Ellen Fan
Most people spend years trying to build a stable life. A good job, a respected career, and something their parents can proudly tell their friends about. Ellen Fan had already found that life. Before becoming known as a coffee hunter, before founding Grand Cru Coffee, before traveling across coffee-producing countries…
Frederick Ruben
If you’ve met Frederick Ruben at a coffee events chances are you’ve seen the same thing we did. He’s friendly. Easy to talk to. The kind of person who says hello to everyone in the room. Over the past few years, we’ve crossed paths with him several times at coffee…
IMNABJune 8, 2026
Noon NutRada Kunavivattananon
At twenty-seven, Noon Nutrada Kunavivattananon walked into a room as CEO of one of Thailand’s largest specialty coffee companies. A few years later, she walked into another room as the first female president of the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand. In both rooms, most people were older than her. Some…
IMNABMay 24, 2026
Tay Wipvasutt
For some people, coffee begins with a flavor. For others, it begins with a machine, a technique, or a competition. For Tay Wipvasutt, it began with people. Tay Wipvasutt Tay was still in his first year of university when he took a part-time job at a coffee shop. At that…
IMNABMay 4, 2026
Andrés Paparoni
For some people, coffee begins with a choice. For others, it’s already there, long before they understand what it means. For Andrés Paparoni, coffee was never something he discovered later in life. It was part of his world from the very beginning. Growing up in Venezuela, coffee wasn’t just a…
IMNABApril 28, 2026
Kay Cheon
Before the stage, before the title, before representing a country, Kay Cheon’s journey in coffee began with something much quieter — a question that didn’t quite go away. At the time, coffee wasn’t part of a clear plan. His days were shaped by something else entirely, cycling before school, following…
IMNABApril 14, 2026
𝖩𝖺𝗇𝖾 𝖢𝖺𝖻𝗎𝗌𝖺𝗌 𝖤𝗌𝗉𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖾
Some coffee competitions attract attention. Others quietly struggle to survive. Ibrik is one of them. Compared with the Barista Championship or Brewers Cup, Cezve/Ibrik coffee rarely draws the same audience. The stage is smaller, the return is uncertain, and sometimes the competition doesn’t even happen at all. Preparing for it…
IMNABApril 5, 2026
Edward Choo
Edward Choo didn’t grow up loving coffee. Like many kids in Malaysia, his drink of choice was Milo. Whenever his parents ordered coffee at a local kopitiam, he would secretly take a sip out of curiosity. It never tasted good. “Yo, it’s yuck. Bitter and intense. Not something I would…
IMNABMarch 26, 2026
Jimmy Adame
A life told in coffee, chaos, and second acts. A 14-year-old kid at a Michigan farmer’s market. Flannel and Neff beanies everywhere. He points at the board, orders what he thinks is a blackberry-milk-chocolate latte. The barista hands him a simple pour-over instead. Jimmy Adame still laughs when he remembers…
IMNABMarch 3, 2026
