Food & Drink: Competition grounds Cold Brew Fest

“I realized they were not normally open to the public,” she said. “My goal was to open it to the community.”

Clearly, she was onto something. About 800 people showed up last year.

Fest-goers, as well as a three-judge panel, will each select a best Still Cold Brew and Best Nitro. Cold brewers get to choose their own beans and method of brewing.

Last year, Kafiex won the People’s Choice Award for Best Still Cold Brew. Other returning champs include Riff from Bend, Ore., and Dillanos Coffee Roasters from Sumner. Portland roasters Seven Virtues, Caffe Vita and Elevator also will be there. Selivanow wanted coffee lovers to sip coffee from roasters they wouldn’t normally visit.

The first 50 attendees get a coffee plant to take home along with other swag. The Cafe Feminino Foundation will have a booth sharing its mission of empowering female farmers in coffee growing regions. Proceeds will go to the women of Nahuala coffee farm in Guatemala to improve their community library.

The brightly painted Funky Fresh Juice Co. truck will be at the event churning out smoothies and fresh juice. Prana Chai will brew chai and turmeric drinks. Granola, pastries, popsicles and breakfast-type food will be available. Oatly will bring its highly coveted oat milk to swirl into your cold brew.

On Sunday, Kafiex is hosting the 2019 U.S. AeroPress Championship: PNW Regional at its Coffee Lab off Esther Short Park. An AeroPress is a plastic suction coffee brewing device that is inexpensive ($25), portable and quickly makes an excellent cup of coffee.

This global event began 11 years ago in Oslo, Norway, in a small space with three competitors. This year’s competition will be held in 60 countries, starting with 120 regional competitions. The winner from each region in the United States will advance to San Francisco to compete for the United States championship. The U.S. winner will go to London for the global championship.

This is a multi-round competition. Three competitors, using the same beans, have eight minutes to prepare, brew and present their drinks to a three-judge panel.

Inside that eight minutes, they can adjust the amount of coffee used, the grind of the beans, the amount and temperature of the water, and the brewing time. They can also invert the AeroPress. All of these variables affect the taste of the brewed coffee.

After eight minutes, the judges sip the coffee and then point to their favorite for the round. The winner advances to the next bracket. Cheering and excitement ensues as the field narrows. It’s the coffee-brewing crowd’s version of March Madness.

Selivanow is not only hosting but also competing in the Cold Brew Fest and the AeroPress Championship. She has never competed in an AeroPress competition and isn’t a regular user of this plastic suction device. To prepare, she has been brewing multiple batches of AeroPress coffee a day.

“I’m excited,” said Salivenow. “I’ll be honest: I want to win one of those trophies.”