Project Description
Spain
Axel Simón
Mare Terra Green Coffee
Please tell us a little bit about yourself:
I am currently working on the Quality Control team of Mare Terra, and I also collaborate as a trainer for the Spanish Coffee Institute Foundation. I have been in the specialty coffee world for 9 years.
What are you excited to do while you are in Seoul?:
First of all compete. Next, to meet people with a lot of coffee knowledge so I can learn and also share my knowledge, points of view, and passion for coffee with everyone.
Please list the coffee competitions you have participated in, what year they took place, and your results:
2010 Spain Barista Championship – 5th Place
2011 Spain Barista Championship – 3rd Place
2012 Spain Barista Championship – 3rd Place
2013 Spain Barista Championship – 2nd place
2017 Spain Barista Championship – 1st Place
Is there anyone you would like to thank or recognize, or who helped you to prepare for the WBC?:
To Timur Dudkin for all the support offered, the advice, and the hours invested with passion and to Mare Terra for the support. Without them it would not have been possible to get here.
How do you see the coffee industry changing in the future?:
I think there will be strong changes for the better. We are learning more and more incredible things about coffee, from seed to cup. Each year there are new breakthroughs, and a world of infinite possibilities. There is a sense of taking care — especially when crossing certain barriers that could end everything, in the case of fermentation with bacteria. Nature has a function, and you need to know the limit of what you can alter.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?:
That’s a complicated question, but if possible I would love to be spreading the specialty coffee culture all over the world. I’d love to be sharing and continuing to learn—having new goals to improve the world of coffee, which is my passion. When you have an objective, the spirit stays alive. I’d like to have that spirit for my whole life, not just 5 years. Where it’ll be, I can’t know for sure.
What are your interests outside of coffee?:
I have hobbies like everyone, but the important things that I do or revolve around me are related to coffee.
