Jake hails from Conwy, North Wales (near Llandudno) and studies zoology in Manchester, he first got into coffee by working behind the bar at Providero – a crowdfunded specialty coffee shop in Llandudno. From there he entered the Indy Coffee Guide’s North Wales and North West Launch, winning the first competition he entered shortly before moving to Manchester in 2018. I won’t give away too much more, else there won’t be much point in reading on.
So, it seems a good place to start might be your first memory of coffee?
I used to hate coffee. But my first real memory of enjoying it was in Australia, where we went to this cafe called the Fat Frog beach cafe. Quite idyllic. But there I had a lovely little flat white or ‘flattie’ as they call it, I added an obscene amount of sugar to avoid the coffee taste, but yeah – it was nice! Honestly though, I was more impressed with the rosetta on the top rather than the flavour.
So you’ve come a long way since those days. Now, last year you won the first barista competition you ever entered. What has that done for you? What did you expect it to do?
It wasn’t really a huge competition, but it gave me so much confidence and almost got my name out there in Manchester. Gave me links to people I am still mates with today. I expected that it would help me get a job at uni, and It did just that as I started working at Idle Hands a few weeks later.
And what is it about the cafe life, or experience that you love so much?
(He chuckles) Apart from the coffee. It’s the relaxed atmosphere that it brings. The sounds help with that: music playing, people chatting, milk steaming. The coffee is still the main star of the show. It can be elegant, bold or soft, each mouthful is so pleasing – almost – every time. I like superfluous parts like it being presented with a friendly smile, or a chat about what each drink offers. I feel relaxed in a coffee shop, and that’s what I love so much because in a busy city with the daily stresses of uni life getting me down it offers me a break and a place to go.
On the contrary, what is the deal breaker for you? The one thing that will make you turn on your heels?
No eye contact from the staff. If they ain’t welcoming or engaging in any way I’d walk out. No matter how busy it is, just a gentle nod of the head or a smile is enough for me to feel welcome.
Honestly; for me it’s if they don’t have good crockery and spoons, I feel like a robot now. Or if the milk is screaming. But, to round things out, what keeps you excited about coffee?
Coffee tech excites me. New products on the market with cool new designs and features. For example, I used the newish La Marzocco EP3 the other week and that made me realise how far coffee has developed and where it’s going. I also find the new home brew gear really interesting, for example; what the guys at cafflano are producing. I’ve heard good things about their Kompresso set and I’d love to try that out one day. To side track however I would love to try out in a cupping competition. They look great fun and again something that I can strive towards if or when I get back into the coffee world post uni.
The Levy Echo 