Coffee sommelier: Michael Gliss

Our visitors had the opportunity to take a fascinating journey through the world of coffee — with Michael Gliss, Germany’s first coffee sommelier! The visitors gained first-hand knowledge of growing regions, coffee types, roasting degrees and preparation.

Michael Gliss acquired his in-depth knowledge of coffee beans, their cultivation and storage, degrees of ripeness and flavour nuances, while studying to become a restaurant specialist in 2001 at the “Institut für Kaffee Experten Ausbildung” (Coffee Expert Training Institute) in Vienna. Today he possesses a coffee sommelier diploma and is Germany’s most respected expert for coffee connoisseurship. “Training to become a coffee sommelier requires much more than just having a passion for the aromatic brown liquid. A diploma as a hotel or restaurant specialist, a very good nose and the most discerning taste buds, experience abroad and proficiency in at least two foreign languages, visits to as many coffee plantations as possible, a solid understanding of psychology and an above average sensitivity are helpful qualifications” Gliss explains.

No one can match Gliss when it comes to knowing what his customers like. A personal consultation is standard procedure. “The enjoyment of coffee is a very individual matter — because all coffee isn’t alike, and knowledge of the product and quality management alone aren't enough. The important thing is to create a unique coffee experience for the coffee drinker, and many different factors play a decisive role in this. My job is to intuitively determine what makes the individual coffee drinker tick, what his preferences are, which flavour he prefers and at which times or on which occasions he drinks coffee. This is the only way to prepare a truly pleasurable experience for the coffee lover, one that is entirely attuned to his personality,” says coffee sommelier Michael Gliss in describing his recipe for success.