Students from local educational institutions got a zap of fresh inspiration thanks to an Australian Embassy-organised visit where Jack Simpson, Australian’s two-time Barista Champion and the runner-up World Barista Champion, shared his knowledge of speciality coffee with students at IBTE Sultan Saiful Rijal campus and Laksamana College of Brunei, which the goal of training their hospitality and culinary students in coffee making, customer and hospitality services and other related skills — sectors which Australia has proud expertise in. According to Jack, spending time with the students was one of the best parts of his trip, especially knowing the students took time to come in on their day off
“I had expectations of only a few students showing up, but was blown away with the amount of interest and people attending! To see the willingness of all the students wanting to learn more about coffee was incredible”, he explained adding that for him coffee is more than a beverage, it’s about the connections and experiences you make is more than a beverage it’s about experiences you make with it. From growing coffee in the right conditions, roasting, all the way up to barista training, speciality coffee is what makes “just coffee” into something that is memorable. Baristas are the last link in that chain and need as much dedication in preparing the coffee as possible, the pointed out. Simpson added that one of the messages he hoped to impart on students was that work as a barista or in the hospitality industry is a worthwhile option to enter into.
“It’s definitely not the easiest path but with lots of hard work it’s something that is truly valuable for the community. It’s a passion that’s easy to share and its contagious; hopefully I could show them that if this is what they want to pursue in their life then it is possible!. According to local coffee guide Homage & Snippets, at the time of its publishing, there were an estimated 200 cafes (and growing!) in the sultanate alone. Simpson shared that her was very impressed by his short but immersive trip. “This is a very strong community of committed and knowledgeable coffee professionals. The specialty coffee scene here is in its infancy but it’s amazing to see so many people really pushing to grow. It was inspiring to witness while I was there.”
He added that for a local coffee convention like Coffee Con which recently had it’s 7th annual event, tp fill out both days of events speaks volumes to the hard work and interest in specialty coffee in Brunei which he was very glad to witness. Jack’s trip to Brunei was made possible thanks to Royal Brunei Airlines’ sponsorship, connecting Jack from Melbourne to brunei and subsequently to Tokyo where he was scheduled to attend Asia’s biggest speciality coffee exhibition, SCAJ2024 organised by the Speciality Coffee Association of Japan.
