The Second Annual Coffee Fest ran last weekend at the Broadway Pier and hosted dozens of vendors that showed off their wares and likely directions of specialty coffee trades here. There were some surprises both in direction and in the participants.
Cafe Moto and Ryan Brothers, both with decades of history in San Diego coffee were there, each with some of their standards and new offerings, and some innovative newcomers sought the crowd’s attentions; Dry Brew was one of the most interesting–a wedge shaped candy confection of condensed coffee that could be carried like a candy bar or pack of gum, and chewed like chocolates to give that needed caffeine rush. At first glance, these earned a side eye from those experienced in the long years of questionable ideas combined with caffeine toward the public, but truth be told, Dry Brew was a hit. It perhaps will be a hit with those that want to travel along with a desired dose of caffeine in places where water is either scarce or questionable or both.
Another interesting business is Excelsa, named after the obscure strain of coffee and headquartered in Ocean Beach. Climate change is playing havoc with Arabica and other strains of coffees will be commercially developed to substitute; Excelsa, with half the caffeine content (generally) of Arabica and significantly less than Robusta, may be a rising crop in the world of coffee in the years to come.
A special treat was discovering that long time coffee master Rigo Hernandez now roasts under the Nectar Coffee name. Hernandez is a partner in San Diego’s EspressFix, an espresso machine and equipment service company and is a walking encyclopedia of all things coffee and machine related.
Though there are over 220 commercial coffee roasters in San Diego County, and perhaps 50 or more in Tijuana, and dozens of service companies and endless wholesale and retail bakers, few of the roasting community held space at the Coffee Fest. One had a right to expect more from the community on both sides of the border and northern counties. There was certainly interest enough from the public that crowded the Broadway Pier hall to claustrophobic proportions to learn more about what’s around them in the products they love. It seems business there was brisk, as it should have been.
2025-10-14