– Can you please introduce yourself in a few words.
My name is Viktoria Babina.
I’m the manager of a third wave brew bar & coffee shop in Kiev, where we brew wonderful specialty coffee on Victoria Arduino coffee equipment using Pentair water treatment, because our motto is: OUR COFFEE – EVERYTHING MATTERS.
– What’s your story in the coffee industry?
Back in 2012, I absolutely did not understand anything in coffee, I drank instant coffee …. And I never imagined that, having met my husband, my coffee preferences would be completely changed. In 2013, we got married, and then went to study roasting to Jon Willassen to Barcelona, then we visited the largest European green coffee traders, participated in cuppings in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Since that moment my coffee life has been completely changed.
As of today I know a lot about coffee, I have 2 SCA Diplomas – Barista Basic and Intermediate, I manage a brew bar & coffee shop, where we brew specialty coffee from the best world coffee hunters.
Coffee made me better. I realized that this is what I always dreamed of doing. I found myself.
– When did CoffeeDOOR open and what is the story behind?
My husband is the owner of a big roasting and distribution company named CoffeeDOOR Roasting Co. The roasting company was established in 2014. As of today, the company has more than 300 clients in HoReCa in Ukraine.
So, opening our own coffee shop was just a question of time.
We opened our first CoffeeDOOR BrewBAR & CoffeeSHOP in November 2016 and we the second one in August 2017.
– What’s your specialty and what makes you different?
We brew specialty coffee from Nordic Approach, DRW.
We are different, because we try to bring all the processes in the company and in the brew bar & coffee shop to perfection. Our guests in the brew bar & coffee shop or clients in HoReCa should get the best. My husband is a perfectionist, and I support him in everything.
– What was your first coffee experience?
Really I don’t remember the first one (LOL), but I do remember the first experience of drinking specialty coffee. In the year 2013, while travelling in Europe, my husband and I came to Trabocca in Amsterdam. And I drank my first Chemex…. It was Kenya! The taste really shocked me! I remember that feeling till now!…
– How/when have you discovered about specialty coffee?
Since that epic Chemex at Trabocca, I have discovered about specialty coffee and I try to discover more and more about it every day.
- What was your best coffee experience?
My best coffee experience is every day :))) when I come to the CoffeeDOOR BrewBAR & CoffeeSHOP and drink my first cup of specialty doppio :)))
– Do you prepare coffee at home ? If yes, what method do you use?
At home I always brew coffee for my husband and I use cezve for it.
- How do you like your coffee? Black, sugar and milk, iced, vietnamese style,…?
Most of the time I drink black coffee. It has to be a good pour over!
- How would you qualify yourself as coffee drinker (occasional, heavy, addict…)?
I’m a coffee addicted person who even didn’t know about it 5 years ago. I drank instant coffee and thought that it was really tasty (LOL).
- Have you always been into the coffee industry? If not, what was your previous job?
I used to be an Englist teacher in University, but my beloved husband (the owner of CoffeeDOOR) decided that I had to be in coffee business, took me from my previous job and I’m really thankful to him for this.
- Do you have another passion or a hobby besides coffee?
Pets! Different pets, but mostly cats and dogs. My husband and I are in love with our home pets – dog and cat. And also we help animal shelters.
- What other place would you recommend, anywhere in the world (coffee or not)?
Of course I want to recommend a coffee place.
Recently I went to Budapest for the World Coffee Championship. There, my friends and I visited a lot of coffee shops, but Espresso Embassy was especially memorable.
There had an incredible Rwanda on espresso!
- What is/are your favorite website(s) to get information about coffee?
www.scanews.coffee
www.perfectdailygrind.com
www.drwakefield.com
www.ico.org
and a lot of other sources.
- What would you say to people who don’t know much about coffee?
Unequivocally, be interested in good coffee! After all, coffee knowledge helps to learn more in geography, biology, chemistry, physics, helps to develop taste buds. Good coffee – it’s so tasty and interesting!