A few weeks ago, we visited Helsinki to spend some quality time with our remote-working team member Stanislav Hasanov who’s been with The Coffeevine since May.
The Finnish capital is known for its high quality of life, world-class design and a tight-knit specialty coffee scene. As it so happened, our visit coincided with the annual Helsinki Coffee Week, a multi-venue event that included fun things like the MoccaMaster competition, the Finnish AeroPress championships and more.
After realising the potential of teaming up for a joint event, we reached out to the organisers and before too long, we had our own event in the calender. A Coffeevine get-t0gether at Kaffa Roastery where we’d cup the potential coffees for the November 2021 Coffeevine box.
Live events have always been a huge part of our DNA and represent a crucial opportunity for us to meet Coffeevine subscribers, customers and curious folk in a low-key and informal setting where we can share ideas, exchange feedback and enjoy delicious coffees.
Naturally, after such a long pandemic-induced break, the anticipation was palapable and we couldn’t believe that all the tickets for the event sold out in just a few days. The program for the evening also included a live Q&A with our roaster friend Samuli Pääkkönen who came down to Helsinki for the night and put one of his own coffees on the cupping table.
Kaffa Roastery provided us with an intimate space in their production area where we set up the cupping and began by explaining how what we look for in our coffees, how we do our pre-selection and what a Coffeevine box should ultimately offer, i.e. exciting and delicious coffees from the best roasters.
It was a real joy to see so many familiar and unfamiliar faces that evening. Not only were we able to meet some long-term Coffeevine subscribers for the first time but we were also able to catch up with our Finnish Coffeevine Ambassador Tommi Turunen and meet many new people who were just as excited to take part in a cupping as we were to offer one.
We had a total of nine coffees on the table representing a variety of different roasters, origins, processing methods and flavour profiles. After a short introduction, everyone dived right in and after 10 – 15 minutes, we began to compare notes and vote for our favourite three coffees.
Luckily for Samuli, his coffee was picked as one of the top three and joined a Colombia from Round Hill and an El Salvador from Ineffable in the final lineup for the November box.
What we loved the most about this event was the fact that after so many months of doing everything virtually, people came out in droves to attend a Coffeevine meeting in a far-away city and completely overwhelmed us with their interest in what we do. It was a truly special evening for us and gave us so much joy.
We cannot wait to begin hosting more of these events in the near future and look forward to connecting with Coffeevine subscribers and coffee lovers in person again.
Thank you to Tommi for taking these lovely photos.
Find out more about our recent visit to the Paris Coffee Festival soon.
