Pu’er Coffee

 Most of my long posts in February were dedicated to café hopping in Australia. During the month I spent there, I once again found myself marveling at the incredible richness—and rarity—of the green coffee resources available in Australia. If you are a coffee enthusiast who truly values the terroir and regional character of coffee, I strongly recommend putting Australia on your travel list. Among the many cafés I visited, Veneziano Coffee left a particularly deep impression on me. They are the kind of roaster that seems to “hunt” for beans from highly specific micro-regions. In their shop, you’ll find several house espresso blends as well as multiple SOEs permanently on the menu, and each one has its own distinctive flavor profile and memorable character. It’s no surprise that they’ve been listed among the World’s Top 100 Coffee Shops . At the time, I bought a bag of beans that could be used both for pour-over and as an SOE. The beans come from the ARGCAFEE cooperative in Cauca,...

 This was my first encounter with Father’s Coffee . Their full name is Father’s Coffee Roastery , a roasting brand founded in 2018 in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic. They are a family-run business—but not in the traditional sense of just parents and children. Instead, they see “family” as a group of coffee lovers brought together by shared values. They place a strong emphasis on coffee quality and freshness, while also deeply caring about transparency in sourcing. Father’s Coffee actively shares the stories behind each coffee, striving to build long-term relationships with producers. This mutual trust allows them to better oversee the entire process—from harvest and processing to export. Since 2023, they’ve also been involved in several projects that directly support coffee-growing regions. One such project funds a professionally equipped quality control lab in the beautiful Mount Elgon area of eastern Uganda. This initiative benefits not only the coffee pr...

 “ The flicker of the traffic lights at the crossroads feels like a message never delivered. Watching neon, watching the crowd— at this moment, every brake light becomes a slow heartbeat. And those who wait tap lightly with their toes, guarding a small flame inside them that never goes out… ” It’s been a long time since I last explored a café in the city. Thanks to a friend, the main purpose today was simply to catch up after not seeing each other for ages. So we headed to Dengdeng , located at 132 Zhongshan Middle Road, Hangzhou , to drink the coffee he made for me—a different kind of experience altogether. In recent years, café-hopping has changed me the most. It feels as though my life has gradually woven itself together with these visits. The emotional projection isn’t just about caring more about the stories behind the owners—their struggles, joys, setbacks, and perseverance. It’s also because, as my life moves toward a slower pace, my state of mind pays more attention...