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Barista Stories: Sara Solanas of Café Sol, Gran Canaria

Meet Sara Solanas a dedicated and driven coffee professional hailing from Galicia in Spain who changed her climate and now is cultivating her coffee career in the Canary Islands. Sara is the Head Barista of the legendary place Café Sol which has been open since 1909!

Sara took numerous coffee courses and participated in many local and national coffee competitions very often landing on the podium! Most recently she won the Spanish AeroPress Championship and represented her country on the World AeroPress Championship in Lisbon. Sara doesn’t slow down and she’s already planning to compete in the SCA championships that after a long break are coming back to Spain!

Barista Stories are sponsored by PUQ.

Sara, what is your first memory with coffee? 

My first memory with coffee is with my mom, she drank filtered coffee from an automatic machine. She taught me how to prepare it. I remember that I tried it and I didn’t know why she liked it, it was very strong and bitter.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the hospitality industry, and how did you get started?

First I did a higher cycle of hospitality in which many modalities of the sector are taught: restaurant service, cocktail bar, sommelier… I was quite disappointed because I didn’t like what I was doing at all until I encountered the cafeteria module.  At that moment I caught the bug of the barista world. It started as a curiosity: Why are espressos so beautiful? Why is milk cream creamy and delicious sometimes and sometimes not?  At that moment I was clear! I would finish the upper cycle but I would dedicate myself to what I am passionate about, COFFEE. 

A world to discover, enjoy a lot of coffee and many beautiful people to meet and get to know. When the cycle ended, I began to work as a barista and to get more know-how with SCA training modules. 

Tell us a bit about the place you work at. What is your role there?

I work at Café Sol, it’s a REAL coffee shop. It was born in 1909 and has been open since then, only selling commercial and specialty coffee to consume at home. In 2015 a reform was carried out and modernized by adding the cafeteria area.

When I visited Gran Canaria for my holidays I fell in love and I knew I wanted to work there. I was very persistent in delivering my online and physical CV. Once my holidays were over and I returned to Galicia they called me for an interview.

I took a risk and it went great, from 2018 until today I’ve been here growing both as a barista and as a person.

My responsibilities as head barista are as follows:

– Calibrate daily the specialty coffees that are served daily in the café.

– Manage the barista training of my colleagues.

– Prepare weekly filter coffee recipes.

– Order specialty coffees for purchase and sale.

– Organize events.

What kind of experience do you want your customers to have when they visit you at the cafe?

Pleasant and interesting. I would like them to enjoy a tasty coffee, get to know what they are drinking, and always be served with a friendly smile.

What is your favourite part of the day in your cafe, and why?

I have two moments that fascinate me:

The opening: turn on the lights, the sound of the espresso machine when it turns on, the grinders, the coffee beans, the drip coffee maker for the batch… All those sounds I love and they are so satisfying. That’s why I don’t turn on the music until it’s time to open the doors and get the party started.

2. After serving a lot of coffee and making many people happy with their coffee around 1:00 p.m. in my little break I take a moment to enjoy my coffee. It is almost always a filter (v60 or batch).

How do you stay motivated and inspired to keep improving your coffee-making skills?

Competing in many coffee disciplines: barista, cup tasting, AeroPress…

Also even though it is not directly learning about coffee, I like to improve my service and give the best product to my clients. Every day I ask my guests if they liked it and I try to improve with their feedback.

So every day is very different, I learn, share and improve.

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?

The truth is that the key is to train a lot, not to see it as a “job” but as a hobby. Enjoy every workout even if you are tired or overwhelmed, that way you learn and enjoy much more.

Of course, I would love to continue competing in different disciplines: cup tasting, latte art, brewing, barista! Whenever I have time and I can, I encourage myself to go on stage.

How did it feel to compete on the World AeroPress Championship stage?

It was like being in a cloud. The competitors/coach/organization people… although we were all very different, we all speak the same language “love for coffee” and the AeroPress method.

I met beautiful people and made friends with so many of them. I honestly had a great time! I will of course compete next year to try to be there one more time!

Is AeroPress your favourite brewing method?

Surprisingly, my favourite method is not the AeroPress, but the V60.

Since I started I have always felt more comfortable and in my element with it than with any other brewing method. It was love at first sight and the best thing is that it was reciprocated with delicious cups from the beginning.

With the AeroPress, it was a love-hate relationship.

I hated it at first because I didn’t understand it. The cups didn’t come out the way I like them and when I found a recipe that I “liked” it didn’t give me nice results. I felt a lot of frustration with this method, but little by little we started to understand each other.

I had to be much more particular with the whole part of the brewing process to be able to understand all of the variables. In the end, after more than 150 exercises and tests, we already understand each other and love each other very much.

It was not an easy road, but definitely with an unbeatable and fun ending!

What is in your opinion the most important thing to have in mind when you start to compete in coffee championships?

You need to get excited about what you do and even if it doesn’t come out, be patient and persistent. It is also necessary to have a coach who guides you and knows where to go when you are lost.

In my case, my coach is Iván Pérez. Without him, I would not have gone so far or been able to learn so much about coffee. All my achievements are thanks to him!

What coffee challenges are you looking forward to? Any new projects or collaborations?

I look forward to the SCA Barista Championship in February next year. I’m very excited, that Spain returns to the World Coffee Championships.

Quick Fire Questions for Sara Solanas

Would you serve filter coffee with milk if asked for it?

Yes, it’s the person who is going to drink it.

Do you ever take sugar with your coffee?

No.

Espresso or Filter coffee?

Filter coffee.

Milky or Black?

Black.

Do you aim for Sweetness, Acidity, or Body?

Sweetness with pleasant acidity.

Slurp or Spit?

Slurp.

Cake or Pastry with your coffee?

Both!

Favourite piece of barista equipment?

My pink v60 and my Snow white Comandante.