Indian Barista Champion 2023 Jaseem Abbas is livin’ la vida mocha and how!
It all started with our grand moms and moms brewing a hot cup of filter coffee early in the morning which sometimes lasted till the evening. As children, our access to that caffeinated liquid delight was minimal and it only added to our curiosities. We could get a teaspoon of coffee added to our evening hot milk only if we behaved well the entire day. Much like us, Indian Barista Champion 2023, Jaseem Abbas’ access to coffee was limited to every time guests were over.
For him, as a child, coffee was a prized possession and he used to patiently wait for guests to leave to taste this beloved hot beverage. However, his love affair with coffee and his journey as a home barista did not take off until he accidentally stepped inside a café, thinking it was a crockery store.
An innocent mistake led Jaseem to try out an espresso for the first time and it was a life-changing experience. The fruity and the tarty flavour appeased his palate and thereon, he started brewing coffee at home to replicate that experience. He recalls that moment in an exclusive chat with Indulge.
Tell us what your morning coffee routine looks like.
I am a black coffee person and I need a nice cup of that early in the morning. But you have to understand that coffee is also, at the end of the day, nature. You cannot expect one plant to be the same as the other. Coffee always keeps changing. It is roasted differently by different people and by the time it reaches you and how you make it also changes its taste. Even though I like black coffee, I don’t have a favourite coffee per se. I just enjoy the process and I start my day with it.
How does your background as a data scientist amp your coffee-making skills?
In my profession, we look into a lot of data and try to make sense out of it. We discover a lot of answers and solutions and I do apply those principles to coffee making as well. As I said, there are many ways of making coffee but my background as a data scientist helped me build my espresso machine which is fully software integrated and you can brew a beautiful cup of coffee with it.
Tell us about your Indian Barista Champion 2023 title.
I started brewing at home a couple of years ago and learned how to make an espresso for myself. That knowledge was not available in books and I did not know who to get in touch with back then so I just started on my own. In that process, I also learned a lot of things and I wanted to share this knowledge with like-minded people. That’s how I came to know about the championship and I decided to participate. Funny story, I got disqualified the first year because I was very worried and I called timeout. But it was a very exciting experience so I decided to come back again.
What are some trends that you can predict in the home brewing section?
In a café environment, when a customer asks for a cup of coffee and coffee is very volatile, you don’t know what you are going to serve. But when you are making it at home, you are in charge. You are making it for yourself and in that process, you learn a lot of new stuff. It is more individualistic and I see that aspect taking over in the next few years.
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