Pu’er Coffee

 Among coffee professionals, there is a group of true “behind-the-scenes heroes.” They may not be great talkers, many of them lean toward being introverts, and they tend to work with rigor, precision, and an almost obsessive attention to detail and data. In my eyes, they are among the most technically skilled people in the coffee industry: coffee roasters. If I had to sum up their work in one sentence, it would be this: “I am not the creator of flavor—I am a carrier of flavor.” They are the ones who allow every coffee drinker to experience the unique character and terroir of different origins. In that sense, roasters play an irreplaceable role. Looking back, I’m surprised that despite nearly ten years of daily writing, I’ve never written a dedicated piece about coffee roasters. Recently, as I’ve been testing beans from different roasters, I’ve found that I can genuinely sense their thinking through their roasting styles. This quiet, almost invisible form of dialogue has deepene...

 On October 16, the air at Shanghai Cultural Square was rich with the aroma of coffee as the 2025 Global Flavor Coffee Bean Market opened. According to the 2025 China Urban Coffee Development Report , China’s coffee industry reached 313.3 billion yuan in 2024, an 18.1% increase from the previous year, with per capita consumption rising to 22.24 cups annually. Shanghai leads the nation in coffee consumption. This event, focused on coffee flavors and industry exchange, was not only a cross-continental celebration of taste but also a major opportunity for Yunnan coffee to enter the global stage. A Global Flavor Gathering: A Cross-Continental Taste Journey At the market, the bright fruity acidity of Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe, the balanced nutty richness of Colombian beans, and the distinctive “full-bodied but not bitter, fragrant but not overpowering, with a hint of fruity acidity” profile of Yunnan Pu’er Arabica blended in the air, creating a vivid scene of global coffee industry int...