Page 32 - #49 English

Cover Story

Hendri Kurniawan (Indonesia)

WBC Certified Judge.

day,” Hendri said. With large number of consumers, all
café, big and small, always have customers lining up to
get a cup of coffee, and that’s the normal picture we see
every day in Australia.
Hendri also mentioned the “Babyccino” (decaf-
feinated coffee for children) that, “Babyccino is doing
very well in Australia. It’s paving the future for coffee by
familiarizing children to the coffee culture, and they’ll
grow up into coffee lovers.”
“Australian and Indonesian coffee culture began
from a different path. Indonesian consumers are used to
instant coffee and they don’t go to cafés often because
the average income is still low. The situation is now start-
ing to change as more people go to cafes and they want
higher quality coffee. It’s clear to see that Australia is the
model for us. A lot of Indonesians returned from their
study in Australia and they brought with them coffee in-
spiration and knowledge. I call this trend the ‘Melbourne-
Hendri Kurniawan is a WBC certified judge. He ish Trend’,” Hendri said.
has been invited to judge in a number of barista champion-
ships, but who would have thought he actually has a degree Inspiration from Australia
in architecture? Nonetheless, he loves coffee and the ser- Hendri commits himself to providing consum-
vice industry, and he had designed a café for a client. He ers an easier access to specialty coffee and improving
once was a cook in a famous coffee chain and was a barista the whole industry. He took inspirations from Austra-
for a small, but very busy cof- lia and adapted them to
skill in brewing quality coffee “ Familiarizing children to the coffee culture, his own café. “I learnt so
fee kiosk where he honed his
much about coffee in Aus-
within the shortest time. and they’ll grow up into coffee lovers. ” tralia. It gave me insights
on management system,
The First Experience design, and more importantly, customer service.”
Hendri came across coffee when he was a kid, With extensive barista experience from Austra-
but didn’t really experience it until he was in college. “My lia, it’s normal for customers to expect better experience
uncle let me try a cup when I was eight, and when I was from Hendri. “I believe being a barista from Australia
studying architecture I needed coffee to keep me up to doesn’t mean you can make excellent coffee, but it raises
work on a project.” customer’s expectation while ensure them that they are
in the hand of an experienced barista.” Hendri is now
Australian Coffee Culture focusing his effort to coffee institute which will be built
“I think Aussies love coffee as much as Italians together with 1-2 new cafes where his students can put
love espresso. Some small kiosks brew over 1,000 cups a what they learn from class to practice.

Jibbi Rawirat Techasitthanet (Thailand)

Trainer and the founder of Jibbi Academy
NSW Latte Art Champion 2014, 2015, 2016

The beautiful Rawirat Te- “ in a café as a waitress and barista
chasitthanet (Jibbi) is no stranger They are willing to pay more opened a challenging, yet fun world
to Australian latte championship for better quality ” for her, and so she decided to seri-
scene. She was the second runner ously consider the barista career.
up of AASCA National Latte 2014, 3 times champion of
NSW Latte Art Championship in 2014, 2015, and 2016, Pay More for Better Quality
and a frequent champion of various latte art smack- Aussies and coffee are inseparable. It’s a part
downs. She also takes an important role as a trainer and of their lives. They go to a café for a morning cup of
the founder of Jibbi Academy. But before she is a barista coffee just like Thai people go out for a black coffee and
and a latte art expert she is today, she was just a regular a Chinese fried dough. There’s no surprise to see cafés
post graduate student who just wanted to make an extra everywhere you go in Australia, especially Melbourne
pocket money and fun experience. Her time working where a city alley would have at least 5-6 cafés!
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