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James Ooi (Malaysia)

Barista at Operator 25, Melbourne

that not many café in Kuala Lumpur serve specialty coffee as he and his
brother did some city exploration, and that was the beginning of James’
coffee journey.

Australians and Their Coffee
“I believe coffee culture in Australia formed much earlier than
any other countries in Asia Pacific because European migrants, particu-
larly the Italians. Coffee and Aussies are inseparable. We have customers
who return for a coffee 3-5 times a day! It’s clear that they love coffee
and they need it,” James said. On the contrary, Malaysians do love cof-
fee, but they like it sweet.
Malaysians like flavoured cof-
fee, latte art, and elements
that make coffee more luxu-
rious, but they take overlook
the coffee itself. However,
the tide is turning and more
people are more aware of spe-
cialty coffee.
James Ooi graduated in the field of science
before he decided to seriously take the barista career. Inspiration from Australia
During his bachelor program, he went to Australia as an Australia is a huge inspiration for James to open his Aussie style
exchange student, but he found something more than café. Nonetheless, it eventually comes down to great coffee. “I don’t just
his science degree. James got to really know coffee when get inspiration from Australian coffee culture. Being an experienced
McCafé opened close to his school. From then on, his barista from Australia also means people expect me to deliver world-
curiosity in specialty coffee grew and he soon realized class coffee, just like the coffee they serve it Melbourne.”

Luna Huang Xiao Dan (Taiwan)

Traveling Barista

Luna has always been drawn to the aroma and taste of wine, coffee, and
food since she was young. Her attention was specially paid toward the food and
beverage industry, and she explored a lot of career, including barista, before
starting out to pursue further challenges in Australia. “I worked in many cafés
in Taiwan, but soon found it was quite difficult to find new challenges. That’s
when I decided to set out to find more challenges, and Melbourne was the per-
fect destination.”
As a teenager, Luna used to live near an old café which was owned by a
famous celebrity. “I first tried specialty coffee there, and I wondered why people
called it coffee when it tasted bitter, burnt, and has a sense of caramel. It was differ-
ent from old school coffee in Taiwan at that time. I believed coffee has much more
to explore into, and my curiosity eventually led me to dig deeper and deeper.”

Professionalism
Most cafés in Australia have similar menus
like Ham & Cheese on toast, poached egg, piccolo, and
flat white, as well as hot chocolate and smoothies. Each
menu may look equally beautiful, but they hold distinc-
tively different taste, depending on the type of coffee and
even milk. “Different café will decide their own style of
espresso, which will in turn decide the taste of their cof-
fee as espresso is the essence of coffee. Nonetheless, they
always pay attention to the customer’s needs. The type of
coffee they want. The type of milk, the size, richness, and
sweetness they want. With more than a hundred orders
per hour, they need focus and speed.”
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