Orkun Üstel

Hey, everyone! I’m Orkun Üstel. I’m Brewers Cup Champion of Turkey 2017 and 2020. Also, I have two other achievements in Brewers Cup of Turkey. I got the 2nd place at 2018 and I got the 3rd place at 2019. Currently, I am working at Kronotrop, where I lead quality control for the coffee bars and Barista Training. Also, I worked as a barista and production roaster in the past years at the same company.

I’ve left college because of my health issues. In that year (2013) I’ve met with Mokapot and French Press. =) I’ve started to make coffee to myself as a hobby. And then I was really impressed about the coffee scene because it has lots of equipment and techniques. In that time coffee was my only hobby and it helped me to overcome my health problems. So just in one year, coffee took a great part in my life.

I don’t remember the first coffee I drank. But I remember the first specialty coffee that I drank the first time. Which is Indonesia Java Blavan. It tasted like brown sugar. It was the sweetest cup of coffee that I remember having.

Listening to New Wave of British Heavy Metal! It wakes me up and encourage me to start the new day. =)

Classic V60. =) because it helps me control the flow rate. It is very useful to get a tasty cup of coffee.

I have tasted many coffees, including my own competition coffee, which tasted very good. That’s why there is no single best coffee for me.

There are a few origins that I tend to favor coffee from. Those are Colombia, Honduras, Kenya and Ethiopia. I really love complex, fruity coffees. And most of Specialty Coffees from Kenya and Ethiopia has higher acidity and complexity. Usually Colombia and Honduras’ coffees are well known for their sweet tastes and bodies, but also both origins produce lots of varieties and those coffees are quite complex. Because of that, I really love the coffees produced by those four countries.

I am suggesting Tim Wendelboe, Coffee Collective, Kaffa, April Coffee and Drop Coffee.

I’ve learned that is not important to work in a coffee company, but it is important to be in the coffee community and to share your experiences and knowledge with that community. You exist as much as you share in the coffee world, and this is the most important thing.

It’s not going well. Lots of baristas lost their jobs because of the unpaid vacations. Lots of cafes shut down. But the industry has lots of new home baristas now. And it’s helpful for the roasting business.

Today, usually everyone cares about getting funky experimental coffees but in ten years, I think most producers, importers and roasters will care about organic and biological coffee farming.

I hope that I will be working as a coffee hunter in some coffee origin. Hopefully in Colombia. =)

Always be open minded. There are no strict boundaries in coffee, only recommendations. Being open minded will help you to make new discoveries and get better tastes in a cup of coffee.