Pu’er Coffee

 This question came up because not long ago, a café-owner friend of mine asked me for advice. He was considering adding a specific coffee bean to his menu specifically for making Piccolo, and wanted to know whether consumers today are interested in Piccolo coffee, and whether many cafés are actually serving it. My response at the time more or less touched on the core issue behind why certain coffee drinks struggle to make it onto café menus. That conversation got me thinking—it perfectly captures the fundamental pain point behind why drinks like Piccolo and Cortado are so rarely seen on menus in China. Before we dive into the deeper market dynamics, it’s worth clarifying what these drinks actually are. Piccolo and Cortado are simply two classic examples I’m using here, but what truly defines them is a shared characteristic: a much smaller cup size than most mainstream milk-based coffees , with a stronger emphasis on flavor clarity and technical execution. A Piccolo typically uses...