Aissatou

Can you juggle?
No
Very clear
I kind of find it impressive but you know when people can juggle, they feel the need to show you? It makes me think of jesters in the middle ages. Can you juggle?
Yeah
That's cool.
It's many things, but it's not cool.

What did this space used to be?
My vintage clothes and coffee shop called Coffee and Frippes.
Why did you change to wine?
I didn't. When I was thinking about whether or not I wanted to continue with it, a customer of mine at the time had a wine shop. He then wanted to open another on Roman Road and it was good timing. It worked out for both of us.
Do you like being back here?
Yeah it's nostalgic not sad. I think it's great and it's definitely what it's meant to be now...much more than a coffee shop.
Now where do you go for coffee on this road?
Mae & Harvey are the specialty coffee institution on the street. Or Costa, for their lack of traceability and perfectly roasted coffee.

Where abouts in France did you grow up?
In Auvergne in the mountains. Volcano actually.
Volcano?!
Yeah even people in France don't know that there are volcanoes there. One of the biggest sites of inactive volcanoes. You can actually climb the exact volcano that's on the Volvic bottle.
How does that affect the terroir?
It used to have wine in the 19th century a lot of the vineyards were destroyed by mildew. But the past few decades, the vineyards have been regenerated. The volcanic soil is really good.
Are your family still there?
Yeah everyone is there apart from my sister is there, she's in Berlin now.
How long have you been in London?
Eleven years.
Do you like it that much?
Apparently. My plan was 3 months to learn English, but it didn't go to plan. Then I moved into a house with Australians who were working at Pact Coffee. They said they needed people to help with packing and that's how I got into coffee.
Working with Will?
Yes. Then they hired for a roaster, I applied internally and got the job! I had zero experience in roasting. Best way to get in coffee, start roasting on the Loring s70 with no idea what green coffee was! When coffee was delivered downstairs, we'd need to bring each sack up the stairs. I was really strong.
Do you miss roasting?
I liked roasting smaller batches and cupping but not the repetition of production roasting. It's not veey good for my brain. For some people it's soothing to do the repetitive action but for me it means I just have time with my racing thoughts.
So you're trying to escape your mind? How do you do that?
Erm, lifting weights. I love run but I think I love lifting weights more than running. You can't think about anything else when you're lifting weights, that's the only way for me to shut everything out...that and meditation. It's taken me many years to be good at meditating. Now I can see the effects of meditation. It took a few years to realise you don't necessarily respond to things in the same way anymore.
You are a lot nicer now.
Probably!
Have you ever thought of combining lifting and meditating?
They say you shouldn't drive whilst mediating because it puts you in a certain state of mind.
You shouldn't drive while lifting either.
I think lifting is a way of meditating.

Everyone in coffee who thinks of Mexico usually thinks of you.
I only joined that company a year and a half ago so that's odd.
Big impact, short space of time.
I really care about that job.
Why do you care about it?
I think I can't not care about what I do so it's good I'm doing something that I care about.
I find not many people care about coffee supply chain.
That's sad but it’s not just in coffee. I think in general, people care about things until it doesn't work out for them. It's like people are happy to talk about the coffee premiums they pay but then the market goes up and all of a sudden they're not. I try not to talk about the C Price because it's so boring. Everyone is an expert and have opinions on everything.
Yeah we stayed out of the C Price chat. I deleted two videos we made about it.
You were worried about backlash?
No I just felt like I was taking the piss out of people.
You know what specialty coffee lacks sometimes? In French we call it 'autodérision'. Making fun of itself.
Like self deprication? Yeah it can be very serious.

Would you settle in Aurvergne?
Nope. If I lived in France it'd be by the coast. I wouldn't mind living in Scotland if it wasn't located where it was. If it was in the latitude of France then yes.
Because of the weather?
No the daylight. I don't mind winter, I was born in November.
Yup that's how that works.
I don't know why I said that.

How do you explain to your family what you do?
I say I work for a company that sources coffee directly from producers in Mexico, handle logistics then sell it to roasters who then transform the product. People still have a hard time understanding where coffee comes from. If you've never seen the process it's hard to understand.

What would you be doing if not coffee?
A diplomat .
You're going about it the right way.
How?
You're traveling lots, conducting business overseas, speaking multiple languages and understanding different cultures. I'll write the CV dont worry.
Cool, I can still become one! When I was a child I wanted to become a judge for children.
Like in the playground?
No family court. So I did 2 years of law at university. My dad was pushing for me to study law,even though I'd studied languages since high school.
Did you start to rebel?
Yes!
Was that tattoo number one?
No, that was at 18.

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Not quite sure how or why, but we then got into a long conversation about the film structures of Nollywood movies and our shared love of chaotic countries.

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How many tattoos do you have?
Can I count them?
I hope so.
Ten! This one is a separatist woman in Chapas, Mexico. They are autonomous and took arms in '95 because they wanted to break away from the government. There's less of them now, the women in balaclavas. The whole thing is about recognising women as the backbone of society and the leaders of the revolution
Just want to double check that you didn't get that done ironically?
No no. Only 10, not so many.
That has to be the last question, have you seen the time!?