Next in our HARTMUD SOUL MATES series is a Germany based globetrotting couple that chase the elusive craft coffee dragon all over the world.
Buenos Aires born Jaime Mateo and his partner Tara Sky from Berlin are both in their twenties and call Wiesbaden (Germany) their home town, but most of the time they are flying high as flight attendants for Lufthansa, globetrotting and exploring the world for culinary enlightenment.
Being a part-time or home barista since old Mateo learned about Hartmud 5 years ago at a Frankfurt roastery and coffee shop, and it was love at first cup. When he would have some money to spend it would be for a hartmud, and while his collection counted only 8 vessels when Tara met him, it counts over 60 in 2022, making him a genuine hartmud brand ambassador from the heart.
Taras and Mateos passion is travel, obviously, and thanks to their profession they can live it full-time and always. Vancouver for a weekend for whale watching, or a sumptuous dinner in New York, their life is full of cliché but oh so real. When they discovered specialty coffee, their focus shifted towards the local roasters and coffee shops when exploring a new city, and they are building their individual global map of specialty from Tokyo to Vegas, and Cape Town to Oslo.
When it does happen that Tara and Mateo are at home for a short break they make opulent cappuccinos, night and day, celebrating their home coffee bar with a dual boiler espresso machine, a majestic collection of hartmud cups and the best and most exotic beans they could find yonder.
While Mateo is the first captain of the coffee bar, Taras domain is the kitchen, as she loves baking and cooking, with her own recipes not only for croissants, sour dough bread and her legendary cheese cake, but also for home made pasta and sushi. Sometimes their friends mock their gigantic kitchen and coffee set-up only to learn that every tool is in use and for good purpose.
When asked about their most cherished coffee moment of the day, they laugh and admit to thoroughly celebrate those rare moments at home, while these days the machine is on for 24 hours and they make coffee all day long.
„Making coffee is so much more than just pushing some buttons, it is about passion and love,“, Mateo explains: „when working as a part time barista even in the rush hours of life, I will take my time to brew or extract with love, concentration and utmost precision.“
When asked about his favorite hartmud cup and size, he would point to the fact that every cup has a special meaning for him, but he clearly prefers the blue colors and the older hartmud tulips for cappuccino. Taras most treasured gem is the mythic hartmud waterfall tulip, a limited edition from 2019, but she recently fell in love with the Peaches Lotus for her art of coffee.
Taras and Mateos aim in life is to make people happy, and that doesn’t stop with saying lovely words, obviously, because they live their love through action. To be a flight attendant makes you very sensitive to the well being of others, and you really learn the gestures and art of hospitality that you will make part of your life, also at home.
To strive for the perfect flat white and cook a sumptuous dinner is one thing, but to make other feel loved and at ease is the real chocolate. Love is not about words, it is about action, and most of the time it is the tiny little services that build love, and not the dramatic gestures of the ego. Mateo and Tara always act from the heart, regardless whether serving a drink in 10.000 meters altitude or taking a little time to listen to their neighbor.
Both of them wish that people respect each other, and that we listen to each other without instantly applying our benchmarks and values. We don’t know whether our way is the right way, and humbly listening to others without prejudice will make us grateful and enjoy life.