Pu’er Coffee

 When people talk about Colombian coffee these days, it no longer seems to be about how bright and clean its washed coffees are. Instead, the conversation often drifts toward all kinds of flashy, extreme processing methods. Sometimes it even feels exhausting to say the full word “Colombia,” and you just shorten it to “Colom,” as a quiet expression of mixed emotions—part regret, part resignation. But this is how things evolve. When one group relentlessly chases market demand and price premiums through aggressively engineered flavor profiles, there will inevitably be another group that chooses a different path: staying grounded in tradition and respecting terroir. And in today’s Colombia, producers like this feel especially precious—once you encounter them, you simply don’t want to miss them. Inmaculada Estate is one such name. If you heard of it for the first time, chances are it was back in 2015, when Sasa Sestic won the World Barista Championship using Sudan Rume grown in collabo...

 I’ve shared before that “black coffee” is a general term referring to any coffee made without adding anything besides coffee and water. Drinks like Americanos, pour-overs, cold brew, and drip coffee all fall under the black-coffee category. Among these, Americano and pour-over are the two most common black coffee options in cafés. Because they belong to the same category, many people can’t resist comparing them. Customers in my offline shop often bring this up as well. Usually, pour-over wins in these comparisons—and even in the famous “coffee snob hierarchy” chart circulating online, pour-over sits on a higher tier. But is that really true? Obviously not. First, there shouldn’t be a “snob hierarchy” in the first place. Second, although both drinks are black coffee, I don’t think they’re comparable at all. Their brewing methods and purposes are completely different—they’re not even on the same racetrack. So naturally, there’s no need to compare them. Many people assume pour-over...

 These 3 Types Look Premium but Are the Least Nutritious — How Many Have You Bought? Every time you pass by a coffee shop, do you ever feel tempted by those beautifully packaged, high-priced coffee beans? The shiny metallic bags labeled “Premium” or “Reserve” can be hard to resist. But here’s the truth — some of those “luxury-looking” beans are far from healthy inside. Their actual nutritional value is much lower than you think. Today, let’s unmask these so-called “high-end” coffee beans and help you avoid the biggest traps when buying coffee. 1. Over-Processed Deep Roast Beans Ever bought those dark, oily beans that look almost like they’ve been lacquered? Many brands market deep-roasted beans as “Italian Espresso” or “Bold and Intense.” In reality, those beans are often made from lower-quality raw coffee and heavily roasted to hide imperfections. The problem is, during extreme roasting, most of the chlorogenic acid and antioxidants — the key nutrients we actually wa...