Tran-Han might not be any strange name to the coffee community here in Vietnam. Being champion of Vietnam Barista Championship 2 years in a row (2016 & 2017), Tran-Han successfully transformed herself to a role model that every barista should look up to: graceful, skillful and ambitious. Her self-disciplinary and pro-active attitude in working and learning are the most respectful personalities that I always seek for at a barista. If she deserves any title, it will definitely be “The Queen”.
Coming to the Vietnam Barista Championship (VNBC) competition 2018, Tran-Han presents her best performance with Geisha coffee from Colombia. The varietal was naturally processed and had clear honey sweetness, apricot flavor with a hint of grapefruit peels. Winning the 2nd place, she still owned the highest technical score and also my highest respect among competitors. The result appears as a certificate for her hard-work during 4 years, and that it’s time to prepare for a bigger battle with more difficult challenges. What could be more exciting than that?
Everything about Tran-Han inspired me to make an article about this lady and luckily, she said yes after knowing my wish. We had a deep interview primarily about her feelings and plan, which left me a stronger faith in The Queen with her bright career ahead.
Nestincity (Trang): Hello Han! Congratulations on your success at Vietnam Barista Championship! Would you mind if I have a short interview with you for my blog – Nestincity?
Tran-Han: Not at all.
Nestincity (Trang): It has been 3 years since the first Vietnam Barista Championship started, and I always respect your strong spirit and ability since then regardless to any competition ranking.
- Are you sad with the 2nd place? How do you feel now?
Many people are still encouraging me not to be sad about the prize. Actually, from the moment our results were announced until now, I was almost not sad at all. The first reason is that we are a team. We together promised to represent for Bosgaurus team, for anyone who supported us, for Mr. Hung. Secondly, we want to hold our hands hearing the announcement for the 1st and 2nd place. And when that moment came, it’s the happiest thing ever happened to us.
Wow, I could actually see the happiness from both of you when you cried on the stage.
- What did you learn from the result this year?
There was not much to see when I came on stage. However, I found myself quite subjective with logistics. I underestimated some details during preparation, which had significant impacts on not only the coffee but also my spirit of competition. I guess the 2nd place is a reasonable result and a big motivation for me to practice paying more attention to details.
Wow. You are very optimistic, that’s what I like about you.
- What are you proud of the most in your performance?
According to the Judges, it’s my smile.
Exactly! You always have very bright smiles.
Yeah, and the second thing is the emotion conveyed in my presentation. The Judges told me that, after my smile, they could really feel my passion towards coffee and my effort to deliver my message to them.
And I’m sure that no one is better at inspiring than you.
- What else do you want to do this year?
This year, my first plan is to support Nguyen-Anh at the World Barista Championship because their score criteria is always stricter and Judges are more difficult than national round. I want to help Nguyen-Anh score way better than me last year. After that, I also have some plans on sharing coffee knowledge because I also like training. I understand that we all starts with nothing and I know how hard it was to look for information from the very first beginning. If everything’s going well, I will build my own property that advise newbies reliable information sources about coffee and share with them knowledges that I struggled a lot to learn.
Wow, what a nice idea! I guess you want to establish a Training & Development department for Bosgaurus team, also?
Yes, that’s also what I want.
- Will you continue to compete next year?
Yes, I will.
I’ll see a stronger and better Tran-Han next year?
Yes, surely better.
Thank you, Han, for a great interview.
Please kindly click here for the full video of us !
P/s: This interview was made with our extreme excitement to talk to Han, please kindly accept my apologies for the imperfect sounds and lighting in the video. We will surely improve next time!
Blog by a coffee human 