Meet Zoe Williams, one of the most cheerful and passionate coffee trainers in the UK coffee scene. Zoe comes from resilient and charmingly gritty Newport in South Wales, but currently lives in Bristol, where she teaches at Clifton Coffee Roasters. She is an Authorized SCA Trainer in Barista Skills and Brewing.
Zoe also takes an active part in the UK Coffee Championships. She placed 2nd in the 2023 and 4th in the 2024 UK Barista Championship, and this year she will test herself in a new role – as a judge! We’re confident she’ll thrive and continue to grow, whatever path she chooses in coffee.
Zoe, what is your first memory with coffee?
I guess, like a lot of people, I kinda just fell into coffee. After I graduated from Bristol University, I knew I definitely didn’t want to work in the pharmaceutical industry (I had studied Pharmacology), but I had no idea what I wanted to do other than see more of the world.
Luckily, my sister was planning on moving to New Zealand temporarily after she graduated, so I tagged along. At that point, I’d been working in the hospitality industry for almost 10 years, so the easiest thing to do to start earning money was to apply for the same kind of jobs.
I got a job at a restaurant, which, unbeknownst to me at the time, was owned by Mojo, which is a New Zealand-based specialty coffee roastery. Although this restaurant’s main focus was food, the coffee was a huge part of the culture, and the barista training I got was incredibly in-depth. There were two amazing trainers there at the time, John and Sarah, who ignited a passion in me for coffee that I would never have expected.
After spending a few months at the restaurant, I moved to one of their flagship cafés, where I got to focus on being a barista, and I loved my job. I spent two years working for Mojo, and in that time, I took part in every coffee training I could and competed in all the internal barista competitions. From there, I knew that a career in coffee was what I was interested in.
Tell us a bit about the place you work at. What is your role there?
I currently work at Clifton Coffee Roasters as a barista trainer. I’ve been part of the training team for three years now, and in that time, I have learned so much about coffee and teaching from colleague and mentor Joe Sheppard-Brown. We have an amazing training space at Clifton Coffee, so I predominantly spend my time there running training sessions for our wholesale customers.
I am also an AST (Authorized SCA Trainer), so I teach the Barista Skills courses a few times a month, and have just passed my Brewing Professional, so I will be teaching Brewing very soon too. When I’m not training baristas, I’m creating bespoke training programmes for multi-site customers, updating learning materials and visiting baristas to see how they’re getting on after training.
What kind of experience do you want your trainees to have?
The thing that I love the most is teaching people who have very little to no barista experience. Watching them come to the realisation that making espresso is so much more than just ‘putting coffee in the machine and pressing the button’ never gets old.
Part of my basic training is asking the baristas to taste the espresso when it’s under-extracted, over-extracted and then made to recipe, and the majority of people are shocked by how different they taste, and that always makes me happy! I get so much joy from seeing the new baristas’ progress and watching their excitement for coffee develop.
How do you stay motivated and inspired to keep improving your coffee-making and teaching skills?
The motivation to keep improving teaching is pretty easy to be honest because there is still so much for me to learn. Every barista is different, so I still come across new situations all the time where I have to adapt my teaching to different learning styles or challenges.
Improving my coffee skills is probably a bit harder because I’m quite often teaching introductory barista courses, but doing my AST and having to teach the Intermediate and Professional level of barista skills has pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to stay up to date with new techniques and equipment.
What do you think is the most important quality for a barista to have, and why?
Patience. Learning a new skill is always hard, and patience is definitely needed to dial in a grinder or to perfect a latte art pattern. It’s also important when dealing with customers!
You have some amazing achievements in championships. Can you tell us more about them?
Thank you! I’ve competed in the UK Barista Championships for the last two years. I competed for the first time in 2023 and managed to get through to the semi-finals by winning my heat (1st place automatically goes through). I was in last place going into the semi-finals, but knowing that I’d got through gave me confidence and the motivation to work even harder. I made it to the finals and placed 2nd in the UK, which even two years later still feels surreal to me! I competed again in 2024, came first in my heat again and made it all the way to the finals.
Admittedly, this time I was going for the win, and I finished 4th, but to my surprise, I was really happy with that. The other competitors were all amazing, and I know I did everything I could on the day, so I walked away very happy that I’d made it to the finals again.
What are the next championships you’d like to compete in? Any new discipline/category you might consider?
I’m taking a break from competing and giving judging a go this year. I got to judge UK Brewers Cup a few weeks ago, and that’s definitely got me thinking about giving that a go in the future, but I think I might have another round of Barista Championships in me first. I’ll be judging that this year too, so I’m hoping the competitors are going to inspire me!
What is in your opinion the most important thing to have in mind when you start to compete in coffee championships?
Don’t wait until you think you’ll be ready, just go for it! You will learn so much from just having a go. The first one will always be the most fun because there’s no pressure at all, but even after that, it’s still essential to enjoy the competition. And also be prepared to work hard – competing is a big commitment, so don’t underestimate the hours of work that go into it.
What are some common misconceptions about our industry that you’ve encountered, and how do you address them?
A lot of people will base their opinions on what coffee should taste like from their experiences of instant / supermarket / high street coffee, and to me, they are all such different products from each other and also from specialty coffee. I think giving people the opportunity to taste coffee in a way that is new to them, and being able to talk to them about where those beans have come from, is a great way of opening their minds to the flavours and stories behind speciality coffee.
What are your passions and hobbies apart from coffee?
I love being outside in nature! Walking, hiking and camping all bring me a lot of joy. I used to have a campervan, which sadly became way too high maintenance (she was very old), but my dream is to have a newer one and be able to spend my weekends exploring all the beautiful national parks and coastlines that the UK has.
Music is a big part of my life too. I love going to gigs and festivals. I can also be super nerdy about it. I love watching YouTube videos that analyse albums, especially Taylor Swift ones!
I really enjoy sports as well and am part of a social netball team that I play with every week. Now that it’s starting to get a bit warmer and lighter for the summer, I’ll be playing tennis again soon, too.
What coffee challenges are you looking forward to? Any new projects or collaborations?
Judging the UK barista championships this year is a new challenge that I’m really looking forward to. At work, I’m really excited to have recently collaborated with a local school to run a barista training programme for 14-15-year-olds who are studying hospitality.
The programme aims to inspire them by showing them different career options within the coffee industry and giving them the skills and experience to help with employment. I also have a similar project in the works with a refugee charity, which I am very excited about! I’m passionate about using my training skills to help others get into the industry, so I feel very lucky about these opportunities.
Quick Fire Questions for Zoe Williams:
Filter coffee or espresso-based?
Filter coffee.
Milk coffee or black coffee?
Black.
The most underrated coffee drink?
Batch brew.
The most underrated coffee brewer?
Batch brewer.
What brewing method do you use at home?
I drink tea at home.
Favourite barista tool?
PUQ Press.
