Former nurse is champion barista

Former nurse is champion barista

SINGAPORE - While doing her nursing degree course in Sydney, Loke Xinyi was so taken by a mocha that she switched careers

For 2½ years, Ms Loke Xinyi, 27, tended to critically ill patients as a nurse in the intensive care unit of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). She had gone into nursing because of her love for biology and she wanted a hands-on job.

Her plans took an unlikely turn in 2010, however, after she tasted a mocha, an espresso coffee drink with chocolate, at Campos Coffee in Sydney.

She says the delicious drink with "perfectly textured milk and perfect temperature" opened her eyes to the world of coffee. Before that, she always thought coffee was bitter and hardly drank it.

She was so taken by the mocha that she contemplated switching careers and becoming a barista instead.

However, she was still in the midst of her nursing degree course at the University of Sydney, on a scholarship from SGH.

After five years of nursing and completing a two-year scholarship bond, she decided to leave her job last year and become a full-time barista. She took a pay cut but declined to say how much.

Her mother, who is also a nurse at SGH, wanted her to stay in nursing.

Ms Loke, a senior barista and trainee roaster at Common Man Coffee Roasters, says: "Although she did not openly object, my mum still wanted me to go back to nursing. But I told her, 'No, this is what I want to do' and I went ahead with it."

The risk she took has paid off. She won the 8th Singapore National Barista Championship last week. It was part of Cafe Asia 2014, a trade and consumer event dedicated to the region's cafe and teahouse communities.

In the competition, organised by the Singapore Coffee Association, contestants had 15 minutes to prepare three drinks - an espresso, a cappuccino and a signature drink. They also had to introduce their drink to a panel of judges during the presentation.

It took her two months to perfect her drink, an espresso-based beverage with lavender honey at the base of the cup, chilled with an ice ball.

She drew inspiration from how the Japanese chill their whisky with an ice ball, which melts slowly and does not dilute the drink as quickly as ice cubes would.

The head judge in Ms Loke's preliminary round, Mr John Ryan Ting, 33, called her presentation "refreshing".

He says: "There are different styles of presentations from different baristas, but hers was engaging and I would say, a performance that captured our attention throughout the 15 minutes. And she had a very good concept for her signature drink."

Ms Loke says winning the competition is one of the proudest moments in her career. "The whole experience was very surreal," she says. "Even now, it's still sinking in. It's definitely an experience. You work really hard, don't sleep, keep doing the same routine repeatedly and at the end of the day, you reap the rewards. It's very exhilarating and rewarding."

Her parents were in the audience too.

She says with a smile: "I think it's a good step to getting them to accept my choice to be a barista. Hopefully from now on, my mum will stop asking me to go back to nursing."

As champion, she will represent Singapore in the World Barista Championship 2014 in Italy in June.

Although she joined the coffee business full-time only last year, she has been honing her skills since her time in Sydney.

She started by helping out at the coffee counter of Hillsong Church, a Pentecostal megachurch, where she learnt the basics of making a good cup of coffee.

On returning to Singapore in 2010, she juggled her full-time nursing job at SGH with volunteering on her days off at various cafes in Singapore, including Oriole Espresso and Brew Bar and Papa Palheta.

She joined Common Man Coffee Roasters in September last year.

Being a barista suits her creative personality better than nursing, she says.

"It's not like nursing, where everything is very strict and there is a set of rules to follow. The coffee industry is very creative, things are always changing and there are always things to discover and learn.

"It gives me tremendous satisfaction, knowing that I am able to use the coffee beans and whatever I have on hand to brew a good cup of coffee with all the knowledge that is constantly changing."

The joy she derives from learning more about coffee and the coffee community here also reinforces the fact that she made the right decision.

She says: "I love every moment of it and I love the whole coffee community. We are a very close-knit bunch of people and during competitions, of course everyone hopes to win, but after that, everybody is very open and willing to share and help you out."

rachell@sph.com.sg


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