Sponsored Barista Interview: Matthijs De Lange

Community is important to 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. Matthijs De Lange competed in the Dutch National Coffee Championships last year.

Hi there! I am Matthijs, 24, from the Netherlands. I am employed as a barista at Het Lokaal in Amersfoort. I’ve been working in coffee for almost two and a half years. However, there have been some gaps in those years. I took a break to finish my master’s degree.

My love for coffee is part of a more extraordinary passion for the culinary universe and craftsmanship. In a perfect world, I would have a hundred lives. I would become a sommelier, a bladesmith, a ramen chef, and more. I adore seeing people dedicate themselves to perfecting a single craft, art, or science. 

As I mentioned, I took some time off to finish my master’s degree. It's where the other half of my heart lies. The endless curiosity that sparks my passion for craftsmanship also inspires me in academia. I recently completed my master’s degree in political science. I am currently seeking a PhD position to further the research I started in my master’s thesis. 

There are two reasons.

First, because I love presenting and talking about coffee. A competition that lets me talk extensively about my passion and have so many listen to me about it sounds like a lot of fun.

Second, it was a test to see how good I was at making filter coffee. The only filters I could put my all into were those I made at home. Those filters that I thought were pretty good also compared to those I was tasting at cafes. This competition was a way for me to check whether I had just gotten a big head or was making some splendid cups.

How was your experience during the competition? Did you have a theme to your routine? How did you build it?

The lead-up to the competition was a lot of fun but incredibly stressful.

Seeing your coffee and your routine come together bit by bit is fantastic. I got to spend a lot of time doing what I love. But simultaneously, it was two months of constant pressure and fear of not being ready in time. All the coffee you drink has a purpose, and every sub-par brew feels like a setback. I’d say it was worth it in the end, but competing is not to be taken lightly.

When thinking up my routine, I wanted to take a slightly different approach than I had seen so far. I wove in some philosophical thoughts about the art and science of coffee. It also focused on the tension between the magic and mystery of how someone makes a coffee taste so good and the curiosity to figure out how. I did have to cut down on some ideas to fit into my 10-minute presentation. I’m not sure it’s possible to put such a philosophical aspect into your presentation and keep it relevant to what the judges need to hear. 

The routine was a marriage of three parts. I developed a recipe I wanted to use, knew the kind of coffee I wanted to brew, and the routine had to instill my theme. The process was to combine these three parts to work in harmony.

Directly after my run, I was convinced I would not compete again. I was so tired. I am still unsure, but after seeing how close the scores were, I am considering competing next year. Knowing what I know now, the difference between me and those who placed above me could have easily been overcome (at least, it feels that way). I also want to compete in the Cup Tasters Championship, so I am considering entering that instead. I felt like my tasting notes were ultimately the weakest point of my routine. Training my palette would be my next focus.

I generously received three Acaia Pearls. They helped me tremendously due to their pouring speed function. The bar above the scales’ digits, which shows your pouring rate, was instrumental in allowing me to maintain the right speed. My recipe involves a long bloom followed by a continuous, slow pour. During my run, this pour needed to last precisely 40 seconds and no longer. The indicator was crucial in maintaining just the right pour to achieve this.

A bit of rest, first and foremost. But as I mentioned earlier, I think it’s time to train my palette as much as possible. So, I will focus on tasting and debating the roaster’s tasting notes in my head. All to see whether I taste what they describe and to describe what I taste myself.