedback from visitors was overwhelmingly positive, I think the excellent show guides made everything clear and easy.
I for one, can’t wait ‘till next year.
Anyone interested to discuss more about what Alchemy is doing here in Australia or internationally, please feel free to get in touch with me directly at Alchemy Cordial Company
e. Michael@alchemycordial.com.au
by Michael Bishop
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