Welcoming Stevo Kühn as a Caffenu Brand Ambassador

As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting excellence in the coffee industry, Caffenu is proud to announce our partnership with Stevo Kühn, South African Barista Champion 2023 + 2025 and AFCA Barista Champ 2025, as an official Caffenu Brand Ambassador. Stevo’s approach to coffee combines technical precision, sensory understanding, and a strong focus on education, making him a natural fit for the Caffenu brand.

Why This Partnership Matters
At first glance, competition coffee and machine cleaning might seem like separate worlds. But in reality, they are deeply connected.

As Stevo puts it, “consistency is everything“. And consistency starts with the condition of your equipment. Even the best beans and the most refined techniques can fall short if a machine is not properly maintained. Residue build-up, oils, and scale can all impact flavour, extraction, and overall performance. For professionals working at the highest level, there is no room for compromise.

We sat down with Stevo to talk about his journey, his approach to coffee, and what drives him to keep pushing boundaries in the industry.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey into coffee and how it all started for you?
Stevo: For me it all started by brewing with a R30 beehive brewer where I used French Vanilla pre-ground coffee to make pour-overs…(I can feel the judgement rolling in)

Before coffee, you were a qualified teacher. How has that influenced the way you approach coffee and sharing knowledge?
Stevo: Teaching was always part of what I did, whether through my career as a teacher or my passion as a musician. This approach, together with a major in Psych and a fair amount of extroversion, has taught me to be adaptable and engage any student or learning environment with empathy and EQ. This is a huge part of my teaching style today. When students are in front of me, it is a game on how to connect with them as quickly as possible and find the most suitable way that they will grasp the concepts that we are dealing with in training. It’s like building a pathway to the student to help create trust and confidence.

What drew you so deeply into specialty coffee as a career and passion?
Stevo: I have a pretty obsessive personality, so when I start something I want to push it as far as I can. I love the fact that coffee has so many techniques and that science plays a big role in it, but the further I go, the more people keep me going and pursuing more avenues of using coffee as a means to create positive impact beyond myself.

Winning the national title is no small feat. What do you think set your performance apart?
Stevo: I think my love for people makes my sets unique so when I speak about things that move me, it is evident that it is real for me and not just a nice story I heard somewhere. My sets always has elements of sensory science involved as well and this makes it fun for me, but also the judges. 

You’ve competed on global stages as well. How does competing internationally differ from competing locally?
Stevo: Wow, it is really worlds apart. Locally you need to have a great coffee with good tasting notes, but at a world level you communicate to a global judging panel and that makes it really challenging. This makes me want to travel to certain parts of the world more so that I can entrench myself in other cultures for the sake of learning and growing.

What was your most memorable moment from your championship journey?
Stevo: Definitely being able build some really valuable relationships. In my last WBC set, I could share the story of my first farm visit in Kenya and my coach and friend, Sasa Sestic being heavily involved not only in the fermentation process of that coffee I used, but also in my set. That was a highlight for me.

What advice would you give to aspiring baristas who want to compete at a high level?
Stevo: It doesn’t happen overnight! Start somewhere and push hard in the same direction for a fair amount of time.

What, in your opinion, separates a good cup of coffee from a truly exceptional one?
Stevo: For me exceptional coffee should not only be balanced and sweet, but also be understated in the quality and clarity of its flavour. On top of that exceptional coffee is also linked to the surroundings, the cup you drink from and lastly, the people you get to share it with.

How important is consistency in coffee, and how do you maintain it as a home barista?
Stevo: This is the very thing that intrigued me about my French vanilla pour-overs…when I added more water, the coffee changed. So, I realised it’s less about the coffee and more about my own ability to be consistent. The tool most valuable in any baristas pursuit of consistency is a scale. Less guessing and more knowing!

What trends are you currently seeing in the coffee industry that excite you
Stevo: There is a big movement to automation, efficiency and hospitality. I really love this, because it all boils down to value. Value in the experience and efficiency for guests and for cafes

From your experience, how much does machine cleanliness impact the taste of coffee?
Stevo: Heavily!!! By ommiting to clean frequently you will get grittiness in the aftertaste and even high and unpleasant bitterness that does not stem from extraction or roast level.

What are some common cleaning mistakes you see baristas or cafés making?
Stevo: Baristas would maybe backwash, but not use never remove showerscreens. The build up there is intense and will just prevent water from running through the coffee puck evenly that results in channeling.

What role do cleaning products play versus just using water or basic maintenance?
Stevo: Water might look effective, but water does not dissolve the oil build-up, and this is where Caffenu products come in.

As a professional barista, what does your ideal daily and weekly cleaning routine look like?
Stevo: Daily – Removing the beans from the hopper and grind a few grinding tablets though the grinder. Removing the baskets and soaking this with the portafilters in cleaning solution. Weekly – Remove the showerscreens and soak them with cleaning solution.

What excites you most about partnering with Caffenu as a brand ambassador?
Stevo: This is really exciting for me – cleaning is one of the easiest ways to improve coffee quality and also to increase the longevity of the financial investment of coffee gear. To share this with people is an exciting task.

What message would you like to share with baristas and coffee professionals about caring for their equipment?
Stevo: A little goes a long way! It doesn’t cost you that much, but it will save you so much and the benefit of it is always tasty coffee. Clean equipment produces clean coffees!

Looking Ahead
This is just the beginning of what we believe will be a meaningful and impactful partnership. From industry insights to behind-the-scenes content and collaborative projects, we’re excited to share this journey with Stevo and the broader coffee community. Keep up with Stevo on his Instagram profile here: https://www.instagram.com/stevobrewscoffee/

Together, we’ll continue to push one simple idea: Clean machine. Better coffee.