Meet the Roaster: Willy’s Journey in Coffee (Part 1)
Part 1: I wasn’t always a coffee person.
Back in my university days, I was actually pretty anti-caffeine. I’d seen too many people become dependent on it and I was determined not to fall into the same pattern. Coffee? No, thanks.
But that all changed when I moved to Australia during my university days. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a vibrant cafe culture. It felt like everyone had a cup of coffee in their hand, and cafe weren’t just places for drinks- they were social hubs. Curiosity got the better of me!
I started visiting more and more cafes, and what intrigued me the most was the flavour experience. Each cafe offered something different. I noticed the variety on the menu- flat whites, cappuccinos, lattes, mochas- and it left me wondering: why do they all taste so different?
That led to experimenting at home. My housemate and I got ourselves a small espresso machine and started practicing how to make all the cafe classics- latte, cappuccino, flat white, hot chocolate. It was a fun way to learn and play around with flavours.
Then came a turning point: I met Adam James, who ran a non-profit cafe called Cups From Above. Most of the staff there were volunteers, and I began spending my off days helping out. By then, I had already explored a fair bit of Brisbane’s cafe scene, but volunteering took it a step further.
It also made me realise something bigger: baristas craft the cup, but roasters influence the foundation. They decide how the coffee tastes. Different cafes source beans from different roasters- and that explains the wide range of flavours.
Driven by that curiosity, my housemate and I started looking into coffee roasting. We found a roasting course happening in town—literally the next day! We emailed the trainer asking if they could take us in last minute. By morning, we got a call: “Come on in.”
That was the beginning. It was a three-day intensive course, packed with information. It felt like diving into the deep end—but I loved every bit of it. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became.
And that’s how my journey into coffee roasting began. What started with curiosity turned into a full-blown passion—and now, a profession.