Alyssa Blom, the Head of Coffee at Truth Coffee Roasting, has been working with the Truth Team since 2015 in various positions and departments, from Barista to trainer to Head of Coffee.

When Alyssa was a student in Bloemfontein, good coffee was difficult to come across. She searched local roasteries (at the time there were only 2), and when she found her perfect Americano had a gut feeling to explore this excitement further. She approached the owner and offered help for any available position just to work with coffee.

Alyssa had no formal training, either self-taught or under mentorship, until about 2018 when she additionally began training under SCA. James Kilbourn opened up Alyssa’s coffee world and taught her many aspects of the industry while she worked with him; David Donde at Truth has taught her not only of the coffee industry but also about business and philosophy.

Alyssa has been a judge for the regional and national barista championships since 2015 and is passionate about working alongside people who are as passionate about coffee as she is.