The World AeroPress Championships: Baptiste Fournier
The next World AeroPress Championship competitor to answer our questions is Baptiste Fournier; he won the Danish AeroPress Championship and will be representing Denmark in the Worlds. He is a Café Manager at the Coffee Collective's HQ in Copenhagen; he has also worked in France and Australia. You can follow his journey on instagram: @batibatt.
Why did you choose to enter the AeroPress Championship?
It’s always exciting to do the AeroPress competition. It’s one of the very few competitions where you don’t have to prepare much, but it’s still a good way to challenge yourself in a fun environment. The worst that could happen would be you win a trip somewhere... so why not?!
What’s your favourite way to make coffee (other than AeroPress of course!)?
Well, I might not sound very original at all, but I would say the Kalita. That unique clean mouthfeel that you get out of it, the consistency in terms of extraction because of the flat bottom, and I love the look of it (especially the the small one is very cute). Also, when you work in a busy café you have 1minute 45 seconds (according to my recipe) to not do anything else other than pouring water in slow motion, which is pretty relaxing to me.
What led you to using the AeroPress?
I discovered it because I was working with it and then I got hooked when I found out the practical and fun side of it. Unbreakable to travel, easy to clean for the laziest ones, and the best way to be creative when it comes to recipes!
Which grinder will you use for the competition and why?
I have heard that EK43 will be provided over there so why look elsewhere when you have the fastest and most consistent grinder available. I might have a Comandante as a back up in my back pocket though.
How did you get in to the coffee industry?
I was living in Lyon (France) back in the day and I had a group of really good friends working at a coffee shop where I spent quite a lot of time asking questions. I've never been a big coffee drinker but just thought that this way of rethinking the “basic” product with so much care and technique, resulting with flavours far from what we are use to was fascinating. The more I was learning the more I felt connected to the industry wether it was the people, the craft or the environment. At that time I was quite bored with my studies as well. It took me a while but at some point I decided to stop studying and be part of the coffee world.
What are you most excited about in coffee?
What excites me the most today is probably the relation between the world of coffee producers and the one buying and consuming it. It is two completely different worlds in the most meaningful way (culture, people, habits, craft, lifestyle, wages, climate etc…). However, we all work with the same purpose, which is being able to make a living out of producing the best quality possible. Knowing that the C market price dropped below 1$/lb a few weeks ago, however, since there has never been as many coffeeshops in our world right now, I do think that this relation will be a big part of our industry and that’s why I’m excited!