Interview with Zjevaun Janga, founder of Ripsnorter Coffee
What is your specialty coffee origin story?
My specialty coffee journey started at a restaurant. When I was 17, I worked at a high-end Michelin star restaurant, and the chef was very into coffee and would tell us all about it. By coincidence, I stumbled upon his coaching session with the Dutch Barista Champion at the time, and I remember being so curious about what they were doing. In 2010, I went to London with them as a volunteer to polish their glasses, but I didn’t end up doing any polishing because I was just so distracted and interested in my surroundings! It was in London that I decided that I would try and compete in the Dutch Barista Championship in two years, and I actually ended up winning that!
How has your competition preparation evolved over the past twelve years of competing?
I competed in the 2013 World Barista Championship in Melbourne, and since then the game has changed a lot. Nowadays, my preparation is much more intense and detailed. In Melbourne, I had very little idea of what I was doing and just went with the flow. Going to World’s for the first time was a bit weird, because I had never experienced anything like it. While, yes, everyone who is at World’s is a National Champion, that’s a win that we achieved in our safe space. At World’s, we’re all far away from home and experiencing a whole new environment. This year, having competed many times and experienced World’s before, my team and I had a better idea of how to prepare! We learned from Melbourne that we needed to prepare much more coffee, so we brought 50 kilograms of coffee with us to Busan; six different coffees with different profiles. In Busan, we also spent all of our time on training and barely did any sight-seeing, but in 2013, my trip to Melbourne felt more like a holiday since I went in without knowing what to expect.
What year did you open up your sister company, Harvest Cafe and Bakery, and when did you decide to start Ripsnorter?
My partner and I started Harvest in 2018 because it felt like the logical next step for us! At this time I also started competing again, but COVID hit which caused event cancellations and shop closures. I fell into a bit of a slump, but decided that I should use this time to learn how to roast. From there on, I kept going with my roasting journey and now here I am! I have my own roastery and am sending coffee your way!
Can you tell us more about the team behind Ripsnorter Coffee?
It’s a two-man show here at the moment; we’re pretty small. I founded Ripsnorter three years ago and Chris Kwong, who also works at Harvest, has been supporting me ever since. He was also my coach for the World Barista Championship.
What is your goal at Ripsnorter?
I definitely want to see growth in the business, but not too much. We roast on a six kilogram Giesen at the moment. I think the next step would be upgrading to a fifteen kilogram Giesen, and I think I would be fine with just that going forward.
You’ve been competing for over a decade now. What do you love most about?
Spending time and effort into achieving a goal is very fulfilling to me. And even if you don’t achieve that goal, it’s still worth it, because you learn so much along the way. Through competitions you can learn a lot about coffee, but you can also get to know yourself and what you’re capable of through all of the long hours of hard work.
You were a finalist in this year’s World Barista Championship, which is a huge accomplishment! Do you plan to continue competing?
Going to Busan required a fourteen hour flight with fourteen suitcases! But, the next World Barista Championship will be in Milan, which is driving distance for us, so I think we’re going to give it one more go.
