Pu’er Coffee

 When people talk about coffee culture, Italy inevitably comes up. To me, Italy has always felt like a somewhat special place—and that sense of “specialness” largely comes from its almost obsessive devotion to food traditions, or rather, an uncompromising loyalty to them. I once came across a discussion on Quora about this very topic, and one highly upvoted response perfectly captured the Italian mindset when it comes to protecting tradition and cuisine. In Italy, the highest compliment you can give a dish isn’t “This tastes like something from a fine-dining restaurant,” but rather, “This tastes like my mom made it.” Yes—Italians are deeply committed to what they call “the taste of mamma,” a form of emotional loyalty rooted in culture and memory. So when it comes to adding hot water to espresso to make an Americano, many Italians see it the same way you might react to someone putting durian or pineapple on a pizza: simply unbearable. It’s viewed as a kind of cultural sacrilege. In...

 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...

 This is actually the second time I’ve seriously talked about fine chocolate in my content—and for a very simple reason: once you fall in love with specialty coffee , you’re almost guaranteed to fall in love with fine chocolate as well. At their core, the two share so many similarities. The joy of tasting, comparing, and discovering flavors is genuinely addictive. This time at the expo, I discovered a Swedish fine chocolate brand called Standout Chocolate . Coincidentally (and quite amusingly), Sweden is also home to a specialty coffee brand called Standout Coffee . Same country, same name, same pursuit of excellence—clearly right up my alley. When it comes to fine chocolate, I think it’s worth briefly introducing two of the most recognized international chocolate awards. One of them is the International Chocolate Awards (ICA) . Founded in 2012 by members from Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the ICA is now considered one of the most authoritative professional ...

 When people order espresso-based drinks at cafés—especially milk drinks topped with beautiful latte art—it almost always brings a small moment of joy. The unspoken rule of “let the phone take the first sip” naturally kicks in, and a photo is taken before anything else. Sometimes, the visual impact of latte art even outweighs the actual flavor experience of the coffee. And although I personally care more about taste, I have to admit that when a cup comes with an intricate, well-balanced, and beautifully integrated design, it still makes me genuinely excited and pleasantly surprised. So this raises an interesting question: how did latte art, built on espresso, start becoming popular in the first place? Today, let’s take some time to talk about that. I did quite a bit of research online, and to be honest, there doesn’t seem to be a single, definitive historical account. However, its development can generally be traced back to the second half of the 20th century. Espresso machines w...

 In a gold washed coffee, I tasted unmistakable notes of lemongrass and ginger. A few days ago, I shared a dedicated introduction to what gold washed processing is—a relatively new method that combines the strengths of both washed and natural processing. The first time I encountered a gold washed coffee was last November at the Shanghai Coffee Expo. At the booth of Direct Coffee from Kyoto, this particular coffee immediately caught my eye. That moment marked the beginning of a flavor experience that completely amazed me—one that has stayed with me ever since. I placed an order for the beans on the spot. This coffee is a Gold Washed Red Bourbon from Popayán, Cauca, Colombia. The barista at the booth was also the roaster of this very coffee, and the way he presented its flavors was incredibly impressive. It was the first time I had ever tasted such distinctly clean and vivid lemongrass and ginger notes in a Colombian coffee built on an innovative twist of traditional processing met...

 A soy sauce candy latte is not some kind of dark, gimmicky concoction. In fact, soy sauce works surprisingly well with sweetness. I still remember back in 2021, when I had my very first soy sauce candy latte at Shiteng Coffee in Shanghai. It left a deep impression on me. The very first sip delivered a savory, salty burst—like a rocket shooting straight into the sky—instantly hitting my taste buds. The collision between that umami saltiness and boozy, aromatic coffee beans created a malt-sugar-like sweetness. Then, in the second half, a mellow richness pulled everything back into balance. Before I even had time to fully analyze the progression, the cup was already empty. Many people tend to label these kinds of “signature” or “specialty” drinks as dark cuisine—odd combinations that feel illogical, or worse, designed purely to grab attention. I can’t say whether every specialty drink on the market is just chasing eyeballs, but the soy sauce candy latte is a flavor combination with...

 Perhaps it was my off-season, three-day leisurely trip to Qiandao Lake that sparked these reflections. In a place so heavily dependent on tourism—one that essentially “works for half the year and rests for the other half”—the quiet of the low season leaves plenty of room to think. Even before I arrived, one question kept bothering me: why is it so hard to find a café around the entire Qiandao Lake area that genuinely cares about quality and tries to build a specialty coffee community? Beyond the obvious issue of young people leaving the area, the more fundamental reason lies in the nature of the place itself. Qiandao Lake is a nationally rated 5A scenic destination, famous for its natural landscapes. Along roads like “Sunshine Road,” what you mostly see are scenic attractions and hotels. Why is it that scenic areas in China usually don’t have good coffee? This isn’t just a personal bias—it’s a fairly common and accurate observation. In most tourist areas, it’s genuinely difficult...