This time it's the turn of our Alejandro. The always cheerful (yes, really), hospitable barista and trainer has a passion for all things coffee. You can see this in his beautiful Latte Art creations, instructive coffee training and taste it in the precision-brewed cups of coffee.

Who are you and what is your position at BOOT?
My name is Alejandro Stalpers and within BOOT I really enjoy helping our guests in the store pick out the right coffees. Here I also very much enjoy fulfilling the role of Barista. In addition, I give workshops and barista training to the staff of catering entrepreneurs who serve our beautiful coffees. This way they learn exactly how to make the perfect espresso.

Why do you work with coffee?
When I bought my first espresso machine a long time ago, I was working in the kitchen. Here I was already busy combining flavors and tasting everything. In my free time, I was hobbying a lot with my espresso machine. Soon I ended up, like a true nerd, in the rabbit hole called coffee. I most wanted to know all the ins and outs to brew the perfect espresso. How do I get all those flavors into that cup? Soon coffee conquered my heart. As a result, in addition to my basic cooking education, I immediately started training in coffee. I had no patience to wait. Here everything was covered: from green coffee, filter coffee, to origins and more. I was completely sold and had brew my goal: I'm going to work in coffee!

What is your most memorable moment as a coffee professional?
Oee, interesting, this could be several things: a successful training or workshop where I help trainees and enthusiasts and impart knowledge. Because the more knowledge there is, the better the coffee becomes. Besides, working at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival is always fun, surrounded by all the fellow coffee nerds from the coffee world. This is always an inspiring place to work and a great place to sample BOOT's coffees. I think my days at the Horecava this year were also extra nice. This is where we serve our beautiful coffees to our future hospitality customers. Meanwhile, the Dutch Coffee Championships were going on here. Here Zjevaun Janga participated and eventually won the title Dutch Barista Champion 2024 and was one of the finalists at the World Cup. Super cool right? I found his run very inspiring. It contained everything that I love about the barista profession: describing in colors and scents what flavors can be found in coffee, talking with knowledge and skill about the beautiful product and making people curious about, and tasting, perfectly brewed coffees. And all to the accompaniment of beautiful music.

In your opinion, what is a coffee that everyone should try?
Well... From the regular selection, I like to drink the Indonesia Sumatra Organic. Usually brewed in the morning as a filter with my V60 filter dripper and later in the day at the Coffee Shop & Bar as an espresso. This organic certified all-male friend with flavors of intense, chocolate, black currant and spicy is just super tasty and I gladly recommend it!

And. simultaneously with this interview, the new Panama Hartmann Natural Lot 34 (Limited Edition) is released. A new harvest also means new flavors; coffee is a natural product. This is really a very clean coffee with flavor notes of raspberry and blueberry. I never cease to be amazed at what notes can be detected in coffee berries, even when the coffee comes from the same plantation and coffee farmer. And then again, coffee is a semi-finished product: there are so many factors that can still change the final taste of the coffee. The farmers, the roasters, but of course also you while brewing! So stay curious and try something different.

Hartmann Natural comes from the Hartmann family. This plantation, which we have worked with for more than 30 years, is tremendously well known in the specialty coffee world for their methods and high quality coffees. The coffee is a Natural, which means that the layer, called the pectin layer, which is between the pulp and the coffee bean, so to speak, soaks into the bean. This is a sugar layer and gives the coffee bean an even sweeter taste.