CIC All Star: Pierre de Chantérac

Please tell us a little about yourself:

I am a French coffee professional with a background in gastronomy, working in specialty coffee for over eight years, with a focus on quality, education, and competition.

I spent eight years at Terres de Café, where I most recently worked as Head of Coffee, leading green coffee sourcing and purchasing decisions, quality control, training programs, and competition strategy, before concluding my role in July 2025.

I am also a licensed Q Arabica Grader since 2022, and have represented France at World Coffee Championships in 2019/2021(Brewers Cup), 2023 (CIC) and 2025 (CiGS).

Beyond competition, I enjoy sharing knowledge and exploring coffee through beauty, sensory and cultural perspectives. I wrote Les goûts du café (a book designed to help understanding and sharpening its sensory analysis skills, (published in Apr 2025) and collaborated with Loveramics (Dec 2024) on the design of an ibrik cup.

I am now about to open my own coffee shop (Feb 2026).

It is a place and a coffee project built around sensory experience and hospitality.

It explores coffee through touch, taste, and ritual, with a strong focus on beauty, effortless flow, and precise cups, leaving space for genuine human connection.

The project aims to create a space where coffee is not only served, but felt and understood — drawing on competition, design, and education to offer a thoughtful, grounded approach to specialty coffee.

What are a few fun facts about you?

I am a serial entrepreneur. I have many projects I am willing to achieve (3 others following the coffee shop), amongst them, one is a Specialty Kebab. Think specialty the way we do in coffee, and apply it to the sandwich (ingredients quality, precision, innovation) and the place (experience, storytelling, design). I just can’t wait to be the day, and taste that.

Why is CIC special to you?

I believe this is one of the most rewarding competitions I have ever taken part in.

It challenged me to explore a method that is still widely misunderstood, to sharpen my skills, and to truly innovate in a space where there is still room to experiment — whether through alternative grinders, water mineral profiles, or roasting approaches beyond what is traditionally expected.

Ibrik offers a unique platform for innovation, as its modern expressions are still relatively new compared to espresso or filter coffee in our industry. This openness allows ideas to move quickly from concept to cup.

The competition also pushes technical skills in a very specific way, particularly around timing, control, and evaluating coffee through a lens that is fundamentally different from other brewing methods.

Finally, Ibrik is especially close to my heart because it opened the door to flavours and textures I had never encountered before. It expanded my understanding of what coffee can express. I came out of this journey more open-minded, more precise, and ultimately a more complete barista and storyteller than when I first stepped into the Ibrik Championship.

What are your interests outside of coffee?

I am deeply drawn to craftsmanship, beauty, and sensory expression. I admire people who devote their time and energy to making something meaningful, and part of my work today is to seek out and collaborate with those individuals.

For a recent project, I worked with a carpenter who builds benches and stools from locally sourced tree trunks, shaping everything by hand. The amount of work involved is remarkable, but what matters most is the intention behind each piece. The result is not just beautiful — it makes sense. And I truly believe that any coffee tasted while sitting on that bench carries something extra.

I pay close attention to how light moves through artisanal ceramics, to the acoustic materials that bring calm and comfort to a space, and to the quality of glassware that can elevate a drink. Each craft, in its own way, becomes an opportunity to learn, connect, and sharpen awareness. I believe my interest lies into being more sensitive person.

In the end, whether for personal growth or for the people who walk into that space, these details come together to form a narrative — rich, thoughtful, and unique — and one that feels worth sharing.