Roasters wired for next coffee festival after successful inaugural event

Tickets for the Coffee Festival sold out within a few days of going on sale.

Barnette said she hoped visitors left the conference center with an appreciation for the people they may not see who contribute to the cups or bags of specialty or high-quality coffee, they buy.

"I hope they leave putting a face to the names of people who are really behind the scenes. A lot of these guys are roasters. Usually what you see in the shops are the baristas or the shop owners," she said. "And a lot of these guys are really here to just teach people about their craft; they’re here to share their passion. So I’m hoping that people walk out of here with a passion for what we are all passionate about."

The day was divided into three separate tastings beginning at 11 a.m. for ticket holders to take turns testing coffee. Each ticket holder received a West Virginia Coffee Festival mug, which they then used to visit the 12 roaster booths for samples.

Collectively, variations of light, medium and dark roast coffees were available at the booths. Some roasters also featured specialty drinks available to sample.

'Establish a great coffee culture'

Roxie McCutcheon, co-owner of Martinsburg-based Cultivate Coffee Roasters with her husband, Pete, said she liked how visitors had varying levels of knowledge about coffee, but she said it appeared everyone was having a good time.

"It’s a chance for West Virginia to come together and establish a great coffee culture" she said. "The turnout's been great. We're really surprised. You have people who are just learning about coffee (and) very experienced coffee people. I think everybody is really enjoying getting to experience all the different types of offers people have."

Noah and Maddie Wells traveled from their home in Germantown, Ohio, to the festival. The couple previously lived in Huntington, so they used the festival as a chance to visit some friends and family.

Maddie Wells' aunt, Jennifer Maghan, is the owner of Black Dog Coffee in Shenandoah Junction, Jefferson County, which was among the roasters at the festival.

The couple agreed on some of their favorite coffees featured at the event.

"Black Dog had the best cold brew. The Spot (on Main, based in Jackson, Ohio) had a maple latte that was so, so good, and the Bean Theory had a great banana nut latte," Maddie Wells said.

Noah Wells said he was surprised with how well the festival went overall, as it was the inaugural event.

"It was busier and bigger than I thought a first-time festival would be. And I can’t think of any better way of doing the tasting part," Noah Wells said.

Nadine Sonnyville, co-owner of Mountain Table Coffee with Alexander Durand, said the festival was the first time many of West Virginia's coffee roasters were in the same room. She said she'd love to have the festival again, and some roasters had ideas for expansion.

"We had a little meeting with some of the roasters last night talking about making it a traveling festival, so visiting different places every year," she said.

When discussing the turnout, Barnette thanked everyone involved in bringing the Coffee Festival to life, from Valley Park Conference Center staff, local leaders, the roasters and the public, for their support.

"We want to build a committee and have all of us working in conjunction to build not only the specialty coffee network here in West Virginia but just educate the public on what specialty coffee really is and why we should be supporting that," Barnette said. "So we’re really just working together to find out how we can grow each other and grow our community."