Today, Jhonni Gonzalez finds himself deep within the Guatemalan jungle. It is January. As is typical, he wears a starched barman’s apron atop a crisp work shirt, but neither garment shows evidence of the dampness rolling in from the spotty clouds, or the ash from the surrounding volcanoes, or the loose earth rising in puffs as each of his feet hit heavily on the well-worn trail. In fact, as he deftly navigates these footpaths snaking around the lush hillsides of Finca Filadelfia, Jhonni appears to be gliding, passing above the landscape as the land in turn passes below him.

The way he moves through this environment, it’s hard not to think of a superhero or some comic book creation, a barista so intuitively entwined with his coffee that they’ve grown up together.

We are trekking up steep knolls as high as 6500 feet, having begun far below on the patio of Finca Filadelfia’s open-air kitchen. Down there, Jhonni tsk-tsked me when I asked the young girl in the kitchen for a café con leche, por favor. He smiled as if to say, I have not trained her in the mysteries of coffee yet, before disappearing behind her at the Faema espresso machine to craft my coffee himself.

So I was alone on the patio when Juan Antonio came to fetch me. I had met him once before when he drove me in his pickup to the highest points on the hills to see the Genuine Antigua coffee that has grown at Finca Filadelfia since 1874. But that day, it was cloudy. Juan Antonio was not satisfied with the views. He mumbled to himself about the cold of January, and asked me to return on a sunnier day.

Juan Antonio smiles, notes Jhonni’s absence, looks to the kitchen knowingly, and sits. Unlike Jhonni, Juan Antonio speaks perfect English, having studied agriculture at an American university before returning to Guatemala to tend to both Finca Filadelfia and his own family’s coffee farm.

Today, he is happy with the weather, though clouds linger due to the early hour. He tells me we will surely see volcanic eruptions on a morning like this. He says this casually.

But Jhonni has returned and placed a perfect cappuccino in front of me, so I am reassured. I drag my spoon along the edge of the latte art admiringly, and Jhonni watches my reaction. He smiles when I smile, relieved.

That relief is ridiculous, of course, because Jhonni is a national champion. His barista skills were appropriately recognized by some of the best baristas and most distinguished competition judges on the planet, 2005 World Barista Champion (WBC) Troels Overdal Poulsen, WBC Western Hemisphere Coordinator Cindy Chang, and WBC Board Vice Chair Mireya Jones among them, when he was awarded the prestigious honor of 2005 Guatemalan Barista Champ in August of last year. Still, the best baristas can not only craft spectacular drinks, but serve them with humility and professionalism, as well. Jhonni Gonzalez does this.

Want to follow Jhonni through the Guatemalan jungle? Then order this back issue today from Barista Magazine!