What if I told you..

I wanted to open a coffee shop, but didn’t know a thing about coffee? Sounds utterly ridiculous, right? That’s exactly what I think now, exactly one year later.

Beginning of 2020, I wanted to start something new. Something refreshing and different. I thought, ‘Oh. A coffee shop sounds fun’. Now it wasn’t just an idea out of the blue. I had been living in Hanoi since 2019 and wanted to start something of my own. Everywhere you go, people are selling coffee, whether it be a stall selling Vietnamese phin on the side walk or a local franchise like Highlands and AHA. Coffee culture is HUGE over here. So naturally it makes sense. Why not open up my own?

I was drawn to the idea of coffee shops not because of coffee itself, but the social impact of its culture. There are a number of reasons people love going to coffee shops - catch-up with friends, meet new people, first dates, or simply enjoy a cup of coffee while reading a book. The point is, there are millions of reasons for going to coffee shops and I wanted to have a space where people can come and enjoy a hot (or cold) brew. But there was one problem - I didn’t know a thing about coffee! How about instant coffee, do people sell that in coffee shops? What is a coffee bean? What are coffee profiles? Hell, I didn’t even know what an Espresso was!

After landing back on Earth, I realised I lacked one important thing - experience. So going back to basics, I looked for a job to work as what’s called a ‘barista’ (sounds kind of fancy). Click on the next post and see how the barista journey kicked off.