What is your position in the coffee industry?

barista, manager, barista trainer, coffee roaster, coffee enthusiast, consultant

Where are you located? ( City and Country )

Costa Mesa, CA

How many years have you been in the industry?

14

If you are a barista or shop, are you interested in a barista exchange with another coffee shop/barista?

yes

Tell us more about your coffee shop or barista skills.

I have been a coffee enthusiast as well as a barista for over 14 years, and have been off and on competing for the past 7 years as well. I also am currently trying to learn how to roast and working for Portola Coffee Lab, the first REAL 3rd wave shop in OC. We also roast all our coffee in house on the most efficient roaster in SoCal . I also do barista training and help my company with consulting their wholesale customers creating higher quality standards for their business... hopefully with more natural and local products to their area. I absolutely love coffee and hope to do some traveling to harvest coffee in Bolivia, or anywhere for that matter, some day. I also host Latte Art classes, cuppings, and coffee education classes to our staff as well as our clientele. Thanks for reading and I would love any and all feed back. Most recently I have been experimenting and enjoying all the new single cup manual brew methods in our industry! It's such a great way to experience single origin cups. And sometimes even blends as well. I am a member of the barista guild, the SCAA and we do work with SCAA standards in all of our trainings and cuppings. Yours, ALJ

What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?

ALL I am open to anything! No kids, single, young and ready to travel and LEARN more and more!!

About Me:

My apartment is covered with photos of coffee, my latte art and burlap sacks from all my favorite estates (or at least all the ones I've tried thus far). I love to travel and coffee IS my passion. Educating the world about coffee and infecting them with a perfect shot, getting them on fire about quality coffee, makes me the happiest. I truly LOVE my job. I have traveled all over our country, but there is SO much more to explore here and all over the world. I am into whole foods, natural healing, organics, green living, and generally making my carbon footprint much smaller. Not to mention gardening, composting, canning, and visiting the local farmers market on a regular basis. Hiking is also one of my fun and exciting hobbies! I know it's not "real" hiking, but most recently I am doing a tour of all the "hidden staircases of Los Angeles". . .so amazing.

About My Company:

Portola Coffee Lab is THE place to get quality coffee in Orange County. We are working on a Slayer Espresso Machine, 3 Bunn Trifectas, Hario V60's and Hario Siphon. Everything we do is socially conscience and eco-friendly. Come in and try us out or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr.

What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?

The knowledge and passion for an incredible plant that fuels my fire and delights my palet! Espresso, espresso, espresso!

Website:

https://www.portolacoffeelab.com