Coffee with Bulgaria’s AeroPress champion, Velimir Kutsarov

How often have you changed your morning route for a really good coffee?

We're quite happy to run a little late if there's a café on the way we trust with that first cup. And when the person making it turns out to be a national champion, we're tempted to stay for a chat. Meet Velimir Kutsarov of Gentlemen’s Roastery Lab, who won the Bulgarian AeroPress Championship on his very first attempt. Held at SOHO Coworking Company in Sofia on 24 October, the competition brought together 25 entrants, including former national champions and familiar faces from the city's coffee scene. Velimir arrived with his own recipe and left with the title. Not a bad debut. Every competitor used the same coffee: Ethiopia Karamo Washed, selected by DABOV Specialty Coffee. How they brewed it was up to them, giving the judges very different cups from the very same beans. Next, Velimir will represent Bulgaria at the world final in Mexico City on 6 December 2026. Before wishing him luck and leaving him to prepare, we asked what the competition felt like from his side of the table. We also wanted to know whether someone who works with coffee all day can ever drink their morning cup without judging it. What do you reckon?

How did your story with coffee begin, and when did making it become more interesting than simply drinking it?

I've been interested in coffee for a long time, but I fell in love with it through the combination of enjoying the brewing process and savouring the result in the cup. Over time, wanting to understand and improve that result led me into roasting too.

That's now a big part of my work at Gentlemen’s Roastery Lab:

finding the flavour I'm after in the roast, then following how it comes through in the brew. Holding myself to a high standard keeps me moving forward, and good results give me the motivation to carry on.

You entered your first AeroPress championship and walked away with the title. Was there a moment that day when you thought you could win?

There wasn't one particular moment. I was so focused on brewing that I barely thought about winning. My attention was on the cup: executing my recipe properly and getting the flavour I was looking for. That's how I went through each round, concentrating on what I was doing right then.

How did you arrive at your winning recipe? What flavour were you chasing, and how many unsuccessful cups did it take?

I wouldn't call them unsuccessful. Some cups grabbed me more than others, but what decided it was how they tasted at different temperatures after brewing. I wanted a recipe that would show the coffee at its best when the judges tasted it. So I paid attention to how the flavour developed as it cooled. The time between brewing and judging was a crucial part of choosing the recipe.

After all that experimenting and competition pressure, what does your coffee look like on an ordinary morning?

My morning coffee is also part of my work as a roaster. As I taste it, I'm thinking about the roast and what I could improve.

The cup gives me feedback on my own work.

Even while I'm drinking it, I'm already thinking about the next roast.

What's the most persistent coffee myth you'd like to bust?

That was one of my main reasons for entering the championship with basic equipment. I wanted to show what you can achieve with affordable kit and a thoughtful approach to brewing. For me, knowing how to use what you have makes an enormous difference to what ends up in the cup.

The world final in Mexico City is next. How are you preparing, and what do you expect to be the biggest challenge?

I'm currently dialling in the new Comandante grinder I'll use at the final so I can get the most out of the coffee. Working with different coffees is part of my everyday life as a roaster, so I feel confident about that side of things. The bigger challenge is stepping beyond my own taste. Making the coffee I like best isn't enough. I need to brew a cup that impresses judges whose preferences I don't know.

Who put blueberries in my coffee?

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