Mitchell’s journey in coffee began with latte art. While studying design, he stumbled into the craft of pouring patterns in milk and quickly realised how much skill and discipline it demanded. That curiosity pulled him behind the bar of a specialty café, where a fascination with filters and brewing soon took over.
Today, Mitchell runs Sango Specialty Coffee in the heart of Amsterdam together with his wife, Kaho. The café is not only their shared workplace but also a hub for roasting, design, late-night cuppings, and raising two young children alongside it all. For Mitchell, the most rewarding part is building lasting connections with producers and sharing those coffees with guests who step in looking for a pause in the busy city.
Beyond the café, Mitchell has made his mark on the competition stage. In the last two years, he has placed 2nd in both the Dutch Latte Art Championship and Brewers Cup. With eyes set on the world stage, he continues to balance his roles as barista, roaster, artist, and competitor – always with the same drive that first pulled him into coffee.
Mitchell, what is your first memory with coffee?
Back in 2017, I attended a cupping in Antwerp. They had entry specialty coffees on one table and a single cup on another table with the first Gesha coffee I’ve ever tried. I couldn’t stop slurping!
What inspired you to pursue a career in the coffee industry, and how did you get started? What did you do before coffee?
After high school, I went to college to study design. Three months into my studies, I discovered how fun (and hard) latte art could be, and I decided to pursue coffee to get better at latte art. I didn’t even enjoy drinking coffee at that point, but when I started working in a specialty coffee place, I started appreciating filters, and a whole new world opened up for me to explore.
Tell us a bit about the place. What is your role there?
Sango is owned by my wife Kaho, and me. We have a café right in the city centre of Amsterdam where we both work behind the bar, but we do so many other things behind the scenes. I mainly do all the roasting/profiling and design work. Sometimes we’re still cupping samples or doing quality control until very late in the evening. We have two small children, so time is not on our side. What I probably love the most is the connection we’re building with the producers we’re working with.
What kind of experience do you want your customers to have when they visit you and try your coffee?
We offer a wide range of filter coffees. I love it when people want to explore various flavour profiles and ask for our recommendation. Our place has been described as an oasis in the busy city, so I want our customers to take a moment of their day to enjoy a good coffee with a book.
How do you stay motivated and inspired to keep improving your coffee-making skills?
The world of coffee keeps evolving, so many good books have been released in the past couple of years with so much new information. Watching others brew coffee, tasting coffees in cafés all around the world and talking about coffee with friends is what keeps me motivated.
You have some amazing achievements in championships. Can you tell us more about them? What are the next championships you’d like to compete in?
I started competing in the Dutch Latte Art Championship in 2023. That first year, I came in 4th place. I definitely learned a lot from that first experience; being thrown out of your comfort zone to perform on stage in front of judges was a whole new experience.
The year after, I competed in Latte Art again and came in 2nd place. Filter coffee has always been my favourite coffee drink, so competing in the Brewers Cup was the next step. Sourcing, roasting, brewing and talking about coffee is something I do daily, and this competition naturally aligned with my lifestyle.
My wife has been my best motivator and coach; I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get these successes without her. We put so much effort into sourcing our coffee (we blended three coffees from Colombia in the end, 2 Geshas and a Red Bourbon), curating the drippers, carafes, etc. Spent so much time going over the speech and practising it every single day that we got an amazing result, 2nd place in the Dutch Brewers Cup!
We’re sticking around competing in the Brewers Cup; we really want to represent on the World stage.
What is in your opinion the most important thing to have in mind when you start to compete in coffee championships?
You need to know why you want to compete and have someone help you. Always aim to win! Just know you’ll have to put in a lot of time and effort, but you’ll learn so much along the way.
If there were one piece of knowledge about coffee you’d like everyone to know, what would that be?
Read into water chemistry. Test how your water quality can affect your coffee. Start playing around with minerals. It will transform your brews!
What are your passions and hobbies apart from coffee?
I love reading fantasy books and I’ve been painting since very young. I also make all the art for the coffee bags at Sango, each new coffee gets a new piece of art inspired by the origin, producers or flavours. I’m also a big Kansas City Chiefs fan, so I love watching the NFL.
What coffee challenges are you looking forward to? Any new projects or collaborations?
The preliminary rounds for the Dutch Brewers Cup 2026 are coming up very soon, so I’m currently busy training for that.
Quick Fire Questions for Mitchell La Grouw Onuki:
Filter coffee or espresso-based?
Filter coffee.
Milk coffee or black coffee?
Black.
The most underrated coffee drink?
Iced Batch Brew.
Favourite piece of barista equipment?
Different paper filters..
Which method to make coffee you use at home?
Origami dripper or the espresso machine.
Favourite city outside your own for a coffee tour?
Tokyo or Kyoto. Lovely people, great interior design, and so many great places to visit!
