Name of Barista:
Alex Forsyth, Sydney Barista Champion

Works at:
Freelancing in Brisbane

Favourite espresso drink:
Latte but if I'm at work I normally have Camomile Tea

Favourite cafe:
E61 in Crows Nest, New Orleans in Crows Nest and Tablespoon in Lindfield.

What advice would you give to people who wants to be a barista or get into the coffee industry?:
You have to keep trying things out. What people teach you are only guidelines and not exact formulas. Every barista is different. Some are stronger so they don't need to tamp the coffee in as hard. All baristas have their own set of routines.
Experiment with different things and find out what affects the coffee. For example, the temperature of the water, the coffee grind, the amount of coffee you put in, all of them will affect the outcome by changing one of them slightly. Take your own spin on it! Have the confidence. Keep at it and do it over and over again.
As for opening a cafe, try and work out what you can give to your customers that other cafes couldn't provide. Work out what is your target market and go from there.

Favourite pastimes:
Skiing, especially in USA or Canada.

Percs of the Job:
Meeting people, you'll always get the positive ones and the negative ones. But what can you do, you'll always get the fussy ones. You slowly learn how to do small talk and understand people's life story. You know them by their coffee. You'll get to know their moods and learn how to read people. Most people put on a different persona when they're at work. So sometimes you get to see them in the morning, and they'll talk about taking their kids to the beach on Saturday. And in the afternoon they'll have a business meeting in the cafe with a more serious approach. It's interesting seeing different sides of people.

Strangest customers' request:
Long Black. But not the usual long black where you put the shots on top of the water that's already in the cup. Long black. No water in cup. Put the shots in the cup and extend it by letting water through until the cup is full.

Half skim, half soy is also a very strange one.