Meet Eira Scheper, who decided to pave her own path in the coffee industry with content creation. Eira got fascinated by specialty coffee while travelling and now in her social media channels she aims to fascinate others, educate home baristas. She creates a cozy environment to taste and experience coffee better.
Eira launched few months ago her own brand – Eira’s Coffee and just at the age of 30 she wrote a biography “Vibrando Alto” (eng: “Vibrating High”) in which she shares her struggles, the path to finding herself and gathering strength & confidence to create her own reality. Eira is very active in the Spanish coffee community and we can’t wait to see what her new initiatives will be.
Eira, what is your first memory with coffee?
I remember always seeing coffee as a grown-up drink as most people saw beer when I was younger. I was excited to get to an age where my parents would let me drink coffee which was something I always loved the smell of. When the time came at 16 or 17 and I had my first sip I felt pure disgust, I couldn’t understand how something that smelled so good could taste so bitter and burnt.
When I started college I made myself drink coffee with lots of milk and sugar to be able to stay awake for exams and things like that, but I hated the taste.
What inspired you to pursue a unique career in the coffee industry, and how did you get started? What did you do before coffee?
Since I didn’t like coffee but got myself used to it, I ended up falling in love with the ritual every morning. In 2017 I decided to travel by myself for the first time and went to Bali, where oat milk and sugar weren’t as easy to find, so I kind of had to face drinking coffee by itself. It wasn’t as bad as back home but also wasn’t the best.
A guy I met there told me he knew a really good coffee place and took me there for a little date. There I took the first ever sip of a coffee that wasn’t crap. It was sweet, acidic in the best way possible and delicious. I didn’t understand why coffee had never tasted that good and that’s when I realized the café had a little sign that said specialty coffee. So I started to do some research. I moved to Los Angeles shortly after where I really immersed myself in the specialty coffee culture.
I was really sad when the time came to go back to Barcelona because I thought that would mean the end of good coffee, but I’m glad I was wrong. In fact I found that we did have some specialty cafés (Nomad, Roast Club and SlowMov) and spent most of my free time going to those places, trying to learn from the baristas and buying my first equipment to make good coffee at home. I realized what a horrible coffee culture we had in Spain so I became kind of obsessed with the topic and just wanted to learn more about it.
Prior to that, I was working here and there at start-ups doing whatever jobs because I hadn’t found something I was really passionate about yet, but I was active on social media sharing a bit of my coffee journey. Over the next years, I continued to learn more and more about the fascinating world of specialty coffee and share more about it online because I wanted more people to know that delicious coffee existed.
I was inside the growing coffee community but found that it was a bit like a bubble that didn’t bridge the gap between them and the rest of the people. So I decided I was going to be that in-between person who would bring regular coffee drinkers to discover good coffee.
Tell us a bit about Eira Coffee.
Once I found my passion in specialty coffee I knew I wanted to work in something related to it, but being a barista or opening my own coffee shop didn’t really appeal to me. Since I was slowly growing as an influencer and shared so much about coffee on social media I thought, why not start a coffee brand?
I was already educating people on how to make good coffee at home, so providing them with coffee made sense. It was also an excuse for me to continue learning about a different coffee branch which was roasting. I got my certifications but realized that even though I knew the theory, it would take me years of practice to be able to be a decent roaster. Serendipitously, a friend of mine introduced me to Miguel Lamora who is the roaster at Atmans Coffee and when I told him about my plans he offered to help me with the roasting. I was already in love with the way that he roasts his coffees (the best in the market if you ask me) so I dived right in!
My coffee routine in the morning has always been a deeply spiritual experience. I wanted to share that same feeling with everyone else, which is why my whole brand is based around tarot. People usually have this idea that tarot is a tool to see the future. Though it’s a practice to self-reflect and connect with yourself. Which is the same thing coffee represents for me.
What do you like about social media and what do you strive for while developing your channels?
I feel like a lot of people constantly criticize social media for all the negative aspects of it. Howver I see social media as a tool, you can either use it for good or bad. To me it’s always been an amazing tool to connect with people. To learn about whatever you want basically for free and it’s a platform that helps you reach a crazy wide audience if you use it correctly.
I’ve had so many people run into me at cafés who had their first good coffee thanks to one of my videos. That justreally fills me with joy. When developing my channels I always strive for authenticity and welcoming content. I share my coffee and life journey from the point of view where I am right now and also use it to learn from whatever feedback I get.
What kind of experience do you want your followers to have when they visit your social media channels?
I want people to feel like my pages are a safe space for people getting into the coffee world. I remember this one time when I was getting into specialty coffee a long time ago and I brought a friend to have their first good coffee at Nomad and when she asked for sugar, the baristas there looked at her with disgust. She felt bad and ashamed and that is a behaviour I see repeatedly in the coffee community sometimes, which I don’t like at all because it drives people away. I want everyone to feel welcome in it and feel like they can ask questions.
How do you stay motivated and inspired to keep improving your content, coffee skills and know-how?
I always surround myself with people with good energy and who I can learn from, because that always motivates me to learn more and be better. I challenge myself every time I can by signing up for competitions (I’m an Aries and very competitive) because even if I don’t feel ready when I sign up, having to prepare for it makes me improve a lot in a very short period of time. And basically knowing that I discover the world of specialty coffee to new people every day just makes me so happy that it fuels me in every way.
What do you think is the most important quality for a barista to have, and why?
Especially if you ask me in Spain, patience and empathy. We don’t have the best tradition and culture when it comes to coffee, bad and burnt coffee is what our grandmas used to drink. I see a lot of baristas be very judgemental when it comes to someone asking for sugar for example. I understand where they’re coming from but I feel like the kind of baristas that are mean to clients for these questions are the ones that make specialty coffee have a bad name.
What kind of community do you hope to build around your channels, and how do you plan to foster that sense of community?
I want to build a community that is all about connection with yourself. One of the reasons I fell in love with coffee by itself was having that slow start at the beginning of your day and specialty coffee intensified that since it takes more time and care to properly make your coffee.
I see people always stressed and running around and not really taking a moment for themselves. And I really want them to slow down for at least the beginning of their day and take that time to be with themselves. Since I’ve mostly used social media in a very direct and natural way I make content that people can relate to and share how I enjoy my coffee, share practices you can do while enjoying your coffee, etc.
What coffee challenges are you looking forward to? Any new projects or collaborations?
At the moment I am facing the challenge of finding a good and fairly priced decaf which is a whole adventure in itself and I get to try a lot of coffees in the process. When it comes to new projects I’m working on very cool merch and products around my brand and I am hoping to be able to collaborate with other roasters soon!
Quick Fire Questions for Eira Scheper
Do you ever take sugar with your coffee?
NEVER.
Espresso or Filter coffee?
Filter coffee.
Milky or Black?
Milky in the morning, black after.
Do you aim for Sweetness, Acidity, or Body?
Acidity always.
Slurp or Spit?
Slurp.
Cake or Pastry with your coffee?
Pastry.
Favourite piece of barista equipment?
V60 dripper.
