Thomson Khogres spent years watching someone else pour latte art before anyone ever showed him how. At 14, in the kitchen of his mother’s restaurant in Medan, Indonesia, he would stay for hours just to observe a barista shaping rosettas and tulips, never getting an explanation on how to do it. The curiosity never passed; he simply kept watching, kept wondering, and eventually built a path out of figuring it out himself.
That self-taught hunger has carried him a long way. After moving to Germany, he worked his way through a metro kiosk, a specialty café in Berlin, and six years in another one in Munich, before a conversation with close friend and now boss Lucy reawakened a competitive instinct he had been quietly carrying for years. Thomson spent four months training for the German Latte Art Championship, rehearsing his routine in subway carriages to desensitise himself to nerves, inviting different judges every week, and confronting a performance anxiety that never fully disappeared. He still gets shaky hands. He has simply learned to pour through them! The result was 3rd place at his very first SCA National Championship!
What stands out just as much as the trophy is the community around him. At Humpback Whale Coffee in Munich, where titles barely exist and everyone teaches everyone, Thomson has found a kind of wholesome, low-ego belonging that clearly shapes how he sees his role: not as the best barista in the room, but as the one who, through his own relentless effort, quietly pushes everyone else to get better too.
Thomson, what is your first memory with coffee?
The roasty smell of instant coffee that my mom brews every morning. When I was a child, I always wanted to try that super aromatic brew that my mom drinks every day. My mom would occasionally give me a teaspoon of brewed instant coffee, with the reason of I quote: “A small amount of coffee would prevent high fever in children”. To this day, I still don’t know whether it’s a true fact or not, hahaha.
What inspired you to work in the coffee industry, and how did you get started?
When I was 14 years old, on the weekends, I loved going to the kitchen of my mom’s restaurant just to see how the shop manager (who had worked as a barista before) poured some latte art like rosettas and tulips. I’d stay for hours in the kitchen just to watch and figure out how he does that because he never once showed me or taught me how to steam and pour. Every time I asked him why he wouldn’t show me how to do it, he replied: “If you know how to do this, I’d lose my job”. To this day, I still don’t know whether he was joking or being serious hahaha.
Anyway, I haven’t decided my career path yet, since I’m still pursuing my Master’s degree in chemistry. But one thing that I’m sure of is I’m always gonna stay in the coffee industry for the rest of my life, whether full-time, part-time, part time or even a mini job. I just love being behind the bar and serving happiness to people!
Can you walk us through your path in coffee so far?
I started by helping out in the kitchen of my mom’s restaurant, which also happened to have an espresso machine. From there, I try to learn how to steam milk, how to prep an espresso puck and gain some other simple coffee knowledge. In this period of time, after getting reeled into the general coffee world through latte art, I discovered the world of specialty coffee. I realised and was amazed at the effort, the skills and knowledge that is needed through the entire coffee chain to create a cup of coffee from the origin.
After moving to Berlin, with my limited skills and experiences, I gathered up my courage to apply for a job at a simple to-go coffee kiosk at the metro station near my house. My goal was quite simple: I just wanted to train my coffee skills – especially latte art – and then I could apply to a specialty coffee shop! Nobody cared about the milk steaming and the latte art (so I thought)! But in this coffee kiosk, I not only improved my skills, but I also learned the reality of being a barista: the constant cleaning, waking up at early hours and cleaning the shop after a whole day shift. I just wanted to make coffee the whole day hahaha!
Not long after I got used to the ´unpleasant´ side of being a barista, I tried to apply to Godshot Coffee Club in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg, where I spent a year to understand more about the world of specialty coffee. Here I also learned how to have a chit-chat in German.
At that point of time, I was still such a shy introvert who wasn’t confident both in talking to strangers and at the same time in German! I remember my old boss Kai Uwe-Beyer told me: “Talking to customers is also part of the job”. This is something that I didn’t really understand until later on when I joined Humpback Whale Coffee. And then I moved to Munich for my studies, and I worked at Man versus Machine for 6 years, which is the majority of my coffee career. There I learned a lot. Besides improving in coffee-making skills, I learned discipline, working under the pressure of high volume while still delivering products to standards and most importantly, a sense of responsibility. I grew so much as a barista and at the same time as a person, too.
During this time, I was content with where I was until I had a cup of coffee with Lucy, my current boss and at the same time my best friend. After the long talk with Lucy, it felt like the competitive side of me got awakened. I knew for a long time that I wanted to go to some kind of national competition, but I never dared to take the first step, nor did I know how to start. Something in my gut tells me that under Lucy’s guidance, I can grow more as a barista and also as a person. In June 2025, I decided to join the Humpback Whale family and have been happily enjoying the journey in growing this small and precious coffee shop with them til this day!
P.S.: On this occasion, I’d also like to say special thanks to all the bosses who have given me a chance to learn and to grow under their guidance. Thank you, Nesat Özkul, for taking care of me, Kai Uwe-Beyer for deepening my knowledge in specialty coffee, Marco Mehrwald for the unique experiences and lastly to Lucy, Harry and Daniel for putting so much trust and believing in me!
Tell us a bit about the place you work at. What is your role there?
I’m currently a part-time barista at Humpback Whale. In my workplace, nobody has a defined role. I think it’s partly because we are still a small family and all of my lovely colleagues care so much about the shop that we try our best to teach each other and to constantly improve the shop. But if I have to put a role on myself, I would say I’m the competitive guy who really is a tryhard for every single competition (including mini throwdowns). My boss Lucy once told me that I inspire the people around me to improve themselves. So if my presence as a competitive tryhard guy can push my colleagues around me to a higher skill level, I think my role would be called ´motivational coach´ hahaha!
What kind of experience do you want your guests to have when they visit you at the cafe?
I want my guests to see me as their friend who gives them their daily coffee, hahaha. I love the fact that the Humpback Whale family managed to create such a wholesome community, where everyone – whatever their background is – feels welcome in the cafe. When I’m having a shift, I feel like I’m just standing behind the bar, waiting for my friends to come, have some coffee together and share about the things that are going on with our lives. I never felt that I had to force a conversation with any of my guests because they are my friends, with whom I’m comfortable being around. As a matter of fact, there are several instances where I spend my time with my guests outside of the cafe to hang out, have a meal, or even play badminton together! I genuinely feel so thankful and lucky to be a part of this community!
What is your favourite part of the day in your cafe, and why?
The first two hours of my shift! I usually have the opening shift. Normally, during the first hour, only our regulars come to have their morning coffee. Since it’s not super busy, I can have some nice and chill conversations with them. After they have their morning coffee and leave for work and classes, I can have more time to myself to clean and organise some stuff in the cafe. This part of the day feels so relaxing and meditative for me. Afterwards, I usually work on a new interesting pattern that I saved the night before from the internet, or I try to perfect the details of a pattern to make it more lively.
How do you stay motivated and inspired to keep improving your coffee-making skills?
The environment plays a big role in this matter. I’m lucky I’m surrounded by people who are healthily competitive, who always look to improve themselves every day. Being surrounded by these people will naturally push you to challenge yourself. The other major thing is also your willingness to expose yourself to new challenges. If you keep on doing the things that you are good at, you’ll never really improve. So, by exposing yourself to your “safe zone”, you’ll realise your weaknesses, you’ll stay humbled but at the same time also motivated!
You have some amazing achievements in championships. Can you tell us more about them?
I wouldn’t say amazing, hahaha! Skillwise, I’m super aware that I still have so many things to improve on. Talking about improvement, I genuinely signed up for the competition in order to improve my latte art skills, since this is my first-ever SCA National Championship. However, I dared to set the target to win first place. I know that by challenging myself to a very high goal, I would push myself to my limits.
Just to clarify where my skill level was before I trained for the championship, to me, it felt like the seahorse was a pattern that was far beyond my reach. So, knowing where I was and where I wanted to go, together with my coach and my team, I dedicated my full focus for 4 months perfecting my stage routine, fine-tuning the presentation and working on my mental weak points, one of them was my performance anxiety.
From my previous experiences, I know that I’ll get super nervous in a high-stakes environment, where my hands would shake uncontrollably, which is super bad, especially for latte art. To solve this problem, I chose a very direct path: exposure. So, what I did was, I hopped into the subway and brought one latte art jug with water and one empty jug. I pretended to do my routine with the water in public while having turbulence from the underground track, hahaha. Aside from that, every week I invited different judges from different backgrounds – baristas, customers, friends or other latte artists! After all those exposure therapies, I thought I would be calmer and have super stable hands on the competition day. Little did I know it’s still there – I just feel more comfortable with having shaky hands!
And one more thing, there is no such thing as a single person’s effort in any competition. I’d never be where I am today without the people around me, who supported me with all their time and energy. I feel so lucky and grateful for the trust and support that the people gave me!
What is so appealing to you in latte art, and why did you pick this discipline at competitions?
There are several reasons for me. First, I chose latte art because in my opinion, latte art is the most rewarding for the people who give the most. The cup that you pour on the competition day represents the hundreds or even thousands of hours you have spent perfecting the pattern.
I believe that latte art is all about repetition and reflection. Being brutally honest with yourself and constantly being open to feedback is crucial for improving in latte art. And aside from cup tasting, it’s the fairest competition. Everyone uses the same machine, the same milk and the same coffee. What differentiates one competitor from another is just pure skill that you’ve been working on til the competition day. It’s also a craftsmanship which everybody can enjoy and relate to, which also inspired the younger me to get into the world of specialty coffee!
What, in your opinion, is the most important thing to have in mind when you start to compete in coffee championships?
Obsession. Not obsession with the outcome of “winning” but with the process. In my opinion, in order to quickly improve in something, you have to fall so deeply in love with the journey and the process of achieving something. Repeating a pattern for the 1000th time will not feel like a burden when you’re so in love with the craft. When you’re obsessed with the craft and its process, practising the routine will become addicting to the point where you will catch yourself thinking “Okay, let me pour one more cup”.
What are your passions and hobbies apart from coffee?
Badminton! I have 5 badminton sessions per week, and I play in the league too! It’s such a good way to relieve my sporty competitive nature 😀
Quick Fire Questions for Thomson Khogres:
Filter coffee or espresso-based?
Filter coffee.
Milk coffee or black coffee?
Black, but milky when practising.
The most underrated coffee drink?
Freshly brewed, ice-cold cold brew.
How do you make coffee at home?
My current favourite is the Origami Dripper.
No.1 café in Europe that every coffee geek should visit?
Humpback Whale Coffee, of course!
