”I used to work in a regular chain coffee shop. One time I started chatting to a customer about coffee. I told him I wanted to know more about the origins and subtleties of making coffee, to be able to tell clients more than ‘Watch out, it’s hot.’ This customer turned out to be the head of Johan & Nyström Finland. He suggested I apply to work for his company. That’s how I ended up working as a barista at Johan & Nyström in Helsinki Airport.
I’m fascinated by the entire process of coffee from the fields to the cup. I’m fairly pedantic: I want to understand and execute every detail as well as possible. I’ve even taken part in coffee making competitions, and had some success.
There are three basic elements in coffee: beans, hot water and time. Still, you can go deeper and deeper into the art of making coffee, as you learn more about it. It’s professionally rewarding to feel that I have all this detailed knowledge in my head, and as I pour the coffee, it’s being passed on for the customer to experience.
Working at the airport coffee shop is a slightly different as a setting from working in the city center: We have a lot of international customers, and you really notice the different cultures of coffee in different parts of the world.
When I have enough courage, I want to start my own coffee shop.”
Read about Enni Tuomi, Unit Manager of two lounges at Helsinki Airport.
