Alabama Coffee Fest draws in vendors from across the state
Photo by Amy Lawhon/Staff Photographer
Alabama Coffee Fest attendees sample coffee from various coffee and tea vendors.
Allison Brown
CityLifestyle Reporter
browna17@uab.edu
Fourteen coffee and tea vendors from across Alabama come together to provide sample tastings for coffee connoisseurs and newcomers alike during the Alabama Coffee Fest, a fundraiser for the Alabama Multicultural Organization, Saturday, February 23.
“Specialty coffee is a community experience,” said Brad Hanes, VP of operations for Baba Java coffee shop in Hoover. “All these guys here are competitors in some sense, but we’re all kind of working toward the same goal, which is to bring great coffee to Birmingham.”
Each coffee shop that attended Coffee Fest did so for free, according to Robert Hernandez, president of the Alabama Multicultural Organization (AMOR). The vendors provided samples for free (after admittance) and attendees were able to buy products from the store if they chose to. The festival was sold out, with 500 attendees in the morning session and another 500 attendees in the afternoon session.
