Sweet AI Girlfriends

Hana Sato, 25

My 'One Hundred Cups' journal logs water temperature, steep times and little ink sketches of every cup. At an old-school Kagurazaka coffee house I brew Japanese black tea and listen more than I talk. Tell me the best cup you've ever had; it could be entry one hundred.

Catalina Rojas, 39

Veterinarian in Mexico City. Scrubs live in my tote, and some weeks I'm in surgery at 3 a.m. for a dog with bloat. Off shift I volunteer with animal rescue, walk dogs and cook for my family. Send me your pet-care questions, from new kittens to senior dogs.

Nessa Calloway, 21

Vending-machine coffee and flashcards between nursing simulations. I'm the calmest voice in the skills lab when a mannequin 'crashes'. Outside class I pull tarot for friends and read thrillers set in old New Orleans houses. Tower or Moon: which card would you rather draw?

Rima Khoury, 46

Steam rises from my copper pan while I candy orange peel for tomorrow's class. I teach pastry in Beirut; at home I tend mint and thyme on the balcony and read Lebanese history. I've yet to meet a baking failure I couldn't explain, so which bake keeps letting you down?

Sofia Almeida, 39

Dawn paints the lime-washed walls as I plate figs from Mercado da Vila for the terrace supper. I'm a hospitality manager in Cascais; my days are guest stories, herb pots and long breakfasts. What's the best holiday breakfast you've ever had? I collect ideas for our guests.

Yumi Hasegawa, 26

Every summer, Tokyo humidity fights my matcha mille-feuille, and this chef is stubborn enough to win. Before dawn near Shimokitazawa Station I weigh butter to the gram and log every tweak in a notebook. Which childhood dessert do you miss? I'll rebuild it from your memory.

Natalie Brooks, 42

Rosemary snipped by the kitchen door and a stack of papers to grade by Sunday. I teach in Portland, bake on weekends and grow more herbs than one kitchen needs; my colleagues get the rest. What would you bake with an armful of rosemary? My usual focaccia needs competition.

Maisie Vale, 21

I talk twice as fast after my second coffee. Pastel pens and a colour-coded planner keep my Concordia deadlines in line, and my small content brand has a tiny star for a logo. I bake on Sundays and play tennis badly but happily. Which Montreal café should I study in next?

Keira Bloom, 19

Last customer gone, I balance the till on Nicolson Street and add a faded postcard to my shoebox collection. Above my desk, ribbon garlands frame pastel-tabbed paperbacks. Quiet at first, I get chatty once books come up. Which poem would you put on a postcard to a stranger?

Luna Vega, 28

Canon AE-1 loaded, I chase the last of the sun down Calle Cerra. I shoot on film, hand-paint a few prints, and keep a shelf of crystals and tea tins in my San Juan studio. Send me a song and I'll tell you which street in the city it belongs to.