– Can you please introduce yourself in a few words.
Hello! I’m Scott Tedder, I’m from Leeds in England, I’ve been working in Speciality Coffee for nearly 6 years now, and i am currently the Head Barista at The Barn Coffee Roastery in Berlin.
– What’s your story in the coffee industry?
I worked in a few different shops back in England, and helped open a couple of new ones. With the idea of eventually opening my own place, I decided it was time to get out of England to learn more and ended up in Berlin at The Barn!
– What’s your specialty and what makes you different?
I’d say my speciality is being empathetic to the customers, I think a lot of the time we forget that without a customer on the other end of the Bar willing to pay for their drink, then we all just have a really weird hobby!
– What was your first coffee experience?
I actually used to hate coffee! but like most people, i always wanted to be that guy that sat in Starbucks on my Mac looking like I was writing a novel… So I started drinking Skinny Vanilla Lattes.. until I got a job at an Italian Speciality shop where I was forced to only drink espressos until I liked them…I’ve never looked back since.
– How/when have you discovered about specialty coffee?
Specialty wise, I was lucky to get a job with a passionate people, the owner and the head barista of the Italian place really helped me and opened my eyes to a completely different side of coffee. We took a lot of trips to London to go and see what was happening down there. Going into places like Flat White, Prufrock and Kaffeine were so eye opening to me, that this side of coffee was already becoming well established across the country, and I had had no idea the whole time!
– What was your best coffee experience?
My Best coffee experience was probably any time I have competed, my first competition was the Uk latte art Championships, and i was maybe a little too relaxed for that, I ended up coming 5th in the UK which I was really happy with, I used to be super into latte art, and won a few little competitions across the country. Then I came over here and won the Berlin Coffee Masters which was a really good feeling! I entered the UKBC this year and didn’t do so well, so that’s definitely something I want to practise and compete in more, as it really made me notice the little things I was doing throughout the day.
– Do you prepare coffee at home ? If yes, what method do you use?
Me and my housemate both work at The Barn and at Collab this year we came second in the Barista League competition and won a temperature controlled kettle, and some Kalita style brewing equipment, so we mostly use that! Also we make a lot of cold brew…
– How do you like your coffee? Black, sugar and milk, iced, vietnamese style,…?
I change how I like my coffee so often. I go through stages where I only want to drink espresso, or milk or filter. I always try getting something that I’ve not tried before if I see it on a menu too, I really like peoples different interpretations of ‘Speciality coffee’. The shop ‘Happy Barista’s’ in Berlin really like to try different types of drinks, from ice cream lattes to Nitro cold brew tea… so i always like going there and trying some new stuff.
– How would you qualify yourself as coffee drinker (occasional, heavy, addict…)?
I drink a lot of coffee… Well I taste a lot of coffee… I do as much cupping as I can, so I would say that about 75% of my time at work is spent doing either tasting or analysing peoples taste notes, so I would say i’m a pretty heavy coffee drinker.. It gets to that point where I don’t feel myself until I’ve had at least one cup of coffee…
– Have you always been into the coffee industry? If not, what was your previous job?
Like I said before, I used to hate coffee… I actually have a Psychology degree, that obviously went to good use… then I spent a while travelling before I started working in coffee. So I never really had a plan after Uni.. Travel, see the world and enjoy life…
– Do you have another passion or a hobby besides coffee?
I used to be an editor for an online streetwear/skate/photography/culture magazine, so i’ve always been into clothes, shoes, photography, I ride a few different bikes. I also really like food and drinking too… basically the same as most coffee people…
– What other place would you recommend, anywhere in the world (coffee or not)?
I really like South America, such an incredible part of the world, I really want to go back there now i’m working with coffee and get to origin one day. I’m also a huge fan of America, i have some family over there, and spent quite a while travelling from New York to LA. It is incredible how many different cultures and landscapes you can see across the same country! Yosemite National Park is probably my favourite place on Earth…
– What is/are your favorite website(s) to get information about coffee?
I mean, the Barista Hustle is an obvious choice, Matt Perger is really helping spread the word about good coffee across the world, and is trying to bring as many of us together so we can all progress together. Especially his explanations of extraction and strength! I also really like Sprudge for bigger updates, and ‘Perfect Daily Grind’ always has really good articles! As well as more personal blogs like JImseven, or Maxwells blog.
– What would you say to people who don’t know much about coffee?
Just get out there and start tasting. Talk to as many baristas as you can, ask them questions, ask them anything you don’t know. It’s such a massive part of coffee, and all baristas should be happy to help anyone out that is new to this!