Michalis Dimitrakopoulos
GREECE
I’m a true coffee addict, and in 2014, I moved to Athens to pursue my dream of becoming a champion. At the 2016 World Coffee in Good Spirits, a chance meeting with the Astoria specialty team catapulted me into the world I had always dreamed of. There, I was able to dive into the heart of the machines and combine my two passions: thinking like an engineer and experimenting like an artist.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- WCGS Champion 2016
- WBC Runner up 2019
JUDGE
- WCE certified judge
Never stop reading and studying. Keep experimenting, testing, tasting: we have to train ourselves to know what is good and what is not. Knowledge comes from books, but also from long hours spent trying to identify the different types of aromas and flavors. I love everything that's inside the machines; the technical part literally drives me crazy. But I also enjoy the sensory experience, I love traveling through the different flavors.
Being part of Barista Attitude from the very beginning has been an incredible experience. I’ve always believed that the best coffee machines are designed by baristas, for baristas. When we worked on the Storm, I was in the thick of it—testing prototypes, refining details, making sure it met the real needs of professionals. It felt like building a race car, and I was the driver.
