THE third Cork Coffee Weekend will take place from March 23 to 25 welcoming people into the world of all things aromatic and blended.

The event was set up by tech expert Eoin Kennedy and coffee connoisseur Caroline O’Keefe, who wanted to make coffee more accessible.

Mr Kennedy said the idea was born from a sense of frustration at the lack of support for independent coffee shops, at a time when there was a lot of chains moving into town.

“It was about giving indie coffee shops a forum,” Mr Kennedy said.

“There was a sense really that a lot of people were a bit intimidated by some of the indies, they felt they were going to be quizzed up or they needed to know lots to go in and order a coffee in some of these places.”

The main aim of the event is to make indie coffee shops more welcoming and to demystify the thing and encourage more people to go in and not be intimidated.

Now in its third year with 16 independent coffee shops taking part, Mr Kennedy said the event has worked well.

“There has been a much better community built up among the coffee shops themselves, since starting the event. There is a lot of cooperation between them now, they hold event regularly, tastings and other events.”

Mr Kennedy stressed the whole event is about supporting local business and is not organised for profit.

“This is not a money-making thing, we very purposely don’t take sponsors on board because we want to be independent.”

A number of events will take place over the weekend including roasting demos, latte art, pour over events and coffee and cocktails events as well as family-friendly events.

“The main aim is to make indie coffee shops much more accessible to people and let people experience what real coffee is like,” said Mr Kennedy.

To follow the event on Twitter and to check out the events, follow the hashtag #CCW18