Craft Beer Festival, Boston Coffee Scene and the 2011 World Barista Champion

Tanji and I had a nice mini vacation to Boston this last weekend, the highlight of which was the American Craft Brew Festival on Saturday at the World Trade Center. Though it was at times a challenge to pick through the 510 available beers in the 3.5 hours allotted, we practiced moderation and tasted just 56 selections. As those of you helping me through the Uprising program at Novare Res know, the definition of "beer" is growing in every imaginable direction, and the Festival was a great excuse to taste offerings from the best small breweries in the country (110 of them, to be specific). My favorite beers were from the hometown boys at Allagash, but I loved getting to taste the offerings from Notch, a Massachusetts-based brewery dedicated to a wide range of "Session" beers with alcohol not exceeding 4.0 ABV. While I love strong beer, there are times when I don't need the alcohol. Hopefully, they will be distributing in Maine soon.

Here's a snap of me having a brewski with the Smuttynose guy:

Thankfully, we had gone to the afternoon session of the Festival, so getting out of bed the next day was easy.

Sunday, we had a nice visit to Thinking Cup, a great cafe on the Common that is presently the only place in Boston to get Stumptown Coffee. Our friend Phil, the barista, made us some nice pourover Ethiopia and Sumatra, along with some tasty shots from their La Marzocco. A wonderful place to hang, and I highly recommend it when you are in town.

I've really been enjoying James Hoffman's coffee blog since discovering it a month or so ago. James is a former World Barista Champion and the owner of London's Square Mile Coffee Roasters. James is engaging and a good writer, and he challenges any and all preconceptions about coffee preparation.

This morning, James posted an excellent video of this year's WBC Champion, whose presentation was incredibly passionate and unique to these competitions.