Pu’er Coffee

 A while ago, a friend of mine updated his La Marzocco Home App , and he turned off the pre-infusion function. I asked him why he did that, and he said it felt useless. After I emphasized how important pre-infusion is, he quietly turned the setting back on. Haha. That little incident gave me an idea—why not make a post dedicated to talking about the importance of pre-infusion? To be honest, whether pre-infusion is truly important doesn’t seem to have a single absolute answer. For people chasing the ultimate flavor in espresso, it’s a core variable. But for someone who simply wants a stable, decent cup of coffee, it’s just another machine parameter. Before we decide whether it’s important or not, we should first understand what pre-infusion actually is and what role it plays during espresso extraction. Simply put, you can think of pre-infusion as watering a dry sponge . If you skip pre-infusion and start extraction right away, high-pressure water blasts through the coffee puck im...

 Many coffee lovers enjoy milk-based coffee drinks. Not only do they offer visually pleasing latte art that delivers a strong emotional appeal, but they also provide a smooth and approachable coffee taste. This combination is one of the main reasons why milk coffee is so popular. However, did you know that the temperature of milk directly affects the sweetness, texture, and flavor balance of coffee? Even small temperature changes of just a few degrees can significantly alter sensory perception. Different types of milk require specific temperature ranges to avoid negatively affecting flavor and mouthfeel. If you regularly make milk coffee at home, you probably know that when steaming milk, one of the most important skills is learning how to create smooth microfoam while controlling the temperature properly. Doing so enhances the milk’s natural sweetness and improves the overall drinking experience. Milk is essentially a mixture of water, fats, and proteins. When milk is over-steam...

 In the past, whenever I shared knowledge about different coffee origins, it seemed that if you searched using the keyword “Madagascar,” you could actually find quite a lot of information. Yet deep down, I always felt a bit regretful—I had never tasted coffee from there myself, and I didn’t know when I would finally get the chance. Not long ago, a friend of mine went café hopping and happened to come across a washed Red/Yellow Bourbon from the Haute Matsiatra region of Madagascar, roasted by Qima Café. Among coffee enthusiasts, there’s always this natural habit of sharing and exploring together. Since beans from such a rare origin are hard to come by, my friend kindly saved a portion for me. And that’s how today’s article came to life. Through the flavor evaluation of this coffee, I’d like to talk with you about the unique terroir and charm of Madagascar coffee. Before diving into Madagascar itself, I’d like to briefly talk about Qima Café. This isn’t the first time it has appear...

  Do you remember the café-hopping trip I shared a while ago in Brisbane, Australia? Among those stops, one that I introduced with particular enthusiasm was the Australian roaster Elixir Coffee Roasters , a long-established brand founded in 2007. I even bought three bags of their coffee beans right in the shop—haha. In many Australian cafés, roasted coffee beans are displayed in glass cabinets almost like roasted snacks. You can browse and pick your favorite beans the way you might choose nuts or trail mix. It’s actually quite a unique shopping experience. Not only do you get exactly what you see, but once you place your order, the staff will pack the beans fresh for you on the spot, ensuring they’re within the optimal tasting window. You can basically take them home and start brewing immediately. While I was in the shop, I quickly became intrigued by their signature house espresso blend, Fratelli Blend , which has been a staple there for years. Fratelli means “brothers” in Itali...

 Just recently, while attending a coffee tasting event—what we often call a “coffee cupping banquet”—I happened to hear the term “Golden Honey Process.” Most of us are already familiar with names like White Honey, Yellow Honey, Red Honey, and Black Honey when it comes to coffee processing methods. But what exactly is Golden Honey? For a moment, it made me reflect on how new terminology constantly appears in certain industries today. These new terms often make people both curious and cautious. Are they the result of genuine technological innovation, or simply clever marketing? It struck me that this phenomenon is actually worth discussing within the specialty coffee world. So today, I’d like to share some of my observations and thoughts—and of course, feel free to join the conversation in the comments. The charm of specialty coffee lies in its spirit of innovation and continuous learning . To some extent, the appearance of new professional terms and vocabulary in the industry i...

 It had been quite a while since I last visited local cafés in Hangzhou. Among the newer cafés popping up lately, I’ve noticed a trend: small yet beautiful coffee shops quietly opening along narrower, more intimate streets. This kind of refined approach to cultivating a local coffee community allows you to see, more directly, the warmth and harmony of what people often call “neighborhood business.” Today I want to talk about a place called Yu Yue , located at 115 University Road in Hangzhou. The café doesn’t have a prominent storefront sign. Instead, it features an open, square layout. Whether you’re standing outside or sitting inside, the moment you spot it, there’s an instant sense of openness and calm. It’s just over a 300-meter walk from Wan’an Bridge Metro Station . I’ve explored this area quite a few times in the past—there are several community cafés scattered nearby. It’s the kind of neighborhood where everyday life feels calm and ordinary, yet occasionally ripples with a ...

 “Coffee Tasting Banquet” is a kind of tasting experience created for coffee enthusiasts. For coffee shops, this format allows them to test market reactions and collect customer feedback through a sharing-based event. The concept itself provides an excellent setting for both tasting and discussion. At this particular event, they brought six outstanding beans from different origins. Taking advantage of this tasting session, I’d like to share some thoughts about these six coffee regions and the flavor characteristics of their beans. The first bean comes from Roble Estate in Colombia . The farm reaches elevations of up to 1,800 meters and is located in the town of Pitalito in Huila. The owner, Dionel, named this coffee sanctuary after a century-old oak tree that inspired him. The estate places great emphasis on precision throughout the processing stage. After handpicking, the cherries undergo flotation to remove defects, followed by a second manual sorting to eliminate unripe fruit. ...