Around a decade ago, Alex Stoyle drank a cup of Ethiopian coffee that changed his life.

Stoyle, co-owner of Revelstoke Coffee in Concord, was so struck by the notes of blueberry mingling with the traditional coffee flavor he was immediately “hooked” and began seeking out specialty coffee whenever he traveled.

“My wife and I, we had been specialty coffee fans for years and when our space on Main Street became vacant, we jumped on it, signed a lease, and decided that we were going to go from being just fans to figuring out how to operate a specialty coffee business,” said Stoyle, who opened Revelstoke with his wife, Lyndsey, in 2018.

From the start, the pair sought opportunities to get the community more involved with coffee. When Wayfarer Coffee Roasters began the Northeast Coffee Festival in Laconia in 2022, Revelstoke volunteered to run the culminating event, Latte Art Throwdown.

When the festival moved to Concord to reach a wider audience last spring, Revelstoke became a co-host of the caffeinated celebrations, which feature an outdoor community market with over three dozen coffee and tea vendors, as well as dozens of workshops, panels and hands-on educational opportunities for those looking to learn more about coffee as a craft.

Next weekend, downtown will once again transform into a coffee wonderland, complete with food trucks, vendors, mobile espresso bars, a kids’ play zone and live music from the New Hampshire Music Collective.

“This is a really unique festival, where it bridges the gap between coffee professionals and coffee consumers,” said Karen Bassett, owner of Wayfarer Coffee Roasters. “That’s really important to us, and to be able to shed light on the coffee world, the specialty coffee world, and help consumers be educated about their coffee and give coffee professionals a place to learn without spending thousands of dollars on coffee classes.”

Coffee producers, roasters and importers from around the world will be in attendance. Stoyle hopes bringing together so many members of the coffee economy will create new connections and grow collective knowledge.

“A lot of people in small businesses, we tend to forget that we’re not necessarily competing against each other,” he said. “We’re really all competing with gas stations and Starbucks and Dunkin. I think that the more we get together and share ideas and talk about what we’re doing and why it’s important and why we pay attention to the details, the more we’re able to share it with people in an approachable way.”

The festival also aims to help consumers consider the origins of such a familiar beverage.

“It goes beyond that cup that you’re drinking,” Bassett said. “It’s always about the story behind it, always about the people who brought it all the way from farm to cup, and it’s about how you impact your community through real, in-person relationships.” 

Stoyle encouraged everyone – coffee lover or not – to come to the festival next weekend. There will be plenty of options for non-coffee drinkers and many activities for people of all ages.

“Our vision was always to become a travel-worthy destination for coffee lovers and enthusiasts alike. When we saw the coffee festival happening last year, we were like, ‘Oh my God, this was our vision.’ We’ve become a travel-worthy destination for coffee lovers and enthusiasts, and look at our little city,” Stoyle said.

The Northeast Coffee Festival will take place on Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3. For more information, visit www.northeastcoffeefestival.com. The free community market will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with the coffee education programming, which requires a pass, happening throughout both days.

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com