McCormick Place April 2024
After competing in the Toddy World Coldbrew Championship, Guatemala.
We were invited by the head judge and CEO of Toddy, Julia Leach to attend the Specialty Coffee Expo in Chicago.
The Expo is a B2B event and was designed to be the coffee professional’s one stop shop for everything they need to succeed in the coffee industry.
The invite was to “takeover” the Toddy cold brew stand and serve our signature drink from the cold brew championships.
You can read about my experience at the Cold Brew Championships here. https://silverskincoffee.ie/2024/03/13/toddy-coldbrew-championships/
So we packed up our varsity jackets, coffee and cascara and set off to Chicago.
First up upon arrival was the “100 years Mahlkonig party” and we didn’t let the jet-lag stand a chance 😄.
Marco Beverage Systems were in attendance and we were invited to take over their cold brew academy. This was an amazing opportunity to serve up our cold brew tonic which we had designed out their cold brew concentrate system.
Using the same Hacienda Sonora coffee we made a concentrate which was finished using the Pour’d system with sparkling water. It was a major success and the Marco team could not have been nicer to us.
We got to take in the sites and sounds of McCormick place which was set against the most beautiful backdrop Lake Michigan.
All of our favourites were in attendance and we got the chance to see all the latest developments and taste some amazing coffees. Most notable was the CGLE Sidra. Which we bought upon arrival home.
Its available here https://silverskincoffee.ie/product/c-g-l-e-sidra-natural-cafe-granja-la-esperanza/
Day 2 was the official take over on the Toddy stand. I had met Matt Irish on the PRF trip and he is a trusted staff member and really cool guy.
Matt, Kyle and team made us feel very welcome and it was awesome serving up and talking all things cold brew to a US/worldwide audience.
We met some good friends and partners from the coffee world.
While in Chicago I had the opportunity to take part in the World of Coffee inaugural run. https://community.coffeeknowledgehub.com/c/events-and-webinars/world-of-coffee-runners
We also took the opportunity to visit the local theatre for the “Jersey Boys” and had an amazing night out in downtown Chicago.
