Have a seat, let’s talk coffee…

The ability of coffee to connect people from different walks of life is one of the reasons that continue to strongly endear Andrea Moraa to coffee, more than a decade after she discovered the product while living and studying in London.

“It was a happy stumble. I liked to sit in one of the coffee shops while doing my school assignments. What stood out for me at the time was the graciousness of the people who worked there – they did not mind that I bought the cheapest coffee and stayed at their shop for too long, and the coffee was always great,” she says.

As a student, she needed some extra income and she looked for ways to earn it.

 “When I learnt that the particular coffee house, a leading global retail coffee chain, had a program that took up students to work for them part time, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands!” she says.

 “My path to really becoming the coffee maniac that I am today began on my first day at work, during the induction, before I started my part time job as a barista,” she says.

COMPLETELY HOOKED

Coffee completely enthralled her, so much so that in the middle of her course, (B.A Media and Film with a minor in Theology at the University of Winchester) she took a two-year sabbatical to immerse herself further into understanding coffee. Thus begun her long journey of learning about this beverage, its intrigues, what exactly it means to come from a country like Kenya that produces some of the best coffees in the world and just owning the side of her that had grown up swinging on coffee trees as a child on the family farm on the slopes of Mt. Elgon.

 “I worked my way up from barista to assistant manager in six years and ended up travelling a lot, courtesy of the company as a ‘Regional Coffee Master’, a role that, while it did not earn me more money or a promotion, it required putting in many extra hours and opened my world to many more dynamics in the coffee world.”

The main job description was simply passing on the coffee passion! This entailed the marketing of the roasted coffee and coffee stores through various channels, from one-on-one sessions with customers, group seminars, to holding coffee tasting sessions in corporate bonding events.

 She had the opportunity of participating in the launch of new coffees into the UK market and participating in fairs, such as the ‘Taste of London’, an annual culinary fair. But perhaps the icing on the cake was exposure to further coffee learning within the company from leading green coffee sourcing professionals and cuppers through company seminars.

After seven years, when she finally left the UK, Andrea not only had her degree and working experience, she was fired up to get into and learn about the Kenyan coffee industry.

In 2009, she was invited to Kenya by the Aga Khan Foundation to facilitate ‘coffee conversations’ sessions for the Worlds of Indian Ocean conference.

“I was basically running an aroma lab and tasting of coffees,” she explains.

This experience sowed in her the desire to partake in the country’s growing coffee culture.

After a short stint in a travel agency, she embarked on a journey of tasting the varieties of Kenyan coffees from the central highlands, Eastern, to Rift valley, Nyanza and Western Kenya, creating a database and researching into the subtle differences that set them apart.

“Kenyan coffee is so good, it is sometimes used to benchmark other coffees in terms of flavour, acidity and body – it is particularly prized for its fruity flavours and elegant medium bodies, characteristics used to describe coffees in flavour and quality profiling,” she says.

Andrea explains that there is a very fine line between a great cup of coffee and bad cup of coffee. You can have a bag of the best coffee in the world and end up with a bad cup just because you either have the wrong grind, expose the coffee to oxygen, moisture, direct light and heat.

Using the experience that she gathered abroad, Andrea, along with her childhood friend, Wangeci Gitobu, set up Pointzero Coffee in November 2015, in the same compound as the Nairobi Gallery, next to Nyayo House.

COMMUNITY OF COFFEE LOVERS

“Our mission is to stage the various facets of coffee in captivating spaces with an aim to play a part in raising the status of coffee in Kenya by influencing an increase in local consumption of quality coffee.

“Apart from just serving coffee, at Pointzero Coffee, we indulge in tasting coffees with our customers through coffee events, where we pass on the coffee passion: encourage people and impart knowledge on how to brew coffee at home in the best way possible with the resources that they have—and just engaging in conversations about people’s experiences with coffee and that way, build a community of coffee lovers,” she explains.

 “To my knowledge, there is no university degree that can make one a good coffee master, but for the young people looking to get in, there are a variety of options that are open for exploration. Becoming a barista is one such avenue because it keeps you close to coffee and the end consumer, a great place to begin your journey. As a barista, there are barista championships that one can take part in for more exposure, fun and experience.”

“You can also get in through the green coffee industry, and learn to become a ‘liquorer’ (the term used in Kenya for coffee taster). There is also the option of training to become a Q-grader, a brainchild of the US-based Coffee Quality Institute, an international coffee grading system/language that grades coffee through a scoring system,” she advises. 

Becoming a coffee expert is not an overnight endeavor, it needs years of experience and training. And to become a serious ‘cupper’ liquorer, be prepared to taste more than 60 varieties of coffees a day!

Q & A

1. What exactly does a coffee master do?

A coffee master is synonymous with knowledge and passion for coffee.

2. Do I need to own a coffee shop to become a coffee master?

No, you can do so from producing (farming, roasting), selling, marketing and brewing and just embarking on a coffee journey as a hobby.

3. What is the greatest challenge of a job like this?

Time and hard work. It takes time to nurture it, and you can only become

really good through experience.

4. How common is this career? Does every coffee shop have a coffee master?

Some do. Pointzero Coffee does.

5. What attributes does one need to be a good coffee master?

 Patience, hard work, resilience, and lots and lots of passion!