We chat to Hoony Chae from Mojo Vulcan Lane in Auckland. Named NZ's Meadow Fresh Latte Art Champion in 2019 and 2020, we wanted to find out more about what makes him tick.
Mojo Vulcan Lane is an espresso bar located in Auckland CBD in a beautiful old building, with a great vibe and cool neighbours.
We serve delicious cabinet food along with our signature coffee blend and a seasonal single origin. We’re currently serving a natural processed coffee from Brazil.
"I love taking my break outside in the laneway, watching the world go by..."
What is your most popular dish?
Our jelly-tip brownie is so good! Perfect with a coffee.
What are your favourites from the menu?
My favourite item is our Smoked Salmon bagel with cream cheese and pickled red onion. It is another of our biggest sellers. I also love a pan au raisin in the morning with my coffee.
Tell us a bit about yourself:
My name is Hoony Chae and I’m the Head Barista for Mojo Auckland.
I’m a coffee lover and a person who cannot live without caffeination! I’ve worked in the coffee industry for about 8 years and have been with Mojo Coffee for 6 years. I started as front of house and as a junior barista and worked my way up from there.
I’m the 2019 and 2020 New Zealand Meadow Fresh Latte Art Champion and am aiming for 2021, too!
What makes your coffee so great?
A good espresso has balanced acidity, sweetness, and bitterness and I try to get this perfect this every time. Adding velvety, steamed milk to the espresso brings a creamy, smooth experience. Finished off with one of my unique designs, you can eat with your eyes first, then experience the delicious flavours!
How does Meadow Fresh milk and coffee work well together for you?
It’s a perfect match with our Mojo signature blend, Dr. Mojo’s Medicine, and it makes my coffees sweeter and creamier, too.
Meadow Fresh milk is so easy to steam and the elasticity I can create in the micro foam is great. This makes for better latte art and makes the image last longer in the cup, too.
Share a favourite moment where you learnt about the art of coffee.
I am not an artist - I can’t even draw a character from cartoons - but I do love coffee art. I was first inspired by seeing designs online from latte artist legends around the world. However, I started with the basic skills which are a heart, rosetta (fern) and tulips, and then watched hundreds of videos to learn more. I then watched the same video thousands of times and physically practiced the art design as many times as I could. If you never give up, one day you can be a latte artist, too!
What is one piece of advice you’d give others starting out in the hospitality industry?
If you love interacting with people and sharing stories, you would be a perfect person to work in the hospitality industry. It’s important to take pride in your work, to care about your customer’s experience and to be good at multi-tasking!
It's a very rewarding job and it has given me many opportunities to do lots of cool things – including competing in competitions and representing NZ in the World Latte Art Championships!
Is there anything else you would like us to know?
It has been a great challenge for me to take part in a variety of competitions over the years, from throwdowns to bigger events. When I first started making coffee and practicing latte art, I made a goal to challenge myself and be the best barista I can be. Taking part in competitions has improved my confidence, skills and has connected me to many other people in our industry. My public speaking has got better, pouring latte art in front of people has got easier and I have learnt so much from other people. I’m very thankful for companies such as Meadow Fresh who continue to support our community through events like this.
Covid was a crazy time, can you tell us about some neat things that people in the industry have done to support each other.
It has been great to see people supporting their local cafes and trying to come back into the city. Buying coffees for home from different roasters seems to also be popular – our online shop is a great place to treat yourself or someone else with coffee for home.
@mojocoffeenz @barista_hoony.c
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