World of Coffee/SCA Expo San Diego 2026
This year, SCA Expo was rebranded as World of Coffee (WoC), though I’m hard-wired to refer to it as Expo. It’s the premier annual event in the Americas, and this year, it was in San Diego, where I lived a good 12 years just prior to starting coffee.
For at least a month prior to Expo, many coffee folks, myself included, are in a mad rush in preparation, whether for goodies, booths, or coordinating schedules.
Since my first Expo in Portland 2023, sharing coffee has been a core part of my activities throughout the weekend. Since 2024, it’s become a Hydrangea tradition to swarm old and new friends with what we call snack packs. The team has grown, the list of friends and familiar faces has grown, and so too has the project grown. This year we put together around 800 snack packs ranging from strawberry coferment to Elida Estate geshas, and most things in between.
Once the snack packs were complete on the Hydrangea side, I had the same tradition to prepare for but for my own personal distribution.
My roasting batch sizes are ~135g per roast, i.e. highly inefficient. Roughly 6-7min per roast, with ~2min in between batches. Upon arriving in San Diego, the packing work began. Roasts would be split up into 20 or 30g-ish bags, labeled, and sorted for quick access to different coffee types. Big thanks to my dearest Richard for helping here.
Each year I make sure to bring something scary. It started with a 3yr barrel-aged Sumatra I labeled “Pain”. Since then there have been “Hangover”, “Death”, and “Poison”. This year I found a 5yr barrel-aged Sumatra which I handed out as “5yrs of Pain”. The flavor notes I gave it were mothballs, tarmac, and grandparents. An annual reminder that some coffees can be worse as a light roast.
Expo is also the only place where anyone is able to get leather mats from me. I don’t take orders or commissions, so you’d have to luck into a color and compatible piece of equipment I’m able to make a template for.
In total, I handed out 190 of my own bags weighing a total of 25lbs, along with an additional ~10lbs of Hydrangea snack packs.
Setup for Expo behind the scenes is, unsurprisingly, chaotic. Everyone chips in to lend a hand where possible. Big thanks to Justin and the Helm crew for helping out!
It’s far from my first rodeo, and the Expo floor itself is perhaps the least interesting thing after the first few visits. To a non-professional coffee enthusiast, about a third of the booths are totally irrelevant (not coffee, too industrial like packaging logistics/infrastructure), a third is… frankly not exciting coffee stuff, and the last third is what matters - names and things you typically only get to see online but with eager faces to chat with.
Looking at my photos over the years, I notice I take fewer and fewer photos of the general event.
Unexpected things happen regularly, like hopping on bar with raindrop.coffee
I typically don’t attend cuppings at Expos. They’re busy places with varying levels of tension, ranging from “I don’t know what this is so I’ll take my time to think about this coffee” to “I need to lock in because I’m trying to make a purchasing decision.” Swept up with my friends all going at once, and the destination being more friends I planned on seeing, I was pleased to find that Moii coffee’s booth was beyond packed. Firaol and Thomas were hosting by far the most lively audience on that side of the convention, thanks to the Alo and Ture Waji cuppings they were facilitating. I first met them when they were a startup back in 2024, and each year I see that St. Louis crew, I’m impressed by what they put together as individual creators and collectively towards the Moii project.
The cupping was as busy and chaotic as anticipated. Even busier than I saw over at the Panama celebrities booth. I’m heartened to see the uptick in demand for quality leading producers from Ethiopia.
This year, Sworks went all out with their SproWagon project and ran a booth with Moonwake. No matter how you felt about the vehicle portion, the business end of the setup was undeniably remarkable to any coffee enthusiast. With months of planning, Harry&co. lined up quite the powerhouse guest roster for the booth. Throughout the event the booth setup showed its many forms and structures, and sometimes we found ourselves feeling extra-indoors inside the expo floor. Without a doubt one of the most awe-inspiring booths on the floor this year.
The main event for me each year is to dump beans on strangers, folks I’m kiiinda familiar with through various channels, and to catch up with friends. Of course, dumping beans on them as well.
My own haul from Expos gets smaller each year. I don’t need to go home with so many coffees and samples. I did receive several things that were in the bucket of “for friends”, and a couple that were “for Robert”. I’m touched by those, and those are what stay on my shelves these days.
Unlike other years, this year had a special extra in the neighborhood: SEY House 2026.
Next year’s World of Coffee is in New Orleans, which should be quite a contrast to San Diego. I highly recommend you visit one of these at least once. If you find me, say hi, and I’ll be sure to respond by shoving some beans into your hands.