The road to MICE 2018

In less than two weeks a busload of White Horse Coffee staff and a truckload of equipment will be headed to Melbourne for MICE 2018. As I write this I’m sitting at our Roastery watching the flurry of activity around me. Brian and Conan are roasting beautiful coffee on the Probat. Deklan and D-Train are packing and dispatching. Lucas is fixing an espresso machine. Matty and Luka are busy attending to the myriad of details required to take a large team to a very special coffee event … a large amount of fresh roasted coffee, espresso machines, grinders, cups, water … you name it, whatever we need to serve thousands of people the best coffee we can make. It’s been a hard slog and we’re just about ready.

So what's MICE?

MICE stands for Melbourne International Coffee Expo. It began in 2012 and is known as the largest, not-to-be-missed coffee event throughout Asia Pacific. Each year more than 10,000 coffee professionals and fanatics converge on the Grand Pavilion in Melbourne Showgrounds to taste, talk, compete, explore and savour the wonderful world of coffee. The first two days are for the industry and the third day is open to the public. There’s so many wonderful things to see at MICE, some of my favourites are meeting local coffee roasters from around Australia in Roasters Alley, talking with coffee growers from all over the world, attending incredible coffee tastings and taking part in the special events attached to MICE such as the Australian Barista Championships.

Hopefully our coffee will make people smile and warm their hearts.

And why should you care?

Two great reasons. Inspiration and camaraderie!

1. Inspiration

Events like MICE, which gather some of the greatest coffee companies and talented people under one roof is inspiring for the industry and motivates us to be better at what we do. It’s hard not to be inspired by being immersed in an environment like MICE, it keeps us sharp and at the top of our game. In the words of our tagline, it helps us KEEP IT SPECIAL.

2. Camaraderie

What we're doing this year.

A new adventure awaits us this year as we’ve decided to do a road trip instead of flying. So we will drive down a truck filled with everything we need plus a minibus. Fun times I’m sure! We will take a few snaps and videos and share them so you can follow along. This year we will be showcasing our coffee in our own White Horse Coffee stand plus we will also be running the ACME & Co cups stand, which we use in all our stores and sell throughout Australia. The new ACME evolution range has been launched and it’s time for the official Australian release at MICE. We can’t wait for people to see and touch ACME’s latest range of stunning ceramic cups. We truly believe there is no equal! And if that’s not enough, we have also added Bonavita Kettles to our stables, and we are now the Australian distributor of this fantastic product. Bonavita (IMHO) are the best coffee and tea kettle in the world. If you’re unfamiliar you can check them out here.

What coffee will we be serving?

This year we will be serving a host of incredibly beautiful Ethiopian coffees.

Nano Challa

Mango, bergamot, raspberry and cola. A Yirgacheffe-like Limu region coffee with all the classic tasting notes you’d expect from the southern growing region of Ethiopia.

Gelena Abaya

Orange, chocolate and jasmine. A beautiful lot from the special washing station in Yirgacheffe. A natural process, which adds to its complexity and character.

Messina

Passionfruit, guava, orange and chocolate. Likely one of the most special Ethiopian coffees we’ve encountered! A full natural but the meticulous nature of the farmers and processing has earned it an above Grade 1 classification, which is amazing.

White Knight Espresso