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We reached out to each of the 2015 World Barista Championship competitors prior to their routines, to learn a bit more about them as competitors and coffee pros. We hope you enjoy these interviews!
Name: Natalia Piotrowska
Company: 3fe
Country: Ireland
Number of years as a barista: 4
Number of competitions competed in: 4
Irish Barista Championship: 1st (2015)
Competition Coffee: Bolivia, Rosenda Melgar, washed Typica
Competition Milk: Fresh Breeze
Signature Beverage: A pear reduction with celery salt and a grape reduction, both cooked separately for an hour on low heat with ratio of 2:1, and sparkling water.
Secret Weapons: Loads of them but I’m not telling you that 🙂
Playlist:
1. Max Manie – The Ocean
2. Parra for Cuva-Towards Orange / Lines
Routine Theme: It’s about sustainability in specialty coffee, and also about the potential of Bolivia and challenges they face.
Total Practice Hours: It’s a challenge to count them all 🙂 too many.
Coach/Coaches: His name is Andrew, he’s great help. He also pays attention to detail, which is very good and gives me another point of view. I also feel that my partner Konrad is some sort of coach for me as he was always pushing me forward, never letting me compromise on anything, and always showing me mistakes. Clearly, he’s great.
Fashion: I wish I knew that by now! 🙂
Additional Notes: I’m making steps to open my own coffee shop and I’m really excited about it!
Why do you think you’d make a great World Barista Champion?
I’ve made huge progress and have made it to the WBC stage from a small practice room in my house that I set aside for competing. Getting to the stage where I could work with good equipment and around real professionals took a time and was not always easy, but eventually I got there.
I think I’d make great World Barista Champion because I’ve gone so far with so little, which is something many people face, especially if they come from smaller cities where specialty coffee hasn’t caught on. I’m an example of these things becoming real and this could be an inspiration for others.
Social Medias:
Twitter: @NataliaFilo5
