Meet James, Roaster at Padre Noosa. After many years in corporate roles I felt the need for a change to something more tangible and hands on, so with an interest in coffee I moved back into hospitality and began to learn more about specialty.
Since Charlie made the move to Melbourne from his hometown of Auckland to chase his passion for education in coffee, he's achieving his personal goals including a trip to origin and launching his own coffee blog.
My role has changed a fair bit over the years; I’m now one of the longest serving employees. Everyone here gets to evolve and grow alongside the business, which is the really beautiful thing about working at Padre. It really is like family.
I’ve also got another prototype grinder in the works. It’s designed to fit into an Aeropress - portable, but metal instead of ceramic burrs. That would be the third grinder I’ve developed now. Stay tuned!
After completing the degree, I returned to Bordeaux and trained as a yoga teacher for three years, before deciding to make the move to Australia. I always wanted to go to Australia and figured it was then or never.