RIMINI, Italy – André Eiermann is a very special personality. We met him in Rimini, at Sigep 2018, in the Simonelli Group stand, where he was based. We found out that the tenth best ranked barista in 2017 at the Wbc in Seoul is writing a book on his experience, in order to help other aspiring barista champions in their training.
He says this will be an unmissable guide for all baristas running for a coffee competion, but also for coffee professionals and enthusiasts willing to learn the fine art of coffee and espresso making.
Who is André Eiermann?
«I’m originally from Switzerland. I started working in the sector of coffee in 1999 as a Junior Coffee Trader for a Big Green Coffee Trading Hous called Fall Cafè. And nine months later, I had the opportunity to go to Kenya and to Tanzania. So I worked there for nearly one year as a Coffee Exporter. But I work in marketing, I’m a trainer anche Q Grader»
So you have a big experience …
«Yes. A very big and amazing one. I spent the most of my time in the Coffee Laboratory, cupping everyday from four sometimes up eight hundred coffees. Ehen I wasn’t cupping, I was visiting coffee farms. When I was in Tanzania, I also visited the work in a dry mill»
You are a trader. But later you decided to compete in the Swiss barista Championship …
«Yes. I started as a barista maybe three years ago. And last year, in february, I completed for the first time a barista championship»
But why would a trader decide to compete in a barista Championship?
«It was like when I started for Ucc Coffee as a Marketing director. We opened the Academy and I fell in love with espresso making. So it was not my job, but at the same time I was very curios about espresso extraction.»
Did you follow a particular training program for the Finals?
«Yes. I went for five months to train in Japan. I trained with Hidenori Hizaki. The World barista Champion. It was a very intense training. The average day was like fourteen to sixteen hours of training. All days, no week-end»
How many kilos of coffee have you used during these five months?
«Many kilos. We have a total of ninty kilos of championship coffee. And i think an other one two hundred kilos to prepare my tecnical skills. In total i extracted eleven thousand five hundred double shots.»
Was the coffee expensive?
«Yes. But I had a great companiy behind me, to support me. When i won the national championship, it was clear to me that my level wasn’t good enough to be competitive at the Wbc. So I determined I needed to get as much experience as I could and my Company was behind me»
What about the competition? What happened?
«I had trained for a very long time, so I knew that I had become a good barista. But it also depends on how you performe on stage. It’s not a competition where you compete against others It’s a fifteen minutes against yourself. So, in the preliminary rounds, I came second. The sensory judges loved my coffee, from Honduras, Finca El puente washed Geisha from a Coffe Farm called Marisabel and Moises Cabaillero. That I met first in 2015 and I discovered again in 2017»
How much does this coffee cost?
«I can’t tell you the price, but I can tell you that it worth every dollar»
What’s your next project?
«The big project: I’m working on my book. So I prepared very hard this five months. I was lucky to have a big company behind me as well as an amazing coach. Now, I would like to give something back to the coffee community and share my experience, so that someone can get some inspiration from this. Because most baristas don’t have this support behind them».
