My name is Victoria Rovenskaya and this is my coffee story.
I am a barista, I have been a head/brand barista for the past a few years, and I’m happily living my life working 7 days a week. Who needs a personal life when your life is all about coffee, right?
Believe it or not, before the barista life with infinite responsibilities like brand promotion, employee training, developing menus for coffeeshop and restaurants, dancing was my passion.
I can still vividly remember my first cup of specialty coffee, it was an espresso made from Uganda beans, extracted by Odd-Steinar from Supreme Roastworks. That cup of espresso was kind of the opening ceremony of my new life. I love coffee, and always wanted to explore more. In 2013, I joined the master class with world champions and discovered genuine career paths for baristas. I was also lucky to be able to visit coffee farms for the first time of my life with the project The Barista & Farmer and, no doubt, receiving the AST trainer certificate is one of the most important milestones of my life. Thanks to these precious experiences and people for bringing the real “specialty” to my life.
Being a busy head barista is not an issue for me, I love coffee and my job, and my favourite part of the work is communicating with guests. I remember an acquaintance once said: “Barista is the coffee geisha who must always make guests satisfied.” and now it is my motto at work, especially while training new baristas, “It is essential to pay attention to each single guest, and please don’t be a snob/ass 😛 “
Being a great barista requires not only excellent brewing skills but also presentation and communication ones. For baristas from non-English speaking countries, the English language could be a big challenge. As a Russian, I have to admit that English was not my strong suit. Many would blame the education system but maybe Russians are just shy or afraid to communicate in a foreign language confidently?
The hunger for more coffee knowledge and pure love for the coffee motivated me to grow brave and speak to other coffee folks, visit coffee events and participate in international championships. All of that helped me a lot with using the language. I am confident to say that I can speak English now, and I will only get better.
Days without work always seem too short. I often visit my parents during weekends, play with my dog, enjoy riding around, visit theaters and contemporary art museums.
Every barista has their own way of measuring success – many participate in championships to compete with the best whilst for some, success is more simple like delighting a customer with a great cup of coffee. My name is Victoria, I’m a proud barista, and this is my coffee story.
This story was edited by Maja IG @beanadonna
