Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2017

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

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Roukiat Delrue: Tell us about your upbringing. What was your family life like? Alelí Labstida: I grew up with only my mom and sister—that was my family. My sister now works in coffee, as well, but in terms of studies, she studied to be a teacher for young children. My mom is a nurse. When my sister and I were in school, our mom decided to go back to school to specialize more within nursing. It was a very lovely time in our household when all three of us were students together and supported each other. RD: Do you have any coffee memories from when you were a kid? AL: Absolutely—I have so many! Actually, in my mind, the first barista-at-heart that I knew was my grandmother. She used to take me in to town to buy coffee beans. When she was buying them, she would bite a few beans to make sure of their freshness. At home, she had very specific tools she used to make coffee, and her own specific mug. This all made me think that there was some mystery surrounding coffee, and I found that fascinating. RD: Do you remember your experience of first tasting coffee? AL: Other than tasting coffee randomly at home, the first time Chava gave me an espresso and asked me to taste it, I hated it. But since we were going out, I pretended to like it. After learning more about it and learning how interesting it was, I loved coffee. It was an acquired taste. RD: How did coffee come to play such a big role in your life? AL: Since I was very young, I've always been interested in cooking. I didn't know the words chef or gastronomy, but I knew what I loved. I started going into the kitchen and watching the way things were done from a very young age. Finally, when I was 6, my mother thought that if I was going into the kitchen anyway, I might as well learn. So she gave me a gift—a box of matches to help start the gas stove. I tried and tried to light it—I emptied the whole box learning to light the stove, but to this day, I remember that gift as a turning point. At age 14, I got a job in an actual kitchen. I went on to study gastronomy, but I kept working to pay for school. In gastronomy class, there was an espresso machine in the corner, and the teacher told everyone to stay away from it, as no one knew how to use it. On my graduation day, Salvador came to the school and he saw the machine, and instantly, he was on it and using it. My teacher pretty much worshipped him after that. I'm telling this story also to illustrate the lack of knowledge about coffee that there was in Mexico back then. RD: What was the first coffee that really blew your mind? AL: I was working with Chava at Café Passmar, and I tasted a natural coffee from Guerrero that I can still basically taste if I think about it. It was memorable. People said it was different, and this made it unique. Nowadays there is so much political unrest and lack of security in Guerrero that getting coffee from there is next to impossible. That makes it even more unique now. Heather Perry [two-time United States Barista Champion, from Klatch Coffee in Southern California] came to Mexico to train me, and she brought some coffees with her for me to try. I don't remember exactly where they were from, but one of the coffees tasted like lime and I loved it. But it was more competition-oriented. level, where she placed second internationally. She'd learned to shake off her nerves, to say the least. Chava, meanwhile, tried his hand at the Mexican Roasting Championship and won in 2015. He went on to place third in the world. Today, Chava and Alelí have a new passion in their lives, though: their baby daughter. Of course, they're as committed as ever to growing Café Passmar into an even bigger success than it already is, with their coffee so in-demand by wholesale customers that they can pick and choose with whom to work. They also train staff baristas who want to compete. " Competition adds value to the barista profession— it's actually made it one," says Alelí. "Historically, in Mexico, the person in charge of 'making coffee' was just the person in charge of making all drinks. They put the same interest in coffee as they did in orange juice or sodas: none. Through AMCCE efforts and through competition, baristas are now recognized professionals, and also better-paid ones, for sure. Competition has impacted the coffee culture in general in Mexico in a dramatic way. All of this is because of AMCCE's efforts." Everyone agrees that Arturo and the other leaders behind the AMCCE have done an extraordinary job promoting and developing specialty-coffee culture throughout Mexico—which, by the way, has a very structured regional-barista-competition system, with more than 250 baristas nationwide competing for a chance to appear in the Mexican Barista Championship. What Alelí might not understand, though, is that what she did in 2008 inspired at least part of the future of her country's coffee culture. Remember the fourth player in our story before—the mysterious woman no one really knew? That was Julieta Vazquez, who in 2008 had a passing interest in coffee. At that fateful championship event, Julieta was mesmerized by Alelí and her accomplishments, and the professionalism and elegance she brought to her service. When Alelí won, Julieta was hooked. She went on to win the Mexican Barista Championship in 2015 and 2016, and now owns her own successful coffee company, Arandela Barra de Café in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Julieta credits Alelí for setting her down the specialty-coffee path, and by becoming the first woman barista champion in Mexico, proving anything was possible. AN INTERVIEW WITH ALELI LABASTIDA BY ROUKIAT DELRUE 61 www.baristamagazine.com

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