Exploring Origins in Coffee and Chocolate with Maxwell Dashwood – London Craft Chocolate Fair 2026

About the event

How can you explore and understand coffee origins? Is is the same in cocoa? Which regions are growing, and where are the best beans coming from? Maxwell Dashwood, UK Barista Champion and founder of Colonna & Small’s and Colonna Coffee, has been working in coffee for nearly 20 years. He will join with chocolate expert Spencer Hyman for this tasting, discussing how you as a coffee drinker and chocolate eater can understand and explore origins. We’ll taste coffees and chocolates which Maxwell and Spencer have paired specially for this tasting, each bringing out a new flavour experience in the other.

This tasting is part of the London Craft Chocolate Fair 2026. See the full line-up of talks and tastings here. Your ticket will also grant you free access to the Chocolate Makers Market.

Important info:

• Tickets are non-refundable. If you purchase tickets but cannot make the event, please contact us and we’ll see what we can do.
• Please arrive five minutes before the event is due to start.
• The tasting will run for approximately 45 minutes.
• Attendees must be 18+ as alcohol will be served at some events. If you or your guest are under 18, please write to us beforehand to confirm if we can accommodate them at the tasting.
• If you have any dietary requirements or allergies, please let us know. We will do our best to provide alternatives where possible. Please note, we may not be able to cater for severe allergies, as many events will be taking place throughout the day in the space and we cannot guarantee there will be no cross-contamination. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us and we will do our very best to accommodate you.
• The tasting will take place downstairs in the main tasting room, as part of the Cocoa Runners Craft Chocolate Fair. To enter the tasting, please join the second queue outside the building on the right hand side, without entering the fair, and leave time after the event to explore the craft chocolate market upstairs and meet makers from across the UK and beyond.
• Your ticket will include entry to the Chocolate Makers Market (worth £5). When you book onto this tasting, we’ll send you a QR code for entry.
• You can find more information about the event and venue here.
• For any questions, please email [email protected]

About the London Craft Chocolate Fair 2026

For the fourth year running, Cocoa Runners are hosting their popular Craft Chocolate Fair on the 17th & 18th October 2026. The craft chocolate experts will host an indoor market with bean-to-bar chocolate makers from the UK and beyond, with a series of talks, tastings and pairings with experts from tea, coffee, olive oil, wine, beer and more.

The event will take place at the Fidelio Cafe and Concert Venue in Farringdon, London, running from 10-6 on Saturday 17th and 10-5 Sunday 18th. Free entry to the fair will be included in every tasting ticket. For those not attending a tasting, entry will cost £5.

About your hosts

Maxwell Dashwood

Maxwell Dashwood’s fascination with coffee began in Melbourne, Australia, in 2007. Returning to the UK, he co-managed a coffee events company and opened Colonna & Small’s, a Bath-based coffee shop with a focus on curated, changing coffee menus.

An acclaimed figure in the industry, Maxwell is a three-time winner of the UK Barista Championships and has co-authored academic papers on coffee. He’s also the co-author of “Water For Coffee,” a study on the impact of water on coffee taste, and “The Coffee Dictionary,” an accessible guide to coffee terminology. His most recent book, “The Business of Specialty Coffee,” combines his business experiences with an exploration of the coffee supply chain.

Spencer Hyman

Few people know more about chocolate than Spencer. His love for craft chocolate began in the 90s when travelling to the US. His career has spanned everything from making cabbage-patch dolls in Asia to launching the first major online music discovery service, Last.fm. But in 2013, he decided it was time for the world to discover the world of craft chocolate.

Today, he is a champion for craft chocolate makers all over the world. Spencer hosts chocolate tastings and education courses around the world, judges for international chocolate awards, and he often appears on TV, media and at conferences, including Sunday Brunch, World Cocoa Conference, Great Taste Awards, Society of Flavourists, International Wine Challenge, Barista Connect, Academy of Chocolate and more.