Barista Stories: Ella Marie Simon of Juel Coffee, Hamburg

by on 1 month ago

Meet Ella Marie Simon, a passionate coffee professional who together with her sister June opened last month in Hamburg a coffee consulting/events /training company called Juel Coffee! Ella developed her immense coffee skills while working in Germany, Switzerland and Scotland – both working in cafés and roasteries as well as catering with coffee at big events.

Ella is a skilled latte art competitor but in 2023 she took part in the German Barista Championship and won! She proudly represented her country during the World Barista Championship in Athens. While she competes, she has her sister as support and when June competes, Ella helps her out as well. What a dream coffee sisters team!

Ella, what is your first memory with coffee?

I think that would be going to the market with my mum when I was a kid. Afterwards, we would usually go to a coffee shop and she would have a cappuccino (and I would always get the little biscuit that came with it). My first experiences with drinking coffee were the chococcinos from the vending machine at school when I was 17. They weren’t any good but helped staying awake during my studies.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the coffee industry, and how did you get started? What did you do before coffee?

So the biggest reason I started working with coffee is my sister June. She’s been working in this industry for the past 12 years and when she competed in Latte Art in 2018 I was there as a volunteer. During those few event days, I met many very kind and interesting people and wanted to be part of the community.

Not long after that, I started serving coffee at events myself and realized how happy it made people and how much more there is to learn about coffee and its value chain. Before all that I did a voluntary year at the kindergarten, then travelled and worked in New Zealand. In 2017 I came back and worked at the newspaper, a bar and applied to become a script writer eventually. I still dream of becoming an author someday but working with coffee is just as much fun!

Ella during the German Latte Art Championship. Photo by Sinan Muslu.

Can you walk us through your coffee career?

I’ll try haha. So in 2018, I started working as a self-employed event barista with other caterers. 2019 was a wild year of travelling around Europe for both work and fun. In 2020 I competed in the Latte Art Championship and soon after all my upcoming events were canceled.

I then moved to Hamburg to work as a barista in two different cafés. At one of those I became the Head Barista and later on the Head of Coffee. So I was then teaching a team of around 45 people, organizing equipment, sales, recipes, orders, etc. When we opened the 6th shop I left because I got an offer to move to Zurich and work with Mame. I stayed with them for a bit and then started training for the German Barista Championship with Henauer Roastery.

After winning the title I moved back to Hamburg to freelance again for a bit. This time doing mostly catering events, training staff and fun cuppings for different companies. In April 2023 I moved to Athens to work and train with Samba Coffee Roasters for WBC. After placing 25th it was time for a small break, so I moved to Scotland for a couple of months and checked out their local coffee community.

In October I came back to Hamburg and since July this year my sister and I joined forces and are now running a business together – teaching and making coffee all around Europe.

Tell us a bit about your daily work. What different roles do you have?

Well to be honest it’s usually a bit tricky to explain my job to others. But basically, if you need someone to do a coffee catering for your event – let me know. If your staff needs training in making tasty coffee, workflow or sensory – let me know. In case you want to compete at championships, but don’t know where to start – let me know. And if you want any fun team-building events or to improve your skills as a home barista – just let me know!

Ella during one of the catering coffee events.

What are some common misconceptions about our industry that you’ve encountered, and how do you address them?

Sadly many consumers don’t really know what we actually do. Something I hear a lot from people outside the industry is that it’s ‘just’ coffee. Meaning people don’t acknowledge the work that has gone into growing, producing, roasting and preparing a good-tasting cup or know that coffee can taste very diverse. That’s a shame and I think it’s important to educate people in a kind and fun way.

This is key because another misconception is that all specialty coffee baristas are snobby and the beans are usually overpriced. Being transparent when it comes to numbers as well as being open and friendly when selling or serving coffee – maybe that could be a good start.

What is the most significant change or evolution you’ve witnessed in the coffee industry since you began your career? Did it change the way you approach coffee?

The amount of home baristas and people genuinely being interested in coffee has increased a lot! While wine and whisky have been seen as luxury products for a long time, it’s good to see that it’s become more common to appreciate and celebrate coffee, too.

Also, it’s always crazy to see how fast ideas shown at e.g. WBC then make their way into coffee shops and home set-ups, increasing the quality significantly. The most important change in my eyes though is that there’s more focus on the origin now.

Producers get more credit for their work and are working closer together with roasters and baristas. This helped me to better understand what’s actually happening on the way to a delicious cup, how to improve quality before the beans come to Europe and to be more decent when it comes to my work – as it’s only one step on a long journey.

Ella is the new brand ambassador for Barista Attitude.

As a professional involved in coffee education and competing, what role do you see education and championships playing in fostering a more inclusive and diverse coffee community?

With championships, we share new ideas, research results and messages with our community. It’s a platform we can and should use to speak up against injustice, highlight others’ work besides our own and inspire new generations to compete and share their own messages. Education on the other hand is like a daily platform.

When educating about how to prepare coffee I feel it’s somewhat our duty to also create awareness of all the work that’s gone into the product and the work we have to put into having a more inclusive community. Something we can do with both for example is encouraging those who might be scared or doubting themselves and supporting them in their growth.

Ella together with her sister June competing in The Barista League.

If there would be one piece of knowledge about coffee you’d like everyone to know, what would that be?

A lot of work is put into producing coffee, including around 4 years of waiting before the first harvest, and yes – in your cup it can taste like peach ice tea.

You have some amazing achievements in championships. Can you tell us more about them? What are the next championships you’d like to compete in?

In 2020 I decided to compete at the Latte Art Championships and I can recommend this to everyone! The rules are relatively easy, you can use BCB drops and soy sauce for training and you get a sense of how to prepare for comp. Also, the feedback on technical, workflow, etc. was really helpful.

So then in 2022, I started training for the Barista Championship. I had an amazing coffee from Alo Coffee in Sidama, Ethiopia and Dario Stoop roasted them for me punk style! Still, it was a lot of work, because I didn’t really know how the game was played, besides what was written in the rules and regulations. When I won I was baffled and proud and when training for the World Championship I kept those feelings.

Now that I have all the materials for the competition and know the amazing people I’d like to represent, I might give it another go at the upcoming German Barista Championship.

How did it feel to compete on the World Stage?

One of the most stressful days of my life to be honest. But it was also fun meeting so many great baristas and coaches from all over the world backstage. Competitions are an amazing platform to share your beliefs and ideas, so I’m definitely grateful I got to experience that. The feedback I got on my performance was also helpful and if I ever get to do it again, I’m sure I will be way more relaxed.

What is in your opinion the most important thing to have in mind when you start to compete in coffee championships?

I think all you need to have is the willingness to learn – about coffee and yourself. Also, it’s important not to be scared to ask for help, cause (especially for the Barista Championship) it’s a team effort! If you’re going for the win, be serious about it, but don’t forget to have fun – it’s still coffee!

Ella during the origin trip to Bensa, Ethiopia.

What coffee challenges are you looking forward to? Any new projects or collaborations?

So much going on really! I just became a Brand Ambassador for Barista Attitude, so there’s lots of events coming up. I might do some coffee illustrations for a couple of bigger companies. And then since June and I only started Juel Coffee a couple of weeks ago we’re still building everything. There will be a website and more information on our Instagram pages soon – so stay tuned!

My sister is competing at the German Brewers Cup and I’ll try and support her as best as I can, because once we know more about the upcoming Barista Championship I’m sure she will support me, too.