Competitor stories: June Simon

June Simon, co-founder of Juel Coffee, has been working in the specialty coffee industry from over a decade – from coffee shops to events, competitions and recently, coaching. In September 2024, she placed first in the German Brewers Cup Championship, and will represent her country in the World Brewers Cup in Jakarta.

Following her performance at the German Brewers Cup, we spoke to June about her start in coffee, her competition experiences, preparation with her team, the coffee she used and using the LINK roaster to prepare her championship-winning coffee.

Please tell us about how you started working in the coffee industry, and about your experience to date.

Like a lot of coffee professionals I started behind the bar of a charming (non specialty) cafe back in 2012 right after I moved to Berlin.

Over the time I really got hooked by the product and wanted to learn more. So I worked and learned at many famous Berlin specialty cafes and roasteries for the following years. In 2016 I started to work as a freelance barista with a main focus on events. Over the time my focus shifted more towards education and competition. Giving classes and sharing the love for coffee is just so rewarding. Oh and I am also working part time as a quality manager for a green coffee trader.

How did you start competing in coffee competitions in the first place? 

When working as an event barista I practiced a lot on my latte art skills as they are the highlight for most visitors and guests. Then a colleague reached out and told me about the national championships and encouraged me to try and compete. So I started with a small fun competition to get a feeling for it and placed 2nd. With that motivation boost I went on to the nationals and placed within the top three, that was in 2018.

Since then I placed 2nd at the Tirolean latte art championship 19’, 3rd at the German latte art championship 20’, placed 2nd at the German cup tasters 25’ and recently won the German Brewers Cup 25’ (which is a little insane, because is 25’ is literally the future haha).

I’m also grateful for a bunch of smaller victories over the last years at many fun competitions (1st place Dallmayr Barista Battle Lugano 19’, 1st Place das Fest 23’, 2nd place Barista league FFM 22’ and more).

How did you feel about competing this year? Were there any particular challenges you had to overcome in your preparation? 

Developing and presenting my routine at the open service round was so much fun and I really felt good about it. To me, the compulsory round really is the tricky part. I love the brewers format so much, because the compulsory makes it fairer for everyone, but it really was a challenge for me mentally in the past. So I focused a lot on finding a great recipe that gave me confidence and allowed me to have a calm and focused coffee time.

You used a Nicaraguan coffee for your performance. Can you tell us more about the coffee, Bridazul and why you selected this particular coffee? 

Nicaragua is the first and so far only origin that I ever got to visit. So I might have a different bond with Nicaraguan coffees than other coffee professionals.

A lot of people seem to have a really set image of Nicaraguan coffee, but it really has so much more to offer than chocolate and nutty notes, especially now that advanced processing can change the cup profile to such a crazily different point. It’s sad that we don’t see these coffees more often on stage!

Bridazul is the dry mill of Claudia Lovo and Tim Willems, a very special place, where they and their team not only process their own coffees, but use their experience and network to process for many small producers within their region and help them to connect with potential buyer for their coffees. Tim really is a mastermind of fermentation and creates wonderful cup profiles. Their work really helps the people of their region and is more than worth to be shared.

So to me it was clear that I wanted to work with them. After competing with a catimor that they processed earlier this year, I wanted to step up the game a little for this competition and used a Carbonic Maceration (CM) natural gesha from Finca libre, based in the Mozonte region. The farm is situated as high as it could get in Nicaragua – at more than 1600masl. The cooler temperature and higher humidity up there let the cherries ripen a little slower, helping the gesha to create a rich and juice like sweetness and a silky texture.

You prepared your coffee using the LINK sample roaster. Can you tell us about your experience using the LINK, and any special profiling, methods or collaborations you used in order to achieve the perfect roast? 

I’m super grateful for working with Nucleus [Coffee Tools] and especially for the support from Jerome (Rosler). He knows the coffees from Bridazul very well and helped me to get a deeper understanding of the LINK itself and also created a customised roast profile for my gesha. The knowledge he has when it comes to roasting is insane!

[Jerome] also shared the beta version of the recently released firmware update with me so I could roast my coffee with the new fan adjustment tool already! Thanks a lot for that 🙂

You worked with a team for your competition preparation. Who did you work with, and why is it so important for competitors to have a strong support network? 

Competitions are almost never a one man/woman show. Especially on the days of the competition you need support and people that help you stay focused and as relaxed as possible.

My biggest supporter and coach for the last year is my dear friend Janine de Laar.  Janine is a very special coach as her approach is not to simple put her stamp on each competitor, telling them what to do in order to win. Instead she works with each competitor in their own ways, letting them be and do who they are and what they want to stand for. Giving advice, folding paper filters, cheering you up, giving you structure or her taste buds – whatever is needed in the situation. She really connects and feels with us, helping us to get the best out of ourselves. She knows what it’s like to compete and how one feels in certain situations. So it really is a lot of fun working and developing a concept with her.

I also worked with my sister (and business partner at Juel Coffee), Ella who had to keep up with me for all of her life but especially the last months. She always supported me mentally and also with her skills as an artist. The illustration she made to make my concept more accessible is just so beautiful! She will also help me to have a realistic schedule for Jakarta and make me stick to it.

This year I also teamed up with Sibarist. We’ve been exchanging a lot and I am very grateful for their support and all of their input! Thank you Quim!

The man in charge of driving, logistics and everything in the background that is not directly related to the competition (like having food in the apartment, getting medicine from the pharmacy…) is my husband Bene.

Is there anything special about your coffee, or barista approach, you’re passionate about sharing? Especially details that you may not have time to share in your routine?

To me, the coffee itself still has too much weight for the final evaluation. I understand that it is a coffee competition and it should be about a pleasant cup experience, but to me the skill of an accurate description, precise execution and an overall great customer experience should weigh more. This way competitors could get encouraged to use coffees from other origins than just the usual high scoring ones, making the competition more diverse and accessible.

Please add anything else you believe to be important/relevant, or that you wish to share with the Nucleus Coffee Tools community: 

To everyone out there, but especially my dear female colleagues: I know it’s easy to doubt ourselves. Please don’t let that keep you away from trying. We don’t have to succeed in the first place. Taking the first step will for sure bring you one step closer towards your goals. So please, start your journey and enjoy every step of it! Believe in yourselves and don’t forget to have a lot of fun along the way! It will turn out fine and you will learn a lot, not only about coffee, but about yourselves.

Watch June’s winning performance from the 2025 German Brewers Cup here.

Photos: @lisalottta, Ella Simon and Jordan Montgomery