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Being in the spotlight hasn’t come easily for Laskary Andaly Metal Bitticaca, or Mela, as she’s known.

But the slender 24-year-old student and beauty queen is getting used to being the center of attention. As Indonesia’s first Putri Kopi (Miss Coffee), Mela has her hands full making public appearances. She will represent Indonesia in January at the “World Queen of Coffee” competition, an annual event in Colombia.

This year marks the first time someone from Asia will join the contest, so Mela will not only represent Indonesia, but a whole continent.

“I never imagined that something like this would happen,” Mela said. Although she has held the title of Putri Kopi Indonesia for several months now, Mela still hasn’t gotten used to her new status.

“When I studied microbiology in Bandung, I used to spend most of my time in the lab,” she said with a laugh.

Unlike other beauty pageants where contestants are judged on physical beauty, personality, talent and how they present these attributes on stage, the World Queen of Coffee is additionally rated on her knowledge of all things coffee — this includes the origins and variety of beans and their distribution and preparation. Each contestant is expected to have a special understanding of the coffee from the country they represent.

Mela, originally from the South Sulawesi region of Tana Toraja that’s famous for its smooth, sweet coffee, said she never considered entering a beauty pageant, until a relative told her about Putri Kopi.

“I’ve never done any modeling before,” Mela said. “I was happy working with my team in the lab and actually preferred being in the background instead of being in the spotlight. But when I heard about Putri Kopi, I knew that it was different — I’m a coffee-lover.”

Mela said her parents made a “now or never” joke when she told them she wanted to join the contest. “There is an age limit that says contestants can’t be older than 25. My parents said it was the last chance for me to join in this competition,” she said.

Mela is also a postgraduate student in petroleum engineering in Bandung, but she has put her studies on hold for as long as she is Putri Kopi. This year’s inaugural Putri Kopi pageant was organized by the “Indonesia Kebanggaanku” (Indonesia, My Pride) foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

According to the ministry, Indonesia is the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer, after Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam. The government says it would like to see more Indonesian retailers selling coffee instead of having the market dominated by international brands that often sell locally grown products under their label.

In April, 31 contestants from 14 coffee-producing provinces went head-to-head in their quest to become Indonesia’s first Miss Coffee. In the final, contestants were judged in three categories to assess their qualifications as Indonesia’s official coffee ambassador and promoter-in-chief: brains, beauty and behavior.

“We had beauty classes and learned how to do the catwalk, but we also had lessons about the history of coffee and how to recognize Indonesian coffee by its taste,” Mela said, referring to the five days of preparation before the final.

She said meeting the other contestants was a pleasant experience.

“Honestly, I was a bit nervous before,” Mela said. “The only thing I knew about beauty pageants was what I’d seen from movies, and everybody is always so cruel and mean to each other. But everything turned out to be just fine. It was fun to meet new people.”

In the end, Mela won the crown ahead of contestants from Bali and Aceh. “My main responsibility now is to make more people aware of the richness of Indonesian coffee,” Mela said. “Even Indonesian people don’t realize how many different kinds of coffee we actually have.”

Indonesia’s most famous exported coffee is arguably kopi luwak, with its rich flavor and high price. The coffee, which is brewed with beans plucked from the dung of civets, has made its way to the top of coffee connoisseurs’ lists. But kopi luwak is just one brand from a geographically diverse region where each province grows its own unique coffee beans.

Mela’s own love affair with coffee started when she was young. “When I was still a child, I always saw my mother drinking coffee and got used to the aroma,” she said. “Every time I drink coffee, it reminds me of home.”

Mela started drinking coffee in earnest when she was in high school, embracing its caffeine-based functionality. She started with one cup in the evenings as a way to stay energized, preferring to work at night. One cup quickly became two or three per day.

“Of course, my favorite coffee would be the one from Tana Toraja,” Mela said. “It has a very unique taste. The flavor is a little bit like chocolate, but it is also spicy and not too acidic. It has a good balance.”

Until recently, Mela’s grandparents sent her coffee beans from Tana Toraja so she could get her caffeine fix according to her local preference, but during the contest, Mela learned to appreciate coffee from other provinces.

“Now that I have tasted so many other kinds of coffee from all over Indonesia, I like to experience the different flavors,” she said. “It depends on my mood. When I need energy, I like to drink a strong one like the coffee from Papua or Flores. If I want something lighter, I like the coffee from Bali, which has a citrus flavor and is sweeter.”

Mela said she was proud of her title, and that gaining a deeper knowledge of the local coffee industry — while simultaneously promoting it — was her favorite part of the job.

“I never thought that a beauty queen could be useful to a national commodity,” she said.

As Kopi Putri, Mela sees great potential to promote tourism in her country.

“I can tell people how beautiful Indonesia is — over a cup of coffee,” Mela said. “And while they enjoy the taste of Toraja coffee, I can say, ‘You should see how they plant it, and how beautiful the nature is, all of which makes the coffee unique.’”

Still getting comfortable in the spotlight, Mela said she’s working on her stage fright for the competition in Colombia in January.

“I am not so worried about the questions they might ask,” she said. “I am much more afraid of standing on the stage, in front of so many people. It still makes me nervous.”