CoffeeCon draws devoted to Warrenville
For many coffee connoisseurs, their passion involves the entire process of making that perfect cup — not just the final product.
About 1,000 such devoted drinkers descended on Warrenville Saturday for the first-ever CoffeeCon at the IBEW training center.
Nationally known author and coffee blogger Kevin Sinnott was justifiably proud of the event he managed to put together in his own hometown.
CoffeeCon attracted not only Chicago-area residents, but companies and consumers from as far away as New York, Massachusetts and Texas.
While coffee-related trade shows are nothing new, CoffeeCon was unique for being aimed specifically at consumers, Sinnott said. And while a few companies were confused by such a concept, he’s hopeful the success enjoyed by those who came will change minds in the future.
“I’ve had to talk to the doubters and believers both,” Sinnott said. “There’s an understated cynicism. I think this event will have a profound effect in the coffee industry.”
A big reason for this is that while some people got into the coffee business arbitrarily, it’s the consumers themselves who have the true passion and are demanding the changes many business owners wouldn’t have thought of on their own, Sinnott said.
Unlike wine, coffee is a hobby where consumers can play a more active role because they can make it themselves. Sinnott likens it to one of his earlier pastimes — stereo equipment — in that tiny changes can influence the final outcome.
“Coffee is the most tweaky hobby you can find,” Sinnott said. “And coffee is a cooking art. Few people realize that.”
Tom Ryan of Naperville agreed. He came to CoffeeCon to attend seminars and sample products to help improve the three pots of coffee he brews each day.
Ryan said it’s not the caffeine in his coffee that gets him going in the morning. It’s the excitement he feels in making it that gets him out of bed.
An architect who normally works on custom homes, Ryan said his hobby inspired him to take on the job of designing a prototype Gloria Jean’s coffee shop in Chicago Ridge.
Oren Bloostein, who founded Oren’s Daily Roast mail-order coffees in New York 26 years ago, said he doesn’t attend trade shows specifically because he only caters to consumers. But Sinnott only had to ask him for Bloostein to be sold on the idea of CoffeeCon.
And Springfield-based coffee-maker manufacturer BUNN specifically timed the release of its high-end, $499 trifecta Micro Brew maker to the day before CoffeeCon.
Marketing director Lisa McCloud said the new machine was created to allow educated consumers to fine-tune their favorite coffees or teas to their particular preferences.
BUNN ran an all-day Micro Brew lab at CoffeeCon in which a regular rotation of patrons could spend 20 to 40 minutes each learning the fine points of the new device and qualifying for a weekend-long discount.