Mercury News

First it was wine. Then it was specialty beers. Now coffee is the latest beverage to rise above its proletarian origins and develop its own elitist culture.

“The Bay Area is really experiencing an espresso renaissance,” said Andy Newbom, owner of Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara.

Coffee, Newbom said, has entered a third wave of popularity. The first was your standard Folgers drip, the second was the espresso revolution started by Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee & Tea. And now, discriminating coffee lovers are going beyond chain coffee shops and are willing to pay a premium for higher quality and more variety.

“It’s very similar to the wine industry,” says Newbom, 33, who prefers the very Silicon Valley title of “chief espresso officer.” “It’s just beginning, so it’s not as developed. But in the last five years, it’s really begun to take off.”

This weekend, Barefoot Coffee Roasters will host the Western Barista Guild Jam at the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell. The two-day event is primarily for professionals — cafe owners, chefs and baristas — but there are a couple of components for the home brewer.

If you want to elevate your morning cup of coffee, the event’s Home Espresso Festival on Sunday will feature the latest espresso machines for your kitchen. Also Sunday at the Iron Barista Competition, teams will compete to make four drinks and a food item using coffee and a secret ingredient. Go to www.westernbaristaguildjam.com for details.

“If we want to get anything out of this,” Newbom said, “it will be to get people to treat coffee as culinary art rather than a caffeinated drug.”

1. Monica R Hill will be there
2. Attending is the ONLY way you can get one of the “Make Coffee. Not War” tshirts
3. Mirage, GB5 and lever all in one spot
4. Ken Davids cupping with YOU
5. Iron Barista Competition
6. Breakfast and lunch is included
7. You are breathtakingly close to the Barefoot

So what are your top seven reasons for going?