Age 15 · My first espresso
I went to Colombia with my best friend. His mother started a specialty coffee shop, and I drank my very first espresso there. I was totally mesmerized. In the weeks that followed, we worked in the shop—I did dishes and learned about processes, filter coffee, and latte art. I was always looking for something in my life, and coffee was becoming it.
Everything changed here
After two weeks in the shop, we visited a coffee farm. For me, everything changed here. I understood why we have bad coffee and good coffee. I fell in love with the coffee trees. At the top of the hill, they gave me a freshly squeezed mandarin juice—the best juice of my life—with a view over the coffee hills. From that point forward, I made a decision: I was going to work in coffee for the rest of my life.
Age 18 · Learning to roast
At 18, I went back to Colombia with my best friend. I started working in Café Velvet roastery. I learned to roast, pack coffee, and do selection of green coffee. We'd take parchment, select all defects out of the green coffee, then roast the best coffee we could.
One month hands-on
I worked one month on a coffee farm. I learned how to harvest coffee and how to process it—washed process, drying on industrial scale and African beds, honey process, infused coffees, and much more.
Coming home
After five months in Colombia—doing barista work in Café Velvet's coffee shop and sometimes roasting—I went back home to Brussels to work in their coffee shop as a barista.
Elixr Coffee
I did an apprenticeship at Elixr Coffee. They only do specialty coffee. Here I really learned how to roast. We did production roasting—roasting a lot of coffee a year—and I started cleaning machines for the first time.
07
Schallenberg, Dendermonde
From two left hands to technician
After three months at Elixr, I started a new apprenticeship with Schallenberg—a company that restores coffee roasteries. I came in with two left hands. I didn't know the difference between a screw or a nut. By the end, I was repairing espresso machines, doing maintenance on roasters, refurbishing old equipment, working on grinders. I became a coffee technician. Schallenberg gave me huge freedom to pursue my dreams.
Meeting my mentor
When Andre Godina came to teach a coffee course, I was his assistant—preparing all the beverages for cupping, all the espressos, and learning alongside him. This is where I got in contact with SCA and started my first modules.
Q-grading school
At Andre's course, I met Mobula, owner of Utake Coffee—a roastery and Q-grading school in Nairobi. I decided to go to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda for three months. I was assistant to the Q-grading course, roasting all the coffee and preparing all the beverages.
Farm to farm by bus
I traveled around all four countries by bus, going from coffee farm to coffee farm. It was a wonderful time in my life—discovering so many new coffees and the different culture of Africa, the product and the people who work in coffee. Here I met Jean Paul, who has two drying stations in the Kivu area, and Stijn, who now has a roastery in Amsterdam.
Umami Coffee Plantation
After Africa, I went with Andre to Honduras. We did a coffee campus from bean to cup. There, Andre and other coffee professionals started Umami Coffee Plantation—a 30-hectare farm where we want to produce the best coffee possible. I became a partner. Once a year, I travel to Honduras to work on the farm and give coffee courses.
Teaching baristas
I became a teacher for EBS Europe. In five schools, I taught five-day barista courses—starting with theoretical lessons about coffee, then hands-on with all the different filter coffees, but especially working on espresso machines and steaming milk for making the perfect cappuccinos and other milk beverages.
The moment that changed everything
For seven years, I traveled constantly. Half the time I was always on the road. During COVID, I couldn't travel anymore, so I needed to change plans. I always had this dream of driving from Alaska to Patagonia. COVID made me decide: I should do something now or I will never do it.
Finding my trusted Subaru
I flew to Los Angeles, where I found my Subaru—my trusted Subaru. I drove it up to Alaska, then from Alaska down to Mexico. The idea was to be gone a year, but after working seven years so hard, I really enjoyed the freedom of having a car and just driving from place to place.
The journey begins
From Alaska, I drove down through North America. What was planned as one year turned into three years. I visited countless coffee farms to make contacts, improve my knowledge, but especially to have better relationships with the farmers.
Coffee journey restarts
From Mexico on, the coffee journey started again. Driving from place to place, farm to farm, deepening my relationships with coffee growers and learning more with each stop.
Farm after farm
Through Central America, countless coffee farms. Each visit strengthened my understanding of production and built stronger connections with the people who grow the coffee I love.
Three years later
Reaching Patagonia after three years on the road. The freedom, the learning, the connections—everything I dreamed of and more. Now it's time to take everything I've learned and build something of my own.
My own venture
After working always for other people, I want to start my own endeavor, my own business. If you need barista training, coffee equipment maintenance or installation, or any consultancy in the coffee industry—I'm your man. Contact me whenever you want. Best regards, Willemstrick.
