Our Day at the Coffee & Tea Show:

What a fun afternoon we had! Michael and myself  were privileged to showcase our Espresso Blend and a mini menu of our favorite drinks on La Marzocco espresso machines this past Sunday.

We were given an opportunity to promote our Roasterie and what we offer as a business at the National Cappuccino booth (insert link) at the Coffee & Tea Show at the Toronto Congress Center on Sept 24th. 

Our time slot to share the booth was 130-315pm.  We were pleased to meet Jim from National Cappuccino (@nltcappuccino on Instagram) who was a welcoming host and Steve and Gino who helped run the booth.

Our menu consisted of the single shot 4oz Cortado, a 6oz Flat White, and, what turned out to be quite popular, our Canadiana Flat White.  This beverage is a double shot of espresso pulled over a teaspoon of real maple syrup (purchased from Buttrums Farms at the Downtown Hamilton Farmers Market), and topped with 4 oz of silky steamed whole milk.

Being a barista comes with its own art form. Different combinations of espresso and milk are just waiting to be perfected.  Spending time on the exquisite machines that National Cappuccino and La Marzocco were willing to share was like being given a new palate or fresh and perfect paintbrushes.  Using different espresso machines requires us to use and fine tune the skills we continue to grow as baristas and this challenge is gratefully accepted!

We received loads of positive feedback on our Espresso Blend and the beverages we created for guests of the booth and would totally do it again.

written by Rachel Hofing, co-owner of RELAY Coffee Roasters
Michael deVries is the Head Barista/Training manager for RELAY Coffee and the Concession Coffee Bar Manager.