Pu’er Coffee

 Four years is long enough for a young barista to grow from awkwardly identifying flavors on a coffee tasting wheel to being able to sense—eyes closed—the subtle pull that water temperature and grind size have on extraction. Four years is also long enough for me to witness how the gap called “understanding” between baristas and customers deepens quietly, tugged back and forth by “educating” and “being educated.” The first time a customer, with a hint of impatience, told me, “I don’t like being educated,” I was stunned—and then uncomfortably silent. And so I, along with many peers, slowly chose to “give up.” But what exactly did we give up? At first, we gave up those instinctive “knowledge points.” When a guest pointed at “Yirgacheffe” on the menu and asked, “Is it bitter?” I swallowed the familiar explanation—“It has charming citrus and jasmine notes, very clean and bright”—and simply said, “Not bitter, more on the acidic side.” When guests asked to add sugar and milk to a s...

  Before opening my shop, I always thought the most crucial factors were how good the coffee tasted, the quality of the equipment, and whether the location was prime real estate. But after observing the industry for several years—from booming spots to struggling ones, from newcomers to veterans—I've come to a counter-intuitive conclusion: The most important thing for a coffee shop's survival isn't the coffee itself, but whether it has its own "reason for being." Because once you actually open a shop, you'll realize that coffee is just the entry point. What truly affects a shop's destiny is its purpose, its consistency, its memorability, and how you interact with your customers. Let's break down this "most important thing" below. 01 Why Do You Want to Open a Coffee Shop? More Important Than the Menu Most people think the first step to opening a shop is choosing a location. But it's not. It's "why you want to open this particular s...