Right here’s what to anticipate on the 2025 version of Slovenia’s greatest espresso occasion.
BY VASILEIA FANARIOTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT
Images courtesy of Ljubljana Espresso Pageant
Each September, a selected sort of buzz brews in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia—and it’s not simply the caffeine. Tucked inside the elegant halls of the Metropolis Museum, the Ljubljana Espresso Pageant returns September 20–21, 2025, promising a weekend that blends world-class espresso, cutting-edge concepts, and an unmistakable sense of group.
For almost a decade now, the competition has change into a cornerstone of Slovenia’s rising specialty espresso scene—a scene that’s evolving quickly, formed by curious newcomers, formidable professionals, and returning diaspora who see espresso as a inventive bridge between cultures.
Espresso Tastings & So A lot Extra
What started in 2016 as an area showcase has change into a significant cease for roasters, baristas, and low lovers throughout Europe. The 2025 version is anticipated to be the biggest but, with limitless tastings from prime Slovenian and worldwide roasters, immersive cupping labs, and a buzzing Roasters Village that brings every part from inexperienced beans to cutting-edge grinders below one roof.
When you like a little bit competitors together with your crema, there’s lots to see: the Barista Battle Problem places expert baristas by espresso, latte artwork, cupping, and signature drink rounds. In the meantime, the Latte Artwork Throwdown delivers knockout-style drama (and a few extremely regular fingers).
For many who favor a slower tempo, the Sensory Room affords a quieter—and deeper—exploration of style and aroma, with visitor importers, scientists, and sensory specialists main classes on every part from fermentation to water chemistry.
And in the event you’re making an attempt to enhance your individual barista sport, there’s no scarcity of hands-on workshops hosted by Akademija Stow, catering to each dwelling brewers and seasoned professionals.
Contained in the Lab
On the coronary heart of the competition is The Lab, a curated lecture and workshop collection that includes among the brightest minds in espresso right now. Count on espresso scientists presenting new sensory analysis, World Barista Champions unpacking sustainability tendencies, and entrepreneurs mapping out values-driven enterprise fashions.
It’s the sort of house the place somebody working a café shift one week may stroll away considering in a different way about roast profiling, fermentation, and even the economics of direct commerce the subsequent.
“Our objective is to carry analysis and keenness collectively—to make the science of espresso really feel alive, and present the way it applies whether or not you’re working a roastery, opening your first café, or simply getting interested in your morning pour-over,” says Peter Ševic, organizer of the Ljubljana Espresso Pageant.
Espresso and Culinary Professionals Unite
Some of the anticipated occasions of this yr’s competition is the return of the Panel Discussion board on Specialty Espresso & Haute Delicacies—a full of life, high-level dialog that pulls collectively world-class cooks, producers, and low professionals to rethink how espresso suits into the world of superb eating.
Held inside The Lab, the 2025 panel explores how espresso can transfer past dessert pairings and into the inventive coronary heart of the culinary expertise.
Confirmed audio system embody:
- Carolyne Lane, Head of Noma Kaffe
- Liz Escobar, Colombian espresso producer, roaster and chef
- Patrik Rolf, founding father of April Espresso, identified for Michelin-level tasting menus
- Morten Munchow, espresso scientist and founding father of CoffeeMind
- David Žefran, head chef at Slovenia’s Michelin-starred Milka Restaurant
The dialogue will delve into tendencies, challenges, and improvements on the intersection of espresso and delicacies. Assume: multi-course pairings, culinary fermentation, and what it could imply to deal with espresso with the identical reverence as wine in gastronomic settings.
For cooks, sommeliers, and low professionals alike, the panel affords a uncommon probability to interact with world leaders and push the boundaries of what’s potential.
A Espresso Pageant with Soul
There’s a quiet confidence to this yr’s Ljubljana Espresso Pageant—an vitality that means one thing is clicking into place. Slovenia should be a small market, however its ambitions are world, and its group is tight-knit and desperate to study.
The competition appears like a gathering level for concepts, experiments, and future collaborators. It’s an area the place curiosity is rewarded, the place origin meets innovation—and the place the way forward for specialty espresso is being thoughtfully formed.
For tickets and full program particulars, go to ljubljanacoffeefestival.si.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vasileia Fanarioti (she/her) is a senior on-line correspondent for Barista Journal and a contract copywriter and editor with a major concentrate on the espresso area of interest. She has additionally been a volunteer copywriter for the I’M NOT A BARISTA NPO, offering content material to assist educate individuals about baristas and their work.
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