Why are the menus of boutique coffee shops so grandiose?

Professional barista communication, please pay attention to coffee workshop (Weixin Official Accounts cafe_style )

Patrick, your shop has become an international headline again." This guy is a college student. He likes to stop at coffee shops in his spare time and boasts that he is familiar with different people in the industry. He seems to be more interested in the right and wrong of the industry than coffee.

"Hey, but this isn't the coffee press, you might be wondering..." I was busy preparing beans for Friday night's coffee premiere. Even if he showed that I didn't care, he would still talk with his personality. "Are you mentally prepared?" he said.

"Your menu was voted #17 by a famous British blogger for 'The 24 Most Precious Things Ever!' Also on the list are Lady Gaga, David Bowie and rapper Kanye West! That's the hot topic of the week in the coffee world. It's an honor."

"Which menu is it?" I said angrily. Find the page from your phone and confirm that you don't know the owner. After looking at 16 things that make people smile, it turns out that the so-called "most exaggerated thing in history" is just our list of fine coffee beans. The webmaster did not indicate what was exaggerated about the blackboard, which was drawn in crayon and lists the continent, country of origin, farm, bean seed and treatment of coffee.

Details of the coffee story

Since opening the shop, I have witnessed not only the local trend of fine coffee, but also the wave to the other side of the world: including going to Central America to communicate with farmers upstream of the industrial chain and establish direct trading relations. Our insistence on coffee has won the recognition of many international players. The chalkboard details not the pedantic, but the story behind the coffee. For example, red wine that lists the estate, year and grape variety is already a basic requirement of consumers. How can it be exaggerated? It can be seen that people who lack understanding of coffee are like one in China and abroad.

"Actually, most customers who come for the first time will be confused about this menu." There was a hint of schadenfreude in his voice. "Quickly wipe it down and replace it with some words that the public understands, so as not to provoke others."

Keep the "pompous" and share your beliefs

The following weekend, the menu underwent a major overhaul: not only did we keep the offending piece, but the part where we used to write the price became a picture telling the coffee story! The pompous allegations stem from bloggers 'ignorance of coffee. So we decided to share our beliefs in more space, not less.

I'm not alone, www.sprudge.com, a popular website in the international coffee world, took the article two weeks later entitled The Author's Vindication. They responded with "yes? Is the menu in Hong Kong that lists coffee information for guests exaggerated? It's hard to imagine anything more grandiose in the world. That student went from being a gossip to being arrogant and respectful. That was another story.

Text: Patrick Tam (Knockbox Owner, American Boutique Coffee Association, European Boutique Coffee Association Certified Barista, American CQI Certified Cup Tester, Cup of Excellence First Hong Kong Judge, www.facebook.com/Knockboxcoffee)