What to present on & sample?
Participating as a Caffeine Crawl route stop includes a 20-25 minute presentation on a topic of your choice and small samples for each Crawler (20-25 per group, depending on the city and attendance*).
Ideas to get you started on choosing your topic & samples are below!
- Brew Demo -
One coffee brewed different ways, or multiple origins brewed the same way for flavor comparisons. Extractions or water comparisons are also good. Printed cards for attendees to take home are helpful, and good for them to refer back to your business. Brew demos can incorporate ticket holders if you want. Same for tea as you can steep different types at suggested times, or in different vessels, or matcha ritual vs loose leaf green tea.
- Cupping -
A roaster can put up a small cupping exercise whether tasting the same coffee(s), or even a triangulation exercise.
Tasting -
Sample a coffee/tea, or coffees/teas, and have samples of food items that represent the flavor notes of the drink(s).
- Pairings -
Have a house made chocolate cookie that pairs amazingly with your nitro cold brew, or an Earl Grey tea that highlights your lemon scones? Samples of house made treats alongside beverage samples are always a huge hit!
- Signature Drinks -
Creating a unique specialty drink for Caffeine Crawl or featuring a new (or coming-soon) menu item is a great option. Examples include coffee/tea mocktails (or coffee/tea cocktails if you also serve alcohol), spritzers/house sodas, etc. Provide ingredients where they can make their own signature drink using a base coffee/tea, sweet options, fruits, etc.
- Compare/Contrast -
Have two or more different types of coffee, or teas side-by-side, or compare the same coffee/tea brewed differently, or roasted/processed differently. Comparing a drink with different milk options is another direction. Also, using a food to change your palate is another idea for contrasting flavors.
- Teamwork -
Work with a vendor that you have a strong relationship and tag team on your presentation and visits. Examples might be dairy-based, syrups, local bakers, or even fine artist and musicians.
- Flavor Focus -
Deconstruct the flavor notes in a coffee/tea, whether by using food items as reference, or items to relate to aromas. Using the coffee flavor wheel as a guide is helpful, too. Some places will deconstruct a drink. A mocha, for example, can be presented with samples of steamed milk, chocolate and espresso by itself, and a mocha sampled in a small serving. A cold brew blend can be done in a similar way, too.
- Roasting Demo -
Roasting a batch of coffee and explaining the process as it happens creates a first-time experience for many Crawlers. For tea, demonstrating how different leaves are processed with visual examples works well.
- Drink History -
Cover a region, or timeline of coffee/tea. Or, even a time in coffee/tea history, or specific focus (women in coffee, tea in India, history of roasting, etc.). If you, or your supplier recently came back from origin share that story and journey. Also, passing around parts of coffee/tea is great in creating interaction. Examples are green coffee, tea leaves, different grind sizes, side-by-side tea varietals.
What to put in event bags?
- Branded items such as pens, mini notebooks, buttons,
stickers, chapstick, mugs, water bottles, etc.
- Small samples (2-4oz) of whole bean coffee.
- Mini baked goods - granola bars, mini cookies, biscotti, etc.
- How-to brew guides, fun drink zines, coffee tasting flavor wheels, or cafe or
roasters history in brochure, postcard or fridge magnet form.
- Free drink cards or % discount purchase cards.
~ Questions? Email jason@lab5702.com ~