International Coffee Festival 2006 China

Since the inauguration of the first professional and independent coffee exhibition in China sponsored by Shanghai Derui Exhibition Planning Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Shengding Exhibition Planning Co., Ltd. in 2004, the exhibition floor area has been expanded from over 2000 sq.m. in the first event to approximately 4000 sq.m. in the second event. The number of exhibitors has increased from more than 70 in the first event to nearly 100 in the second event.

In the first event, the exhibitors are only overseas brands agents or distributors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China, Vietnam and USA, but the second event has attracted exhibitors from USA, Japan, Italy, France, South Korea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of P. R. China and China Taiwan, etc. The coffee exhibition held once a year is gradually growing up under the care of domestic and overseas enterprises and coffee lovers.

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India develops a taste for coffee

Asia Times Online Ltd.
By Priyanka Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI - From scruffy roadside chai (tea) shops and government-run coffeehouses to swanky, air-conditioned, branded coffee bars and lounges, Indians, especially those living in the north, are catching on to the worldwide passion for coffee.

The more than US$150 million organized coffee retail business in India is coming into its own, fed by rising incomes and a fast-food sector that is growing at 40% annually.

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Barista artists strive for the perfect cup of coffee

By Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Patrick Liberto, owner of Meshuggah Cafe in University City, screws a portafilter into an espresso machine. All of the coffee drinks at Meshuggah are espresso-based.

Patrick Liberto knows an 8-year-old boy who can make espresso.

"I tell him, 'OK, load up a single or load up a double,' and he comes here and does it. It's good," said Liberto, owner of Meshuggah Cafe in University City.

That's odd, because in some coffee circles, "pulling a shot of espresso" (as java jargon goes) is seen as a culinary art, while those who make espresso and espresso drinks have garnered a fancy title: barista.

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