Interview with 2023 World Coffee Roasting Champion: Taufan Mokoginta

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We are so honored to meet and interview Taufan Mokoginta the 2023 World Roasting Champion! This years competition was fierce and our very own Stephanie Gonzalez had the pleasure to sit down and chat with Taufan in Taipei, Taiwan on the second day of the competition.

Taufan Mokoginta is the owner of Ultra Coffee located in Indonesia. He has also competed in the 2020 Barista competition: Indonesia and the 2022 and 2023 Roasting competition: Indonesia.

Interview with Taufan Mokoginta, the 2023 World Coffee Roasting Champion:

How many years have you been in the industry so far?

I think it is 10 years, because I started as a server and as a cashier at a coffee shop. My career started as a barista and then as a roaster. I started roasting since 2019 - 2020.

You now own your own coffee shop?

Yeah, I am the founder of Ultra Coffee in Indonesia. Its located in Surabaya.

How is the coffee culture in Indonesia? Is it growing? Or is it still in the process of people learning more about specialty coffee?

The Indonesian coffee community, coffee industry is growing faster than I thought it will. It started in 2017-2018. My family, and indonesian culture drink instant coffee and now we are drinking coffee at a coffee shop nowadays which is a good indicator.

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Do you like the barista competition or roaster competition more?

I think I love barista competition more but roasting is the one where I can really understand as roast and cup that's it. I think I can understand roasting more than barista.

Is there any coffee that you prefer the most?

Panama but I really love Ethiopian and Kenyan since the beginning. Rwanda and Indonesian coffee, of course, I love West Java coffee, Sumataran coffee, Bali coffee is actually good.

Are you familiar with the equipment? Stronghold for the sample roasting and Giesen?

I tried the Stronghold for 4-5 batches in Indonesia and Giesen for like 10 batches. I tried both but a total of below 20 batches.

What do you usually roast with?

I use an Indonesian coffee roaster. For me, I always want to support and grow as the Indonesian coffee industry and Indonesian coffee professionals together so we can achieve higher and higher achievements and grow the industry together.

What was your roasting plan?

I actually slept at 2am last night because I made the roast plan with my coach and my team. And it is quiet by our part because we did really well in the cupping session and we cupped various coffee and I actually forgot the notes and I lost my notes. The paper i wrote down the notes and my coach saved me. We always have to argue about the notes, its in its out.

What are your thoughts on the new rules about the competition?

I'm feeling very great about the new rules. I love the new score sheet, I love the new rules. It is very fair to me because now we are eliminating I think, the hot warm and cold and we just throw all the potential of the coffee and match with the judges. So it is fairer for me as well.

How are you feeling right now about your Single Origin?

The single origin, I ditched my first batch because I put a very low heat transfer and a very low flame level and i did develop first crack. I had very tight time to roast another batch and i submitted the coffee while it was still hot. Hopefully it is still safe and it still tastes good. So I have mixed feelings as I never submit a hot coffee.

The 2023 Winners

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us Taufan! Big congrats again on becoming the 2023 World Coffee Roasting Champion!

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