IDEAS
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BUCHAREST
70
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WIZZ MAGAZINE
his firstbusiness,Barmania: a school to
trainbar staff. “Iwanted to raise the level
ofbartending inBucharest.”Then, inan
attempt to findouthow to servecoffee,
hewent to Italy,wherehe“became fas-
cinatedwith thecomplexitiesof serving
specialist coffee”.
Fortunately, Panfil isaquick learner.
WhenRomania’snewlyestablished
CoffeeAssociation startedabarista
competition in2011, hecameouton top
andearnedhimself a spot asoneof 56
baristascompetingat theWorldBarista
Championships inBogotá,Colombia.He
didn’twin, butdidcomebackwithanew
passion forcoffeeandadesire to show
the restof theworld thatRomaniacould
serveworld-classcoffee.And thishe
woulddo inhisownOrigoCoffeeShop,
established inanoldkaraokebar.
Startingout, Panfil’sbiggest frustra-
tionwas the lackof freshly roastedcoffee
beans inRomania.Theanswerwas to
becomea roasterhimself. “We started
witha1kg roaster inaback room. It’snot
aseasyas it sounds.Wepractisedand
“Baristas takeat leastanhour
tomakeand taste thecoffee
recipe thatwillbeserved
thatday”
Roast of the town
BaristaVladPlaiasu (above)
celebrates oldBucharest,
serving coffee andholding
events in a 100-year-oldhouse
Great coffee and eventswith
attitude, inoneof themost fasci-
nating settings in the city
Dianei4
