Community is incredibly important for our team at Acaia. Every year, as part of our community support, we sponsor a range of local & international industry events and barista competitors.
We offer barista sponsorships to support and encourage a more diverse lineup of competitors. There are many obstacles for competing baristas, on both the national and international levels. We hope the program will help them on their journey and achieve their goals on a more equal world stage.
In the below interview, we speak with sponsored competitor Agata Halinska. Agata competed in the National Dutch Brewers Cup in November of last year.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Please tell us about yourself
My name is Agata Halinska and I'm a barista in the Netherlands. I brewed my first V60 back in 2015, so it was a while before I decided to step into the specialty coffee industry for real. Since 2021 I've been working as a head barista. When I don't brew or geek out over coffee, I regularly explore various flavors and techniques... in cooking. That's also a way to develop my palate after hours.
Why did you decide to enter coffee competitions?
I'm a very curious person. And I tend to keep digging until I find out how things work. However, in brewing, there are always more questions than answers. Whatever you do, you always think, "Okay, what would happen if I changed that one variable?". I wanted to learn everything I could about brewing. Competition gave me a pretty good excuse to dig as deep as I wanted. It allowed me to learn at a crazy pace and try out new things, while also stepping out of my comfort zone. I wanted to understand why we do certain things and how it all affects the cup. I didn't feel ready to start competing. But friends in the Dutch and Polish coffee scenes convinced me that there is no better time than "now"!
How was your experience during the competition?
In the Netherlands, the first part of the competition is the compulsory round. This makes it a preliminary round for all. Getting ready for my compulsory round was my main focus. I tried to take it one step at a time and practiced dialing in various coffees with different brewers. I am pretty fond of immersion brewing, and in the end, I took the Clever Dripper to the stage. For me, competing for the first time was all about consistency and getting uniformity in the cups. Part of the game is making your seven minutes on stage foolproof but also managing your stress. I was happy with how smooth it went.
What are your thoughts after competing? Will you compete again and will it be in the same competition?
Even though I didn't make it to the finals, I am pleased with everything that led me up to that point. The year leading up to the Brewers Cup has been intense! I am now rich in experiences, knowledge, and meaningful connections. I built them all thanks to this competition. It was the best thing that happened to me during the year! I will keep competing both in Cup Tasters and Brewers for sure. At some point in the future, I would also like to compete in Barista championships.
How did you use your sponsored Acaia products?
I received two Acaia Pearl scales thanks to your sponsorship. It made my competition setup complete. It allowed me to get comfortable with brewing three identical beverages at once. I always used them during my training sessions and on the competition stage.
What's coming up next in your journey with coffee?
In the coming year, apart from constant learning, I will create more opportunities to share my experience with others. I began to teach workshops. It's been really rewarding to see people grow in their coffee journey, too! At the same time, I want to become more versatile as a barista by working with a range of different gear. I'm also open to more freelance gigs. I don't know what the future holds, but I'm really curious to see where it will take me. One place is for sure and that's the competition stage.
Thank you for the interview, Agata!
Find a specially tailored Brewguide by Agata on our Pearl S companion app here.
Find her Instagram here.
Photos by Sam Lasaroms of Koffietje.nl.