NZSCA are celebrating the wonderful ladies in our industry and highlighting their ‘can do’ attitude – they've included our own Heesun Lee in the mix. See what she had to say below.
Your roaster: 35kg Kestrel Loring and 1kg Probatino
Most delicious coffee you’ve roasted and how did you brew it: Black Honey Processed Geisha from Finca La Estrella in Colombia. It was roasted for the New Zealand Barista Championship last year – also natural processed SL28 from Finca Chispita in Costa Rica which is serving as espresso at Atomic right now! Both of them I brewed as espresso.
First taste of coffee: Maxim-the famous Korean instant coffee when I was about 10? I still drink Maxim sometimes and think that they are the most balanced instant coffee J
What are your biggest challenges as a roaster: Getting consistent results from each batch, it lots of learning. I think a passion to learn more is absolutely important part of the job and to keep challenging yourself.
Top tips or hacks for smooth roasting: Know your beans from A to Z before turning on the roaster.
Most influential person in coffee to you: Jess Macdonald and Masako Yamamoto! I am lucky enough to get trained from these cool ladies in the NZ speciality coffee industry last few years. From how to taste coffee to how to be myself at the competition and most importantly, how to be confident at what you do.
What changes would you like to see in the NZ coffee industry: I would like to see more varied career opportunities coming up. This would inspire many newcomers in the industry to become choose coffee as a career.