Sarah Posma: A Fairbanks Coffee Leader's Path From Barista to Manager

A Dream Job Realized

Sarah Posma almost left out a detail about herself. In a follow-up e-mail after our interview, she admitted she isn't one to trumpet her own achievements—which is why she forgot to mention that she also runs a blog and a bakery. That kind of understatement fits this Alaska-born barista competitor, who balances cross-country skiing and ceramics with her role as general manager of Alaska Coffee Roasting Company in Fairbanks.

Her connection to the company began long before she worked there. "Working at Alaska Coffee Roasting has always been my dream job," Posma says. She recalls crossing the street from her high school to visit after classes and trying for years to land a job. After completing a biology degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, she finally joined the staff as a barista—and she has now been with the company for eleven years.

Fairbanks, she notes, has no shortage of coffee options: likely thirty to forty drive-through coffee kiosks. Her company, however, is one of just four sit-down cafés in the city and one of three micro-roasters, alongside North Pole Coffee and Diving Duck Coffee.

Behind the Counter and Beyond

These days Posma rarely works bar shifts in her managerial position, but she remains closely tied to the café's daily operations—roasting on its Sivetz roaster and training baristas, a task she especially enjoys. "Most of my employees are university students who are just looking for a job, but once in a while I find someone who's really interested in coffee, and I get a kick out of that."

She also values time with regulars, including an older gentleman who came in nearly every day for about a decade for his twelve-ounce skinny latte and a scone, and who passed away recently. "I know we were one of the highlights of his day, and that made me happy."

A Long Trip to the Big Western

At the recent Big Western Barista Competition, held in the Los Angeles area, Posma traveled farther than any other competitor—3,283 miles. Her signature drink drew on her northern roots, combining espresso with "a white tea blended with lingonberry leaves and berries, and fireweed blossoms as well as local fireweed honey foam."

She was glad to compete this year and counted it a triumph simply to calm the nerves that had shaken her in the 2014 event, when she "actually sloshed the cappuccinos all over the countertop when [she] set them down in front of the judges!" She hasn't decided whether she'll enter again next year. Even without a spot among the finalists, she points out, she prepared some "really tasty beverages" and saw her technical score improve—enough to leave her satisfied. Her main reason for competing was to keep pushing herself after earning her Levels One and Two Barista certifications and the SCAA Lead Instructor certification.

Winter Life in Fairbanks

Fairbanks is having a mild winter this year, Posma says, with only about seven inches of snow so far instead of the usual couple of feet. The café opens at 7:00 am, when it is still pitch black outside; the sun rises around 9:30 am and sets around 3:00 pm. "We are actually open until around ten o'clock, and believe it or not, people still buy coffee then!" In winter, she adds, the café fills with customers who purchase coffee and "hang out" for hours—a culture she embraces, coffee mug in hand.