Behind the Brew: Annick Voutat of Espressionist in Lenk

How did your journey to becoming a coffee professional begin?

I studied hospitality in Lausanne and had to do two internships. The first one was in Hong Kong, in F&B, and I happened to end up behind an espresso machine. At that time I didn’t even drink coffee – yet! I wanted to practice latte art, but didn’t want to throw away the coffee, so I started drinking it. After a while I was hooked.

What brought you to Lenk?

My parents always had a holiday home here so I used to come and go. When I spent two winter seasons here working, the plans to move here permanently became more concrete. And then I found this location…

The location is perfect – right at the train station. How did you come across it?

It belongs to the train company, and they’re wonderful. They don’t care what we do here – they’re just happy that we rent it! It was actually empty for two years before they listed it. I had heard from a bus driver that MOB wanted to make something out of it, so I got in touch. It’s exciting because there are so many train stations in Switzerland that are now empty because everything switched to online.

When did you open, and how has the space evolved since?

Summer 2023 was a kind of pop-up. I got the keys on August 3rd and we opened on the 12th! We just set up a bar here, very simple, with no fixed water pipes. Then we started all the approval processes for the necessary construction work.

You roast your own coffee. How did that come about?

We started roasting in the spring of 2025, both me and my partner. I took a roasting course at Blaser with Giuliano – he’s great! Then we just played around learning by doing. We have a small one-kilo Bullet roaster. So far we’ve just made a cup and then checked if it fits or not, then tried something new. But I signed up for a seminar at World of Coffee with Scott Rao to go a bit deeper into advanced roasting.

What beans are you currently offering?

At the moment we have three offerings. Our house blend is Brazil and 20 % Robusta from India. Then we have the same Brazil coffee roasted without the robusta component. And currently we’re featuring a single origin from Colombia. I source green coffee from Belco, their coffees are transported by sailship. The price difference isn’t big, and it’s much more sustainable.

How do locals react to specialty coffee?

At the beginning it was very interesting how we were received by the locals. I try not to talk too much about specialty but rather give an introduction to good coffee. The first espressos were not well received as locals are used to 80ml lungos from automatic machines. But in the meantime, it’s going well.

Do you offer filter coffee as well?

Yes, we offer AeroPress. It works for us because it takes a little less time than V60. When the train comes, sometimes we just have a rush, and need to be able to serve coffee quickly. I gave up on filter when I started here because I pushed it and never sold it. Then we had an employee last summer season who was really into filter coffee. He brought fresh élan and tried to sell it well again. But filter doesn’t sell much here yet.

What else do you offer beyond coffee?

We try to be local. We get croissants and bagels from a bakery in St. Stephan. We have drinks from Swiss producers, and milk from Lenk – from a very small dairy farm. I’m glad it foams so well because we’d rather stay local.

How does it feel running a specialty coffee shop here in Lenk?

It’s nice because at the train station we get a bit of everything – tourists and locals. Many tourists already know specialty coffee and specifically look for it. And slowly the locals are coming around too. When digital nomads come through, they’re always excited to find specialty coffee here. We’re all a little community now.