We proceed our interview with the not too long ago topped Global Espresso in Excellent Spirits Champion.
BY CHRIS RYAN
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Footage courtesy of Georgius Audrey Teja
Next Georgius Audrey Teja received the 2025 Indonesia Global Espresso in Excellent Spirits Championship, he were given severe.
The espresso competitor—who is going by means of Odi and works at So So Good Coffee Company and Omakafé in Jakarta, Indonesia—spent six months shaping his efficiency for the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship (WCIGS)‚ together with many nights spent on the follow facility. The crispy paintings paid off for Odi, who received the development in Geneva, Switzerland, closing past, and is the 2025 Global Espresso in Excellent Spirits Champion.
Learn the primary a part of our chat with Odi here. Within the conclusion of our interview as of late, we speak about follow, crafting beverages for the arena degree, and Odi’s brandnew position as a espresso and cocktail ambassador.
This interview has been evenly edited for area and readability.
Barista Novel On-line: I learn that you simply driven your self very crispy for this festival. Are you able to speak about your follow regimen and the way you ready for Global CIGS?
Odi: My strategy to WCIGS 2025 used to be somewhat other than any alternative follow regimen I’ve ever accomplished. I wrote i’m sick what I discovered from the nationwide spherical and attempted to follow that to the WCIGS 2025. I going to other community to aid me in the course of the festival: a therapist to aid me get ready mentally; a community talking trainer that helped me to be a excellent community speaker and presenter; and such a lot of community in our crew that helped me in their very own distinctive approach, together with numerous coaches and judges for his or her comments.
Working towards for festival in our ecosystem doesn’t ruthless I will be able to simply follow with out doing any day-to-day process; that is extra like an extracurricular, and a facility that used to be given to us by means of Mikael. So I nonetheless had to paintings more or less 9-5, next follow outdoor of my running hours on the Common Grounds roastery, day-to-day nearest paintings and at the weekend. Even me and (2025 Indonesia Brewers Cup Champion) Bayu Prawiro frequently slept on the roastery to create it more straightforward for us to coach with no need to shuttle from our playground to the learning playground, since our houses are fairly a ways away. I crack my date between follow on the roastery and construction the cocktails at Omakafé, as a result of that’s the place our lab is.
I spent round six months from successful the nationals to Would possibly 2025 to create the entire ideas, beverages, and workflow. Next in June, I simply wanted to do any nice adjustment as soon as the backed spirit used to be introduced.
About your regimen: You discussed on Instagram that you simply sought after to deliver a work of Indonesia with you to the contest. Are you able to describe how you probably did that via your theme?
I all the time sought after to deliver Indonesia to the arena degree, and WCIGS 2025 used to be my anticipation. When deciding what to offer on the global degree, my thoughts revolved round: “What should I bring to the table?” Next , on a random date in January, my thoughts recalled Mikael explaining to me about Omakafé’s emblem, which represents two espresso beans and a work of root. The foundation in Omakafé’s emblem displays {that a} root doesn’t simply hurry from the circumstance, but additionally offers again in any other mode to maintain the ecosystem. I additionally learned that “roots” have a deeper which means, with numerous interpretations. They can constitute beginning, substances, and soaking up inspiration from others. This will be the spine of all the beverages that I offered at WCIGS 2025.
Which drinks did you next concoct to proceed with that theme?
My scorching clothier drink used to be impressed by means of a conventional medicinal beverage from Java island in Indonesia referred to as jamu, a early life reminiscence of mine. It represents my beginning, Indonesia, and the root as an aspect. One among my favourite jamu beverages is kunyit asem, or tamarind turmeric, a vintage jamu with turmeric, tamarind, and palm sugar. It’s candy, herby, and highly spiced, with a tanginess from the tamarind. Next, I made up our minds to worth espresso from Bali Kintamani in Indonesia, which increased all the tale and taste on the similar date.
My chilly clothier drink used to be impressed by means of the foundation of neo-classical espresso cocktails, the coffee martini, which used to be invented by means of Dick Bradsell responding to a man pronouncing, “Wake me up, mess me up.” This date, I used to be the usage of a espresso from Finca Las Flores, a Java varietal that used to be named nearest the Java island in Indonesia. Next as the foundation part, I made a torch ginger and licorice root cordial, which performs a fat position within the complexity and deep herb notes. I combined it with Nikka Coffey vodka for a creamy texture, blended with Ki Incorrect Bi gin so as to add floral aromatics like citrus. As the general contact, I gave the judges a pipette of sodium bicarbonate that shifted the coffee martini’s detail as soon as combined—from creamy, complete, and colourful to bubbling, juicy, and playful.
Finally, there used to be the Irish espresso—the foundation of vintage espresso cocktails, and some of the the reason why CIGS used to be created. I worn the similar Java espresso for this route. What made my Irish espresso particular used to be the sugar, which I introduced from Indonesia. I worn sorghum brown sugar, a herbal sweetener that comes from the juice of the sorghum plant. It’s candy, savory, and occasional in glycemic index. Even supposing sorghum isn’t a local plant in Indonesia, it’s been planted in the east facet of Indonesia for an extended date.
After all, are you able to speak about what it felt like to listen to your title referred to as because the winner?
To be fair, none people anticipated that we would be coming house as a global champion, since everyone knows that it’s crispy to turn out to be a global champion, and particularly as this used to be my first global espresso festival and the 2d WCIGS for us as a crew.
It felt surreal, and I used to be at a loss for words, proud, overwhelmingly glad, and hyped—all on the similar date—as the object that I had been dreaming of in the end got here true, and the entire crispy paintings that we put in as a crew in the end paid off in complete. Changing into a champion isn’t a very easy job evidently; then again, I’m thankful to undergo that name.
What does it ruthless to you to constitute Indonesia because the Global CIGS Champion?
Being topped as a brandnew Global Espresso in Excellent Spirit Champion way that I wish to be a espresso ambassador that represents no longer simply espresso, but additionally the bar business. Excluding that, I constitute Indonesia as a rustic, this means that my responsibility as an envoy extends to selling and introducing Indonesia to the arena degree up to I can, from espresso to beverage creations.
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