Driss @ Bloom Coffee: Coffee Insurrection Hero Chapter #65

Published by Tanya in Coffee Insurrection Hero · 11 February 2023
Tags: Driss, BloomCoffee, Marrakech, Africa, SpecialtyCoffee

1-Introduce yourself: who are you, where are you from, where do you work and what’s your job.

I’m Driss from Marrakech, where I work as a roaster at Bloom Coffee

2-When and why did coffee become important to you?

It all happened around 2018, when I first tried a cup coffee where I noticed that there was something really different: my first thought, was that that coffee was really weird, because it wasn’t what I was used to. But I suddenly became really interested in it, wanting to know more because it was really love at first sight.

3-Do you remember the first coffee you had that was more than “just a cup of coffee”?

One day, I went to visit my friend at his place, and he gave me my first V60: it was very different because espresso is the real king in Morocco. I finished the cup only because I didn’t want to embarrass my friend, not necessarily because I liked it. He asked what I thought and I said that it wasn’t what I was used to, but I definitely wanted to know more. After this, he made me an espresso using specialty coffee beans.

I tasted this and thought, wow, this is special. While I was drinking this espresso my friend started to explain what makes this coffee special, and I began to really love it.

4-What’s your favorite thing about going to work in the morning?

Work is a piece of my life and it’s where my friends are. I’m excited to go and create with them while drinking a good cup of coffee.

5-What’s your favorite brewing method and why?

For sure Espresso, because it has high extraction and I enjoy the concentration. Plus, I’m Moroccan and we all love espresso!

6-Which is the best coffee you ever tasted?

Maybe I’ll be not so original, but to me a good cup of Ethiopia Yrgacheffe is just ureal.

7-Is there a country of origin that you tend to favor coffee from? Why?

Honduras because it makes a great espresso: it’s chocolaty, sweet and smooth. Plus, we have a great relationship with the farmers there, and this is just an amazing thing.

8-Suggest us a roastery to check (not the one you working at/you use at work).

Ocibreni is a good friend of ours: they are quite new, but growing steadily.

9-What’s the most important things you’ve learnt while working in the business?

For sure I’ve learned many things that are crucial for my job: working on consistency in quality, focusing while roasting, tracking systems. Plus, communication and good service are the key to do a good work.

10-How your work and the specialty coffee world are coping with Covid and the new challenges for hospitality?

It was really hard in the beginning, because most of our clients were closed. But then we were able to focus more on our individual customers. People started to reveal themselves more, because they weren’t going to cafes to drink coffee: instead we were able to create a community of home consumers that started to grow steadily. We learned that there is always an open door to walk through, if your patient and focused.

11-How do you see the specialty coffee scene in 10 years?

I’ve only been in the industry for 4 years now, but I can tell you that the specialty coffee scene is really just started here in Morocco… so in 10 years I see a huge impact on the society, here.

12-Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In 10 years, I hope to have a better understanding of coffee. I want to be running my own café in my own neighborhood, building a nice community around the café. Once a week, I want to be helping to educate the community about coffee with cuppings, trainings, and seminars. I would also love to begin a training center to give young people the skills they need to be successful in coffee.

13-Any last word? Any tip or suggestion you wanna share with someone that want to start this path?

Consistency and focus are the key. Be humble, and learn the true meaning from every word and every sentence. The most important thing is to have patience and joy as you serve others.