Hakim Ben Hammouda
France
Terres de Café / Independent
Please tell us a little about yourself:
I’m the current French CIGS champion, and I live in Marseille. I work for myself doing barista events (along with Terres de café), and cocktails.
How did you get started in coffee?:
I’m a bartender for 10 years and my friend and ex-head bartender said to me, take barista lessons in a school, you’ll love it!! I started in specialty coffee four years ago.
Please list the coffee competitions you have participated in, what year they took place, and your results:
2019 French CIGS – 1st
2018 French CIGS – 4th
What are you excited to do in Berlin?:
I am honored to represent France in Berlin, to meet competitors, exchange with them and producers, and to learn. It’ll be my first visit to Berlin too.
What was your first amazing experience with coffee?:
My first coffee that I drank in a barista school in the south of France, and when I first tasted a geisha from Panama. What a memory!
Besides your own competition drink, do you have a favorite cocktail?:
I love a Negroni and an Old Fashioned, because there is a balance between sour/bitter/sweet, and you change the spirit to make this classic.
What coffee-producing country interests or excites you most?:
For me, I think every country can have good coffees if the farmers respect the coffee.
My favorites? Several countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Panama…
What are your interests outside of coffee?:
I like cocktails, french pastries, laughing with people, and coffee 😂
Where do you see yourself in five years?:
I would like to be travelling and hosting coffee cocktails events, to share and meet people, and learn more about both industries every day (coffee and cocktails). My dream is going to an origin country to see the process behind it, to understand really the coffee.
Is there anyone you would like to thank or recognize, or who helped you to prepare for the WCIGS?:
First I would like to thank:
– Team Terres de Café
– Joachim Morceau/Alexandrine
– Christophe Servell
– Jean Baptiste, my roaster, who will come to Berlin with me and coach.
– All the baristas at Terres de Café
– Each person who’s helped me since I started.
Most importantly are my wife and my children.
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