Cup North

You don’t need to be a coffee expert to enjoy Cup North, most of the roasters are happy to start with the basics and cater to your normal coffee of your choice.
Baristas guided you through your tastings, in order to make you get all the shades of flavours and aroma. You could also brew your own coffee! The final tasting and the chemical analysis revealed that mine was fairly strong.
The venue has a cool interior. Lighting is warm and there’s an industrial feel throughout.

An okay event in a quirky environment
I missed Cup North in its first incarnation so I was looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about. Billed as a coffee festival, I was expecting to be blown off my socks by sights and sounds and, most of all, scents and tastes of my beverage of choice. My take-​away? Nice try, better luck next time.
I have to ask the question why hold a coffee festival in Manchester but have so little involvement from North West and Mancunian producers, venues and innovators? Manchester Coffee Company seemed the only roaster in evidence, despite there being four or five in the city alone, and there were no Manchester coffee houses in sight.
As for the event itself, it seemed to be aimed at professionals more than customers, with roasters and distributors, equipment manufacturers and wholesalers, rather than domestic machines and retailers.
I had an okay time and I won’t be hurrying back to the next event, but if you’re looking to learn a little more about coffee, then Cup North might start you on the path. As someone who knows a fair amount about the history of coffee in the West, I was a little disappointed by the experience (the first event staff member I met was condescending and incompetent in turns), particularly by the lack of North West-​based businesses.

It’s still with a huge amount of caffeine in my veins that I’m writing this review. Five stars, one more deserved than the next, for Cup North: pure passion for coffee is exuded by this event!
Great venue and décor, wide spaces and rare queues made my experience absolutely enjoyable. Talking to baristas and sellers has been very straightforward, and they all were keen to share their expertise in the field of coffee, often telling about their trips around the world (South America, Africa…) in the search of quality.
Baristas, just like sommeliers, guided you through your tastings, in order to make you get all the shades of flavours and aroma. Cold brewed coffee has been a special discovery: different from everything I have ever tried so far, it’s got an extravagant bitter note that makes you wonder if you’re drinking an actual coffee.
Most importantly, you could also brew your own coffee! (while a barista was overviewing, of course) The final tasting and the chemical analysis revealed that mine was a bit weak, but I am sure I’ll do better next year.
Well, I will probably stay up all night, but it’s definitely worth it! ;)

Cup North is the Indy Man of coffee festivals.
Roasters, new gadgets, cake and really great street food ensure for a day of thoroughly enjoyable consuming. There were roasters from afield to accompany local favourites like Man Co Co and Heart and Graft
As one might expect — you need to keep Ann eye on what you’re drinking; lots of cold brew and long black had left me a bit drowsy but it was all worth it at the time.
You don’t need to be a coffee snob to enjoy it, most of the roasters are happy to start with the basics and cater to your normal coffee choices.
And for the venue, Victoria Warehouse is lovely and just makes the event even more special.
Top day for coffee lovers and eager enthusiasts.

My first Cup North event! This American was very happy to have a coffee focused event here in my new city… and to have so many people from the north of England represented was very exciting.
The venue has a cool, hip interior. Lighting is warm and there’s an industrial feel throughout. Was a tad bit out of the way for me, as I don’t have a car. If it was in the centre I would have quite liked that.
It was fun to meet fellow coffee hobbyists (read: addicts). Most people were quite talkative, probably in large part to the copious amounts of caffeine being consumed.
The best part of Cup North was getting into actual conversations with the vendors. The highlights: Heart & Graft Coffee Roastery from here in Manchester. James Guard is obsessed with coffee and everything related… we talked about plate tectonics and how that shapes the tastes of coffee.
Neighbourhood Coffee from Liverpool. Edward Peck spent some a few years in Ethiopia before starting Neighbourhood. He was talking about the massive range of flavour profiles just from that country alone.
Artemis Cold Brew from Yorkshire. These guys are dedicated to the cold brew method… their nitro offering was amazing.
Other bright spots: Small Batch, Union, Workshop, Hope & Glory. There’s much to be excited about for the coffee world here in England, especially in the north. More of these events, please!
Thanks to Unilocal for comping my ticket. Yay, Unilocal