Barista Magazine

JUN-JUL 2013

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I RAN EDITOR'S NOTE: During a recent family trip to Iran, Seattle barista Laila Ghambari spent time in Tehran with a group of local baristas who aspired to improve their skills and place in the industry, and eventually see their dream of a national barista championship and an Iranian barista compete in the World Barista Championship come to fruition. Laila contacted me when she returned from the trip, excited about the experience and asking for Barista Magazine's support in developing a Barista Championship of Iran. I said we would do whatever we could to help with the mission. I also asked if she would be interested in writing a Field Report about her experience. She was enthusiastic, but up front about her hesitation in depicting the overall coffee culture in Iran, since she is not a local. So she contacted her friend, Mohammad Khani, himself a barista in Tehran who is active in developing a barista community there, to write the article with her. PART 1: MOHAMMAD Coffee culture is growing in Iran, and, along with it, a small but enthusiastic group of dedicated baristas who look to the international community for education and inspiration. We do not have immediate access to the tools or information we would like, but that does not deter us from trying to catch up to what is happening in coffee elsewhere in the world. Iran is far more of a tea culture than it is known for coffee, although coffee has always been present here. One of the oldest cafés in Iran is called Café Naderi, which opened in 1927 and still operates to this day. Early cafés were visited by the likes of poets and scholars. A few years ago we were not aware of a profession called barista; we called these people coffee man. Most had learned the basic skills passed on from worker to worker. They had little to no knowledge of coffee roasting, brewing, and so on. Access to the Internet and taking trips abroad have changed our outlook drastically and barista is starting to mean a whole new thing. Now we believe that being a On a family trip to Iran, barista Laila Ghambari (above) met with local baristas at Sam Café, which is located in a mall in Tehran. The baristas told Laila that they were inspired by seeing her on the cover of Barista Magazine's April+May 2012 issue; it inspired them to pursue a national championship, which they hope to have organized by 2014. barista is to love coffee, which we Iranian baristas absolutely do. Our country doesn't have a national coffee organization, so we rely on our community, and friendships with one another, and our online friends to help us along. Last year I was able to go to the International Coffee and Tea Festival in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to attend some coffee courses, and I brought a great deal of information to share back with my fellow baristas in Iran. This year we enjoyed a surprise visit from Laila Ghambari, whom we're so proud of! With her support and encouragement we decided to establish an Iranian Barista Guild, and in April we held our first-ever meeting. Eight people showed up and it was a truly amazing experience, one that we plan to build on for years to come. We have a passion that is growing, and we're anxious and excited to move forward into the international coffee community. We believe we have the talent, the passion, and the drive to be experts. Each day we practice and hope to participate in competitions. In recent years we have been able to make great progress in our coffee culture by educating a new generation of baristas with enhanced technical coffee skills and training. Our purpose and goal is to establish a presence in the international coffee competitions and to introduce Iranian coffee culture to the world. To achieve this goal we need the help and guidance from our peers and friends all over the world. We see our dream coming true slowly and we hope that you will follow and support us on this journey. PART 2: LAILA My first time visiting Iran was in 2007; I was young and hadn't done much www.baristamagazine.com 37

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