Around the Regions: Vietnamese American Named Top Barista in U.S.

Those who know her know that Phuong Tran and coffee just go together. Boldness, strength and sweetness characterize both the Vietnamese American barista and the espresso she serve southwest Washington. It comes as no surprise, then, that Tran won the recently held U.S. Barista Championship at the state Convention and Trade Center. Surrounded by 40 of the best baristas in the country, Tran served four espressos, four cappuccinos and four of her Southeast Asia-inspired signature drinks to a panel of discerning judges. After three intense rounds of competition, they agreed unanimously that her performance deserved first place and the chance to represent the United States at the upcoming World Barista Championship, also in Seattle. The 34-year-old’s road to the competition began three years ago when she opened Lava Java, a coffee shop in Ridgefield, Wash. “I didn’t know very much about coffee,” she admits. She soon discovered that making espresso was both an art and a science with rigorous standards. “That was intriguing to me,” she says. When her then-assistant manager Billy Wilson competed at the 2002 regional competition, he and Tran discovered all that goes into making excellent espresso: a good machine and grinder, perfectly-roasted fresh coffee and a skilled barista. Tran began budgeting for a new machine and grinder and also started looking at local coffee roasters to find an excellent blend. She settled on Stumptown Coffee Roasters of Portland. After a couple of years, Tran quit her full-time job in information technology to devote herself wholeheartedly to coffee. “When I said I was going to do my business full-time, people said to me, ‘You give me hope and motivation that dreams like that can happen!’” Tran says. “It all comes down to working really hard and being determined.” This, Tran says, she received from her mother. “My mom is a tough cookie — very brave, very determined.” Her mother worked as a seamstress and her father was in the military in Vietnam, where Tran was born. She tasted her first cup of coffee as a child growing up in the town of My Tho, near Saigon. “I really liked it because Vietnamese iced coffee uses condensed milk,” she says. She also enjoyed the sweet sugar cane that grew in My Tho. When Tran was 9 years old, her father was killed in battle. She, her mother and her seven siblings then moved to the United States. Tran says her Asian heritage affects the way she approaches coffee and how she does business. “There are traditions in coffee,” she says, “the process of brewing and doing it right, instead of super-automatic. It builds something into your character that often gets lost when people forget about traditions.” Also, Tran recognizes the input of her parents in shaping her views of work. “They said the only way to be successful was to go to school and work really hard.” Tran is no stranger to hard work. Recently, she accepted a position — in addition to running Lava Java — as director of barista training for Zoka Coffee Roasters, based in Seattle. During the month before the national championship, she spent three weeks in Japan training the baristas at Zoka’s new location in Tokyo. That left little time for honing her own barista skills. But, in the 10 days before competition, she altered the coffees in her espresso blend, created an original signature drink and helped train four other competitors who all finished in the top 25. But, she says, “I don’t see it as work. I see it as art, as a hobby, something that I enjoy doing.” By Pamela Ellgen for the Northwest Asian Weekly www.nwasianweekly.com scpwan@nwlink.com Phuong Tran served four Southeast Asia-inspired drinks in the national competition in Seattle earlier this month. The barista, who was born in Vietnam, owns a coffee shop in south-west Washington.