The secret to becoming an Aeropress champ – BeanScene

From Paris, to Sydney, to Seoul, BeanScene caught up with Némo Pop before he headed to South Korea where he subsequently won the World Aeropress Championship.

What made you interested in Aeropress and coffee competitions?

I was a student studying physics and chemistry in Paris. At the time I wasn’t into coffee, but I stumbled upon an Aeropress ad and decided to buy one to see if I could make it work. I owned it for about six months while I was still studying, watched YouTube videos and learned about it.

It introduced me to coffee and coffee culture, so I got a job in a specialty coffee shop in The Fifth in Paris on the weekends and learned the basics, and then I really improved when I got to work at KB Coffee Roasters for two months.

I ended my two months there training for Aeropress championships after one of my colleagues told me I should try competitions. I was starting work at 6am, finishing at 12pm, but leaving the place at 8pm because I was practising Aeropress.

What led you to come to Australia?

I had the opportunity to take a gap year and internship for my school for 2025, and I decided to do it. Because I was so interested in coffee, I decided I wanted to be a barista in ‘the coffee country’ because I wanted to learn.

I also go the opportunity to do a paid internship with APAX Lab, which produces mineral concentrates to help baristas customise their water. It’s the perfect middle point between my studies and the coffee industry.

It was very interesting for me to move here for a year and learn as much as I can.

Did you arrive expecting to compete in Aeropress, and then to represent Australia?

I’m so lucky, and the whole pathway to winning in Australia is just crazy. When I arrived on Australian soil, all I wanted to do is learn a lot and compete in Aeropress. I was constantly refreshing the page on Instagram hoping they would announce the Australian championship because I was so desperate for it to happen.

The competition was announced about a month before it was scheduled, but the whole year before I was hoping it would happen. I wasn’t expecting to win because I know all competitions in Australia are so intense, but the whole process is so much fun.

That’s the beauty of Australian specialty coffee culture, there are so many people from so many different places that add to it and bring their own things to the culture, it’s great.

What’s the secret to making a good Aeropress coffee?

The secret is simplicity. The whole recipe we made is just 18 grams – the maximum dose, always a coarse grind size, and we focused on what was most impactful on the end cup.

Simon from Apax was helping me with my recipe. The whole pour was around the idea that all the patterns we had set would not impact the outcome a lot, we were just going to change the water recipe and use new technology, and that was enough to put me through.

What are you most looking forward to about competing in Seoul?

It still hasn’t really sunk in that I’m going to Korea. It’s crazy. I’m just excited to be in this crowd and competing with so many other national winners. I don’t even know how to picture this event.

There are going to be so many incredible recipes and competitors, and I’m just excited to taste what everyone comes up with and hear everyone’s reasoning about why they came up with the recipe they did.

NOTE: This interview was conducted before Némo competed at the World Aeropress Championship.

This article appears in the December 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.