What’s My Name?
My name is Sasha.
I’m a barista from Ukraine, currently living and working in Germany.
Coffee has been part of my life since the summer of 2021 — not as a career plan, but as something that slowly became important and stayed.
Where I come from
My first encounter with specialty coffee happened in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, at CoffeeLab.
It was there that I first touched the specialty coffee community.
At that time, in Zaporizhzhia, this experience had a strong influence on how I started to see coffee — not just as a drink, but as a process, a culture, and an invitation to curiosity and learning something new in life.
The experience was short, but formative.
Where I am now
Today I work at Coffee Nerd in Heidelberg — a place that allows for a truly live and rich coffee experiment. Here, I have access to constant work with light-roasted coffees and some of the most interesting roaster teams from all over the world. It’s a space shaped by people who are deeply involved, attentive, and genuinely curious about coffee. Work on recipes, beverage quality, and service never really stops here. Everything is refined continuously — precisely, thoughtfully, and with care.
Before that, I spent almost two years at Iaro in Karlsruhe.
It was there that I began to consciously bring my short but intense home-brewing experience into everyday work behind the bar, growing together with a local community and learning what consistency, and daily practice really mean.
In total, this is my:
- fifth job in gastronomy
- third specialty coffee shop
Each place shaped my understanding of coffee — technically, emotionally, and socially.
Why coffee stayed
Coffee is built on repetition.
The same actions, every day — opening, closing, dialing in, brewing, cleaning, serving, talking.
Through these rituals, thinking becomes calmer and clearer.
Work creates inner space.
Not faster thoughts — but more precise ones.
And in that space, curiosity grows.
Competitions & curiosity
I’m still new to competitions.
I started recently, and I’m learning step by step.
But I dream of continuing.
Competitions help me deepen my understanding of coffee theory — extraction, recipes, processes — and then bring that knowledge back into practice, behind the bar and at the brew table.
They’re not about winning alone.
They’re about learning how to bring everything together: hands, mind, taste, and attention.
Why this project exists
I wanted a place to slow down and reflect.
Something between a diary and a journal.
A space where thoughts, work, coffee, and people meet.
This project grows together with me — through practice, mistakes, small discoveries, and occasional moments of clarity.
Quietly.
Honestly.
With care.