Community is important for our team at Acaia. Every year, as part of our community support, we sponsor a range of local & international industry events and barista competitors. We offer barista sponsorships to support and encourage a more diverse lineup of competitors. There are many obstacles for competing baristas on both the national and international levels. We hope the program will help them on their journey and achieve their goals on a more equal world stage. Loeki Kin competed in the Dutch National Coffee Championships this year.
Please introduce yourself
Hi, my name is Loeki Kin. I am from the Netherlands, and I am 35 years old. I’ve worked in the hospitality industry for about 20 years and specialty coffee for about eight years now. Last January, I competed in my very first SCA coffee championships. I placed fourth and won the ‘Louis Claus Trophy’ for best newcomer. It is an esteemed award in our industry that I’m very proud of. I have had an extraordinary interest in coffee since I was 14 years old when I would have ‘coffee dates’ with my friends on Sundays as if we were old ladies.
When I started working in the hospitality industry around 2003, I was drawn to making coffee. With a dream to open my coffee bar/lunch space one day, I decided to study for a degree in hospitality management. Only years later, I worked and traveled in Australia for a couple of years. There, I started to dive into specialty coffee and learned the finer skills.
Today, I own a neighborhood café in Amsterdam that serves brunch and specialty coffee. The café is BLUEY’S Coffee & Kitchen and we were under construction due to a large fire in October 2022. Our cafe is now open. I love to drink and work with coffee. Although I love the barista trade, my main interest is more strategic and conceptual. I think about the functional design of coffee bars, efficiency, and the big question: how can the best cup be served consistently? And how to create spaces and operations that support this goal.
Why did you decide to enter coffee competitions?
I entered a more low-key competition a few years ago because I felt comfort-zoned in coffee, and I felt that I needed to push myself a little to grow in my field. That first competition experience was exhilarating and fun; I learned so much! It made me want to try more. But I've always looked at the Barista Championships as something completely unattainable. And something that I wouldn't be good enough for. But last year, I realized I'd never really know if I'd never tried. So, I subscribed for the preliminaries for the 2024 DBC, and with only three weeks of prep time, I managed to make it to the finals!
How was your experience during the competition? Did you have a theme to your routine? How did you build it?
This whole competition experience accelerated my learning. It gave me confidence in my professional abilities. At the same time, it gave me an almost painfully clear insight into where my learnings still lie. I am excited to work on these in the coming years and push the boundaries of my profession further.
My theme was about what it takes to grow and sustain the specialty coffee industry. We need to include more people, excite them about specialty coffee, and want to try and learn more. As a café owner and barista, I interact daily with my customers, allowing me to involve them. My competition run revolved around this inclusion theme and my method. I linked my three courses to building trust. I soothed with the milk beverage, educated with the flavor of my espresso, and inspired with my signature drink. Linking the three courses helped me to be methodical about it. It made the storyline make sense.
From there, I wrote my script and practiced this with basic handling. I then had to sort the timing and rewrite the script about a hundred times. It's an exciting process because it's like a choreography. Once I got that right, I just had to memorize and practice, practice, practice. I managed okay. In the hours before competing, I just went through a whole storm. It ranged from emotions to excitement and nerves. It was challenging to keep it cool. But once I started and called time, I quickly got into a flow. I managed to keep it together even though I made some errors.
Once I was done, I felt this massive relief and a surge of pride that I had done it. It was me standing there in front of the judges and the audience. I did something I had thought for a long time that I could never do! That feeling was so priceless! To place 4th and win Best Newcomer was the best result I could have wished for.
What are your thoughts after competing? Will you compete again, and will it be in the same competition?
My feelings are mixed; the rush of competing makes me want to try again to make the top three and, who knows, maybe even win?! And I want to put what I have learned into practice. But simultaneously, it takes a LOT of commitment and preparation time. At this point, it would be a timing challenge for me to reopen the café and get that up and running. So, I'll be taking it as it comes!
How did you use your sponsored Acaia products?
Acaia gave me two Pearl scales for dosing my shots and two Lunar scales to weigh my yield. I used the timers to cross-check if my running times were okay. I love to work with these scales as they are so fast! And, of course, very precise.
What's coming up next in your journey with coffee?
First, reopening the café and getting it up and running will be a task! Maybe another location if we find the right spot. In the meantime, I'm keen to work on some strategic projects or help with bar designs if they come my way. And continue to enjoy and make great coffee!
Thank you for sharing your competition experience and process with us, Loeki!
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