Roastery Assistant
Production roasting, QC cuppings, Saturday taproom shifts. Training paid.
The people
behind the bar.
The roasters, head baristas, owners and apprentices who actually make Maltese coffee worth drinking. Profiled in their own words. And — the unofficial number one coffee job board on the island. Hire them. Get hired. Read about them.
37
Profiles
12
Roles open
08
Open to work
Featured profile · No.37
Marija Portelli, of Eden.
“If your milk steaming sounds like a kettle, you’re already wrong.”
— Marija, on the milk programme
Marija Portelli has, by my count, served three of the best flat whites I’ve ever drunk on this island, all within a fortnight of each other. She trained in Melbourne. She came home in 2023, took a job at a place that no longer exists, and made the call to take over Eden’s bar in March. She has, in five months, built the milk programme that everyone else in Naxxar is now trying to reverse-engineer.
We sat at her bar on a Tuesday morning, after the rush, and talked.
Calvin
What changes when a barista has lived abroad?
You realise that good coffee is normal. It's not a special thing. In Melbourne, a bad flat white in a petrol station would be a scandal. Here, we're building that floor.
Calvin
Your take on Maltese coffee culture, in one paragraph.
We're 18 months from being legitimately good. The roasters are there. The equipment is here. The missing piece is a workforce that's been paid, properly, to learn for two years. The day a Maltese chain pays a junior barista what a junior chef gets, we'll have arrived.
Career · 12 years
2014 Apprenticed · Old Bakery Roasters
2017 Workshop Coffee · London
2020 Patricia Coffee Brewers · Melbourne
2023 Returned to Malta · Eden Kafé
2026 Head Barista · Eden Kafé
The kit she swears by
Espresso La Marzocco Linea Mini
Grinder Mahlkönig E65S
Beans Bonanno Pemberton, Costa Rica naturals
At home Bialetti Brikka & a hand grinder. Not joking.
Signature drink
The Saltbed Latte.
“Sea-salt foam over a doppio. Don’t ask me how I came up with it. Ask the sea.”
1.Pull a doppio, 18g in / 36g out, 27 sec
2.Steam 100ml whole milk to 58 °C, paper-thin foam
3.Pour milk slowly. Hold back foam.
4.Top with 1g flaky sea salt, then the foam. Serve immediately.
Venues she’s worked at, reviewed
Eden Kafé · 4.6 · Old Bakery Roasters · 4.2 · Workshop Coffee · 4.4
Job Board
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Venue · Role Area Type Pay Notes Status
Lead Barista
We need a number-two for Sofia. SCA Foundation expected, latte art preferred.
Weekend Barista
Sat & Sun openings. Two years' experience minimum. We pull on a Linea Mini.
Trainee Barista
Six-month structured apprenticeship. SCA training included.
Pastry Chef · Coffee
Lead the morning bake. Pair to Krista's bar programme.
Head Barista
Our founder is stepping back from the bar. Lead a team of four.
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Open to work · 3
Baristas hiring themselves out.
The roster
Every barista we've profiled.
Eternal
Head Barista
Marija Portelli
“If your milk steaming sounds like a kettle, you're already wrong.”
Sig · The Saltbed Latte Read →
Eternal
Roaster · Owner
Andrei Costa
“We don't roast for awards, we roast for the bar that has to work the espresso for ten hours.”
Sig · Single-origin Pemberton Read →
● Open to work
Lead Barista
Sofia Galea
“The third wave is finally over. Now we just have to learn to make a good cup.”
Sig · Honey Cortado Read →
Bar Manager
Luca Vella
“I came up on Bialetti. The fundamentals don't change.”
Sig · Vella White (a flat white, two ristretti) Read →
Pastry · Coffee
Krista Mifsud
“Bread and coffee are the same problem at different temperatures.”
Sig · Cardamom-Bun Cortado pairing Read →
● Open to work
Barista
Daniel Borg
“Specialty in Malta is about ten people who refuse to give up.”
Sig · Workshop V60 (Ethiopia natural) Read →
Eternal
Owner · Trainer
Elena Schembri
“I trained half this list. Don't tell them.”
Sig · OB Espresso Blend (her own) Read →
Brew Bar Lead
Rohan Patel
“I'd rather pour a great filter than a mediocre flat white.”
Sig · Sol V60 Read →
● Open to work
Barista
Nadia Cassar
“Setting matters. Anyone who says it doesn't is selling you bad coffee.”
Sig · Dingli Cold Brew Read →
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