In pursuit of a better life, do you have to drink bitter and astringent coffee?

For professional baristas, please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

The popular advertising line "No matter how busy I am, I'll have a cup of coffee with you" began in 1996, when Nestl é instant coffee gave us a reason to steal free time in our busy life. In 2011, unified superstore invited actor Gui Lun magnesium to shoot a series of commercials called "the whole City is my Cafe", which made us more accustomed to the life of coffee everywhere.

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(from instant coffee to freshly ground coffee, photo source: flip network)

In the morning, we can easily wait at the counter for three minutes to have a cup of freshly ground coffee, either half-sugar or de-iced, re-bake if you don't sleep well, and order a caramel latte if you want to drink sweet. all mood ups and downs can be subdued by that little bit of caffeine. However, from instant coffee to freshly ground coffee, Taiwan's coffee revolution has gradually moved from the first wave of "instant coffee" to the second wave of "high-quality coffee." now the third wave of coffee revolution is also beginning to affect Taipei.

But all the third wave is always different from the stereotyped tradition, and the reason why the third wave of coffee revolution is called revolution is that it is no longer just a cup of coffee-but an attitude towards life, the value of life, and the "survival" aesthetics that surges out of the rational and perceptual trend.

In the darkest times, bring people back.

Why talk about survival, what does living have to do with aesthetics? In fact, every Great Depression is a great leap forward in human culture. That's why we often hear people mention the opening words of Dickens' classic novel "A Tale of two cities" (A Tale of Two Cities): "it was the best of times and the worst of times." This is a hopeful spring and a desperate winter; our future has everything, our future has nothing; we are going to heaven, we are going to hell. " So at least optimistically believe that the abandoned life will eventually strive to blossom a flower.

The third wave of the coffee revolution, what do we want it to bring? Is to bring people back (Bring the human back in), discard some of the glory of postwar baby boomers and urbanization, and of course cherish some spiritual heritage.

I'm just drinking coffee. Why are you talking to me about revolution?

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(Taiwan Starbucks buy one get one free, people stand in line in the rain; photo source: miniQQ,CC Licensed)

As a result of being imperceptibly influenced by the coffee chain, our impression of coffee is to add milk, and to drink black coffee is American coffee. But since 2003, in order to counter the second wave of "coffee oligarch Starbucks" and innovative civilian trend. Not only in Europe and the United States, black coffee without sugar and milk, emphasizing pure and original flavor-the third wave of coffee revolution of "coffee aesthetics" is also quietly sprouting cafes in the alleys of this land.

It's a bit cruel to say that people don't suddenly realize the pursuit of quality of life overnight, but that the global economic depression has led to an increase in unemployment, and many people have more time for nostalgia and think about the little things they usually don't have time to deal with-so this confrontation between people and machines emphasizes that coffee can be made with only a bean grinder and a hand pot.

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(mobile Coffee car, Photo Source: Congrats Caf é)

Reject the standardized process, find the most suitable expression of each kind of coffee beans, use single-farm coffee beans when brewing coffee, find out the advantages of beans by shallow roasting, and move consumers through a series of professional coffee brewing processes of baristas. and go deep into the style of coffee beans and taste the delicacy of coffee. This is the beginning of a return to nature.

From this, we really learn to slow down in the competitive business society and understand the new attitude towards life.

What is the difference between individual coffee and fine coffee?

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(single coffee, photo source: scatrd,CC Licensed)

To put it simply, coffee beans are not mixed, but a single variety from a single producing area, called "single product" (Single Origin). Coffee beans are rated as 80 or more by the American Fine Coffee Association (SCAA), and they are "boutique" (Specialty Coffee).

Refuse to feel nothing, there are five feelings to taste a single cup of coffee.

When it comes to individual coffee, it is not just bitter and astringent. From smell, taste to taste, the taste of coffee can be roughly divided into five types: aroma, bitter, sour, sweet and thick.

1. Aroma: including Fragrance and Aroma, it is often said that "smelling coffee" is more enjoyable than "drinking coffee", because volatile coffee aromas can be felt through the sense of smell. Usually the disappearance of the fragrance means that the quality is getting worse.

two。 Bitter: the basic taste of coffee is caused by the caramelization and carbonization of sugar, starch and fiber caused by the degree of roasting of raw beans. The coffee with strong sour taste has a weak bitter taste, while the coffee with bitter taste as the main body is easy to lack sour taste.

3. Acidity (Acidity): in terms of the elevation of the variety, coffee grown in highland is more sour than that in lowland, and beans that are lightly roasted are more sour, while those roasted more deeply are less sour.

4. Sweetness: during baking, some carbohydrates such as sucrose and glucose are caramelized and the rest are sweet. Usually the bottom of the cup or the aroma of coffee can be smelled sweet or sweet.

5. Body: use the touch of the mouth, like soy milk and plain boiled water to drink the difference in thickness, and the degree of saturation of the mouth after sipping.

First try to recall which of the five senses of taste is the most obvious, and then look at your usual coffee. Where is the best taste? Where do you feel inadequate? If you take it seriously, coffee tasting will be a knowledge that relies heavily on experience. (reference: Han Huaizong, "Fine Coffee (II) Cup Test, Flavor Wheel, Golden Cup Criterion, introduction to Coffee glutton")

If you get used to it, you can't go back.

Although the third wave of coffee revolution began to be popular in light-roasted coffee, feeling the original taste of light-roasted coffee, coffee is not as sour as possible, but with as many layers as possible. From the entrance to the final aroma, the layered flavor of coffee will come out in sequence, rather than the taste exploding at once, so that you can't tell the difference. We call layered coffee "personality".

As for what kind of coffee your personality likes, the most important thing is to try more coffee from different places and businesses to enrich your taste experience.

If you are really interested in drinking, many coffee experts say that as long as you get used to the world of individual coffee, you will not go back to Starbucks.

Let the black coffee with bitter memory have a new look.

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(photo source: Aikawa Ke,CC Licensed)

From survival to life, it roughly divides our habit of drinking coffee, first for refreshing or after-dinner drinks, and then for leisure and empty. now we want to emphasize that coffee can actually be like "wine tasting." It is worth to savor carefully, sort out the mood, and also sort out the senses spoiled by profiteers.

So, when we finally walk into a small shop with a wide variety of coffee machines and coffee bean bags in our spare afternoon, maybe we can open the menu and skip vanilla lattes or mango smoothies this time for a change. Try a bitter black coffee in your memory, and maybe you can read between the lines this time.