Hey, there! I’m Sunil Gill, but I’m mostly known as “Barista Sunil”. Has a great ring to it, doesn’t it? I’m 24-year-old, originally from Jhelum. My family came to Rawalpindi when I was 5. I haven’t studied much – uptil 9th grade. I left school after that, and weirdly, that was the start of my barista journey.

When I left school, my teacher (ustaad), came to me and asked if I wanted to join the restaurant business. This was 2014, and I had zero coffee knowledge then. I went to MJ’s Coffee House and he gave me an espresso shot. God knows, I found it too bitter. My ustaad laughed and said “Abhi to naye naye ho, aadat hojaegi (You’re new to this, you’ll eventually get used to it). That’s when it all started for me. I started working for commercial coffee chains – Gloria Jeans, Coffee Planet, Smokey Cauldron, finally ending up at Loafology as the Head Barista.

Coffeemistry’s owner, Junaid Sahab, was a regular customer at Loafology. He came in demanding a good cup of espresso. Once he was done with the coffee, he told me that he was planning on opening a coffee shop and was looking for a barista – if I had anybody in mind, I should let him know. A few months passed and I eventually left Loafology, contacting Junaid Sahab to see if the position was still available – and, it was! That’s how I started working at Coffeemistry.

Specialty coffee is so different from the coffee we grew up having. It is usually light to medium roasted, while commercial coffee is dark roasted, giving it that bitter flavor. Specialty coffee allows people to enjoy each and every note. Every coffee is different – each person has a flavor profile preference and specialty coffee having this much variety, definitely helps. I personally love Honey, Blackberry and Lemon, if we’re being specific. Fruity and slightly sweet. I’ve been enjoying Nomad Yirgacheffee since it has all my favorite notes.

People have been so curious about Coffeemistry – it’s so unique. It’s a small coffee cart that packs a punch. The aroma reels them in, every single time. It’s an open cart and the coffee aroma fills up the entire F7 Markaz. People would come in to ask me questions, allowing me to explain everything about specialty coffee. I love to converse with them, educate them.

If we talk about brewing methods, Aeropress has been my favourite, for sure! It excites me the most and sadly, I get to practice it the least these days. It’s such a fun technique, using the plunger. It’s like being a kid again. I personally feel like you get the complete flavor profile through Aeropress. The coffee is extremely smooth. If anybody wants to start brewing at home, then take my suggestion and get your own hand grinder – it’s small and makes the biggest difference. If you don’t want to invest much, you can make Pour Over coffee using a kettle, filters and a V60! If you want something fun, go for an Aeropress. I really need to get my own equipment so that I can start making coffee for my family. My father has to do with instant coffee for now – that’ll hopefully change soon.

My family has been extremely supportive through my journey, but my daughters have been stellar. My eldest one tells me that she wants to make coffee just like I do. They often get worried if I’m adjusting fine in this new job, considering it’s quite different from a cafe, but I’m sure they can tell I’m happy and at peace. A lot of people have asked me to open up my own coffee place, but I feel like I need to study more. I want to perfect the Espresso and study more about Pour Over Coffee. After I’m done with that, I’ll dive into how to roast coffee – our coffee industry needs more people who know how to roast coffee! I’m fully immersed in this journey, let’s see where it takes me.