Similar to the craft beer scene in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, the craft coffee scene here has exploded in the past few years. Just this year, Landlocked Social House, Ferrari Barber & Coffee Co., Brick Coffee Co. and a Findlay Market location of Deeper Roots have opened.
This forward momentum is the reason why last year Ilene Ross and her daughter Cami Fussey created Pour Over Cincy/NKY: A Local Coffee Showcase. Ross, who is a senior dining writer at CityBeat and the mind behind local food media outlet 513{eats}, liked what Fussey was doing in Ypsilanti, Mich., with her coffee fest, Pour Over Ypsi. Fussey lives in that city and noticed how many craft coffee shops and roasters existed, so she created the first Pour Over event there in 2015.
“We’re focusing on craft coffee, which is doing what craft beer has been doing in the past several years,” Fussey says. “It’s coffee’s time to shine.”
Last November, Ross and her daughter corralled a score of coffee and food vendors here and held the inaugural Pour Over Cincy/NKY at Newport’s Northern Kentucky Incubator Kitchen. Ross says about 250 people crammed into the commercial kitchen. Patrons sampled everything from siphon coffee to lattes.
“At the door, while people were leaving, people said, ‘Oh my god, I hope this comes back,’ ” Fussey says.
Ross adds, “This year, it’s going to be even bigger and even better.”
For year two, they switched to a more commodious space at Newport’s The Hatchery incubator kitchen inside St. Paul’s Episcopal Church so they can accommodate the 400 people they’re expecting. They will have 11 coffee vendors and 10 dessert-orientated vendors, including Holtman’s Donuts, Grateful Grahams, Lil’s Bagels, Le Pufferie (a Newport-based bakery that makes cream puffs) and Fork and Pie. Most of last year’s coffee vendors are returning — Coffee Emporium, BLOC Coffee Company, Mad Llama Coffee, La Terza and Deeper Roots — with the addition of Trailhead, Ferrari, Mason’s Cocoon Coffee, Adesso Coffee (a coffee cart based in Mercantile Library on Thursdays and Fridays) and Yield Coffee Roasters out of Monroe.
This year’s proceeds will benefit Food 4 Farmers, a charity that aims to provide food security in coffee-growing communities.
Unlike many other markets and festivals, Pour Over doesn’t charge a booth fee and vendors are allowed to sell bags of beans, treats and other items. Snowville Creamery, based in Pomeroy, Ohio, sponsors the event and provides the vendors with complimentary dairy products.
Tickets are $12 ($10 presale) and come with 12 tokens, which coffee aficionados can use to sample 4-ounce coffee drinks and snacks. “Last year, most people gave some tokens back because I think they felt they were getting a great value for their money and couldn’t use all their tokens,” Ross says.
Those tokens can be used to try Yield’s affogato, featuring coffee made with an Aeropress and gelato topped with crushed candy canes. They will also make a sweet drink using a Chemex, with crumbled Nutter Butters and maple cinnamon cream on top. Smooth Nitro Coffee will pour a few varieties of nitro coffee, and Ferrari will have coconut cold brew.
“We’re proud to showcase them and to show that they can all succeed,” Ross says about Cincinnati’s burgeoning coffee scene. “As I always say, a rising tide floats all boats. They can all participate in this festival without competition.”
In terms of planning the annual event, Ross and Fussey work together: Fussey does the technology and supply ordering, and Ross communicates with the vendors.
“I make Cameron do all the grunt work,” Ross jokes.
This year, they’ve had more people reaching out to them than the previous year. “Maybe next year everyone will contact us and we won’t have to do a thing,” Fussey says.
The third-annual Pour Over is already in the works. “As the coffee scene grows, so shall we,” Ross says. “I just see the coffee scene getting bigger. We’ll keep going as long as people want us to.”
Pour Over Cincy/NKY: A Local Coffee Showcase takes place 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 18 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 7 Court Place, Newport, Ky. More info and tickets: facebook.com/pourovercincynky.
This article appears in Nov 8-15, 2017.