Meet… Jorge

Meet Jorge Patricio Kimbangla Alberto- Origin’s new apprentice roaster. He may be new to roasting but Jorge has been part in Origin’s highly-caffeinated blood since 2006.  From the early days when Origin was breaking fresh ground in the specialty coffee industry of South Africa Jorge was there working as a general assistant and learning the ins and outs of being barista under the watchful eye of Jose. This was before Origin even had a barista school, so Jorge had to learn as he went, grabbing slots at the barista station whenever it was free.

Jorge met Joel Singer while working as a member of staff at Joel’s neighbourhood Spar in Vredehoek. Joel remembers how Jorge got to know his family and had an exceptional way with people. When Joel then started Origin he immediately tried to recruit Jorge, but Jorge was in Outdshoorn, and it was a few more months before he came to Origin’s table.

Since then Jorge has immersed himself in the nitty gritty of Origin’s daily grind. He has worked on the floor as a waiter, sometime barista, floor manager and ‘customer-charmer’, a sales assistant and an after- sales representative supporting Origin’s wholesale customers on the road. It seems that the only area still to be pioneered for Jorge was roasting.

“After four years at Origin one has the tendency to think you’ve done it all-not so!”

But Jorge’s involvement in coffee didn’t begin with Origin. Born in Luanda in Angola, Jorge would often go to his grandfather’s coffee farm in Gabela on holidays. It was there that he first learnt how to harvest coffee and would watch the beans being roasted in the traditional method in big clay ovens.

Angola used to be the 4^th biggest coffee producer in the world, but during the war there was no market for coffee, and small farmers like Jorge’s grandfather were forced to grow other commodities like bananas. Things are looking up for these small farmers however, as overseas investors are lending a financial hand in getting farms replanted and the coffee trade in Angola rebooted.

Jorge felt strongly against supporting the civil war, so when the time came for him to be enlisted, he decided rather to escape the country. After a very long journey involving cars, airplanes and river crossings, Jorge finally crossed the Namibian border into South Africa. He didn’t want to flee overseas and adds strongly,

“My love has always been Africa”

Jorge says that moving into roasting hadn’t always been the plan, but when he saw the need for someone who understood the principles of the coffee bean to step in- he took it. Trained by Jake and Joel, Jorge is now settling in well to his new home at the roaster. Jorge is an exceptional person, and Origin is committed to seeing him reach his full potential.

“I am very excited about this new beginning and I’m finding it very challenging. Each day I learn something new and I feel like I am fulfilling some of the dreams we spoke about when Origin started. I am proud to be doing what I do each day”

Creating the perfect roast is a difficult and complicated process, but one Jorge is committed to mastering.

“Every coffee has its own requirements and asks for a specific thing. It takes dedication to detail and precision to draw the potential out of each lot of beans because everything can change in just a few seconds time”

This has been the mantra for roasting that Origin has dedicated itself to since its inception.  A roaster must have a lot of interest in what they do, must read extensively and experiment with time and temperature fanatically. This is what it takes to find the perfect profile for each coffee.

“Knowing the characteristics of the coffee helps with determining how to roast it, but you don’t know for sure until you experiment. Once you get it right you need to keep practicing and adapting the method to the changes in the weather and how the machine is responding to each profile”

Jorge is busy familiarizing himself with each and every coffee and believes he will be in roasting for a while

“I am grateful for the ride and am enjoying the journey I am on in coffee”

Jorge is also part of a broadening team at Origin that cups and profiles every coffee. Together with Joel and Jo, Origin’s barista trainer, and with other members of the team, he works to evaluate how successful each roast has been. Another thing that may occupy Jorge’s time would be his flourishing modeling career as part of Full Circle modelling agency- you may want to have a peek at his portfolio. He is also an involved member of Assemblies of God Church, which meets in Belleville and which Jorge helped start here in Cape Town.

“I am a very grateful person- I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for God”

Jorge can be found on the top floor of Origin- and would love to meet you if you have any questions about roasting or just want to play voyeur and watch him at work. Jorge is absolutely passionate about his new role and says that people coming to see what he does in the roastery would be ‘just fabulous’.