At Bellissimo’s January 2008 staff retreat, we discussed if it was possible to re-release the complete Dr. Illy Milan Interview, which we originally released on video a few years ago. We all agreed that the time was right for the latest generation of coffee people to see this 75-minute interview and be exposed to the insight and amazing perspective offered by Dr. Illy.

Last week as we got the sad news of Dr. Illy's passing, and at the end of the week the DVDs arrived in our office. Re-releasing this interview is not about making money — the thousands of people in the coffee industry who should watch it, will probably never find it on our site. This release is only about making it available, and those who purchase it will not be sorry. I just watched the interview again, after not having seen it for a number of years, and I was blown away at the information that it contains.

25% of the proceeds will be donated to Coffee Kids.

We will be having a Celebration of the Life of Dr. Illy at the American Barista & Coffee School on February 22nd, 2008. The night will include wine, Illy espresso, a time for people to tell stories about meeting Dr. Illy and how he had a profound influence on so many of us in the coffee industry. We will be watching the Dr. Illy Milan Interviews in their entirety as well.

We really hope that many of you can make it to the event, and join us in paying respect to such a passionate and unique person, who dedicated his life to the advancement of espresso and specialty coffee.

If you cannot make it but would still like to watch the DVD we do have them available on the Bellissimo website.

6:00 p.m - 9:00 p.m. Friday, February 22 at the American Barista & Coffee School, 1028 SE Water Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97214. This event will be a celebration of the life of the good doctor. We hope you can attend. For directions or to RSVP please email or call us at 800-655-3955