Barista & Farmer 2016 - The Contenders
27.01.2016
Jesslyn Evani, 25 anni, Indonesia. My name is Jesslyn Evani, I'm 25 years old and I come from Indonesia. I fell in love with coffee when I was living in the States: there, I used to work ad an auditor, and I always end up working until the wee hours of the morning. I especially liked the Sumatra coffee but, when I came back in my country, I didn't like the coffee I found there. I tried some courses but the real turning point for me was when I found out about Q Grader classes. I would really like to educate the indonesian market on what specialty coffee is and on how to best enjoy a coffee. Since it's been really hard for me to find a proper roaster, I decided to do it myself, with the beans that I buy from local producers.
Guido Garavello, 32 anni, Italia (Rovigo). “Once I was working as a barista in my village when I realized that I had no knowledge about coffee!” Here is how my trip into this world has begun: my name is Guido Garavello, I'm 32 years old and I come from a little town near Rovigo. Since that day, I studied a lot and attended many classes (I have all the Scae certifications) and I have a long working experience (in around 20 different stylish locations from discos and clubs to cruise ships around the world, from London to Melbourne and Miami and, in Italy, Venice and Sardinia, just to name a few). Now I relocated myself in Barcelona where I work in a luxury 5 stars hotel. I love sports and dancing, but also delicious food, especially if enjoyed in good company. My goal is to experience a trip the origins of coffee and to open my own coffee shop on my way back. Here I come!
Miguel Angel Vera Fernandez, 36 anni, Venezuela. I was born in Venezuela but I'm also a spanish citizen and a brazilian at heart. I have an education in forestry engineering and I have a master in wood technologies. My journey in the world of coffee begun two years ago when I left my job in an office in order to learn more about the production, the roasting and the preparation of coffee. I attended several classes at the Instituto Español de Cafè and I also participated in the Scae Barista Camp where I found out about Barista & Farmer. In Riccione, in 2015, again with Scae, I also obtained an intermediate barista skill degree. During this last year I also worked as head barista in a specialty coffee cafeteria, the Monkee Koffee in Madrid. My dream is to open mu own coffee shop, with a micro roastery, and to have the chance to visit the countries of origin to experiment with their coffees and to try to raise the living standards of the farmers thanks to a more equal trade.
Nikolaos Kanakaris, 31 anni, Grecia (Atene). The truth is that my love for coffee was born out of pure chance: I was attending the Technical Institute of my city and, due to a general strike, all the classes were stopped for six months and therefore I had to find a part time job. A good friend of mine was working at a local coffee shop and so I joined him as his assistant barista. After that I trained myself, I went to several courses, with University of Coffee and Scae among them. Twelve years later I'm still working in the coffee world, pursuing my goal of continuous evolution: today I'm the one who trains other baristas!
Olga Kaplina, 29 anni, Russia. My passion for coffee brought me to move to Moscow (I was born in Novobisirk) where I actually worjk at DoubleB to follow my dreams and my will to improve and evolve. I changed everything for coffee: city, friends, home, people around me. Even my job. I've been champion of Siberia twice: I love competitions, they give me a fantastic energy, wheter I lose or win even though I definetly prefer the second option. My goal is to enrich the russian coffee culture: I'm a sporty girl, I love gym and snowboard but I also like to read and to design tshirts with racoons.
Amy Manukian, 26 anni, Armenia. Kenya piberi prepared in chemex is my first love,it stimulated me to start my coffee journey, I was 19 , about 4 years ago. Coffee inspires, encourages and make romantic, I inspire my guests with coffee, present positive emotions, people could do great things after a cup of tasty coffee,I make coffee at home in a cezve because the coffee shop where I am working practice the same way. In my free time, I paint sing and play the piano. I love as well to find out new places for inspiraition: coffe as a culture is getting developed real fast, and I am sure that I have to learn much, and I will do my best to make mu coomunity a little bit better. Coffee is truly my life.
Evgeni Pinchukov, 22 anni, Bielorussia. I'm barista and roaster and I own a little coffee shop in my village. I love to drink coffee and to taste new varieties. I'm really looking forward to join the experience of Barista & Farmer because I'm sure that it will increase my knowledge on the subject.
Daniel Rivera, 30 anni, USA (Porto Rico). I was born in New Jersey. My parents are puertoricans and so they both decided to move back to the island aftert I wa s born and this is where my passion for coffee started. For me it became a sort of a challenge: I wanted to create a socio-economical impact over the local business in order to raise the living conditions of my people and, in general, in the entire island. My turning point was in 2009 when I represented Puerto Rico at the WBC, the World Barista Championship. It felt like I was at an F1 race while driving just a bike. Oh, by the way: one of the tools that I use to get in touch with people is my own bike which I equipped with all the necessary tools to create a good coffee without the use of electricity.
Agnieszka Rojewska, 27 anni, Polonia. I started working in the coffee world seven years ago and I negun, like many of my peers, simply to raise some money while I was studying. Soon, what started as a part time job became a passion, and almost immediately I begun to participate in barista competitions. It takes a lot of effort to win, but when that happens you know that all those nights spent training were definetly wort it. In 2015 I became barista champion in Poland while the year before I won the latte art competition. I also took a shot at the WBC, World Barista Championship. Today I manage my own bar and I am a trainer at Espresso Academy.
