What is your position in the coffee industry?
barista, barista trainer, coffee roaster, coffee enthusiast
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Where are you located? ( City and Country )
Raleigh, NC, USA
How many years have you been in the industry?
4
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 worked in a few shops as a barista over the last several years, two in Raleigh and one in Seattle. When I started in my first position I knew absolutely nothing about coffee, and now I know ALMOST nothing. I think that's a pretty good improvement. Recently I worked with a small roaster in Raleigh and learned a little bit about the roasting, purchasing, and cupping processes in between carrying heavy boxes around the warehouse. My current position is at a brand new shop that's attached to a two-storey bar in downtown Raleigh. The place has a lot of potential, but needs some encouragement in the right direction. In my spare time I roast tiny batches of whatever organic beans I can get my hands on and sell them at a farmers' market for lunch money. I have a long way to go in learning about roasting, but I've been getting rave reviews on most of my attempts.
What cities or countries are you interested in traveling to?
Everywhere. I hopped a cargo ship to Europe and wandered around for seven months in 2008, I lived in Seattle for a while before that, and have taken numerous cross-country roadtrips. Every time I come home from traveling it takes me about two weeks to start feeling like I need to be on the road again.
About Me:
I was essentially a non-entity for a while, and then I went to college at NCSU to study computer science. After a few semesters, I realized that I was not interested in being a code-monkey for the rest of my life. What I was interested in were the questions of intelligence and information theory that were raised in CS classes daily (and usually dismissed as irrelevant to the purpose of the course). So I switched to the philosophy department, started living in coffee shops and getting worked up about the Russell-Frege dialog. It was a logical step from there to pursuing a career in the coffee industry. I'm now working as a barista, and roasting coffee in my spare time. Some day I'm going to Moldova or Eastern Ukraine for a while to write about the new wave of Russian imperialism and the Transdniestran communist government... but I don't really have any resources that could make that happen at the moment.
About My Company:
I don't have a company of my own.
What is your favorite thing about the coffee industry?
I love watching the moment when the essence of something is revealed. You get to see this when you roast, and when you pull a great shot of espresso.
