An exclusive interview with world coffee champion Wu Zelin-- making coffee is not necessarily a casual and leisurely thing.

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Do you drink caffeine, or are you lucky? ]

Taiwanese drink an average of 100 cups of coffee a year, and it is rumored that "if I am not at home, I am in a coffee shop; if not in a coffee shop, I am on my way to a coffee shop." "what's good about the coffee? Is the taste good or the atmosphere good? Where is the most coveted cafe for coffee champions? When more stores are closed than opened, will the coffee disappear like an egg tower?

Wu Zelin Berg Wu

Taiwan's first World Coffee Masters champion.

Co-founder of Simple Kaffa, who loves coffee and desserts. I only came into contact with coffee when I was in college, but I didn't expect to fall into the world of coffee. Since 2013, he has won successive domestic coffee competitions and represented Taiwan in the WBC (World Barista Championship) World Coffee Masters, the most prestigious coffee competition in the coffee industry for three consecutive years, and won the seventh place in 2014. In 2016, he beat the best players from 60 countries around the world to win the world championship and set the most important milestone for his coffee career.

Blog to (hereinafter referred to as blog): what is the most fascinating thing about coffee? Made you decide to focus on coffee as a career?

Wu Zelin (hereinafter referred to as Wu): what's fascinating about coffee is that you can't clearly define what attracts you. Looking back on the course of my exposure to coffee, it seems that drinking and brewing coffee has become a part of my life.

But if you really want to say, then probably not coffee itself, but because of coffee as a career, know and experience things. Coffee can always connect people in different fields, especially those who have similarities with themselves. In the past few years since I opened the shop, I have made a lot of friends who are worthy of deep acquaintance, which is a very happy thing.

Po: can you describe the most unforgettable cup of coffee in your life?

Wu: that cup of coffee appeared in 2002, when I was a rookie who made my own coffee, and boutique coffee was just budding in Taiwan. In the process of playing coffee, I will read a lot of reference books and online articles, and sometimes see some descriptions of the flavor of coffee, such as blueberries, lemons and flowers. but at that time, the coffee shop where I was used to buying coffee beans only sold bulk commercial beans, and there was no such flavor in those coffee at all. Until one day my wife Chee and I went to Taichung to attend a coffee sharing meeting. The owner of the host coffee shop made two cups of coffee from different producing areas of Ethiopia. This was the first time in my life that I drank the so-called blueberry flavor. At that time, I felt quite shocked and excited, like opening a window for my boutique coffee road. That time moved for a long time, even now I still miss it very much.

Bo: from working as an engineer to opening your own store, what is the key to jumping out of the comfort zone? Although you are depressed and wonder, what keeps you going?

Wu: probably when I was in graduate school, I knew clearly that I wanted to open a coffee shop in the future, but I was also good at solving the practical problems that cafes would face, so there was no clear schedule for this idea. Until one day when I was a patent engineer, a friend introduced us to see a stall in the clothing store, where the current Simple Kaffa store is located. As the store is about to open and has been decorated, but still has not found a manufacturer who is willing to undertake, so the store is willing to calculate the decoration cost into the monthly percentage, that is, we do not need to prepare a large amount of decoration cost to open the store at the beginning. At that time, I thought that since there was a relatively low-risk opportunity to try, it would be better to try it while we were still young, even if we could afford to fail, so we opened our first store in 2011.

Of course, the business was not smooth at first, but one of my respected seniors said that as long as one drink is well done, the guests will come back. This sentence has been very useful up to now, and it is also the driving force to support me to continue at that time.

Bo: in recent years, Taiwan has entered a wonderful ecology where there are more coffee shops than convenience stores, but recently more and more personality coffee shops have sounded the lights out. Is this a warning to you or a good phenomenon for the survival of the fittest? What do you think is most lacking in Taiwan's coffee market at present?

Wu: I think it can be regarded as a natural elimination mechanism of the market, but I will not interpret whether it is good or bad. At present, many consumers in Taiwan's coffee market are very concerned about the CP value, or just care about the price. Therefore, whether there is a good business model is the key to survive in the market. Take the Simple Kaffa I operate as an example, because it is a medium-and high-price position, how to make the quality and value of coffee, and meet the needs of consumers, and then smoothly pass it to consumers is the main challenge at present, and we are still trying and making progress.

Bo: what's the most difficult thing about opening a coffee shop in Taiwan? Taiwanese have become accustomed to the customized option of drinking tea. Can it be operated for a long time by simply selling hand-made coffee?.

Wu: I think the most difficult part is that the barrier to entry is low, but the cost of rent and materials is very high. Low barriers to entry lead to oversupply in the market, and the average cannot be improved, making it difficult to attract more people to like coffee. The high cost of store rent and materials makes the price of coffee high, and there are fewer consumers who can spend it regularly. However, hand-brewed coffee actually has its advantages, because in the material cost of a latte, the cost of fresh milk is often higher than that of coffee beans, so hand-brewed coffee can have more commercial room for operation at the same price. In addition, if you can attract consumers to buy coffee beans after drinking hand-made coffee, there is a good chance that they will be able to operate for a long time.

Bo: what conditions should your ideal coffee shop have? Can you recommend some stores in Taiwan and abroad?

Wu: I think coffee shops can exist in different ways like coffee. The important thing is whether they can have their own core values and use a complete eating experience to convey their core values to customers. As long as it can be done, it is an ideal coffee shop.

Among my favorite stores recently, I would like to recommend Onibus Nakamoto in Tokyo, Japan. The shop is a small two-story building located next to the railway and the park, with a small courtyard around the building. There can feel a unique aesthetics of life, comfortable to enjoy a good cup of coffee naturally integrated into the environment and life, is the reason I recommend.

Bo: is there a coffee master who appreciates it most? What is the reason for appreciation?

Wu: I like the 2010 World Coffee Masters champion, Alexander from El Salvador. Because in 2014, when I was unable to make it to the finals of the World Coffee Masters, when he was walking past me, he stopped and said to me, "I see your game, I see your personality, I see your potential." please keep playing. "for me at that time, what a heavy word of encouragement, even now I still feel moved, but also want to say thank you to him. He also made me realize that whether I win the championship or not, don't forget that my words and deeds may affect other people under any circumstances. I think he is a real coffee master in my mind.

Bo: what kind of coffee is good coffee for you?

Wu: first of all, it must be comfortable to drink, so the balance is very important. Under this premise, good coffee can have a variety of appearance, can be emphasized aroma, can also emphasize sweet and sour, bitter, thick, refreshing or throat rhyme and other characteristics, it is not necessary to present what kind of style can be regarded as good coffee.

Bo: coffee often gives people a sense of casual leisure, but it is a very sophisticated science for you. Does the brewing process have to be so accurate? In this way, can you finally use a machine to get the best flavor?

Wu: I think drinking coffee is a casual and leisurely thing, but brewing coffee is not necessarily. As a person who takes coffee as his profession, to do his job well is the most basic spirit of professionalism, so he pays attention to the measurement when making coffee. Of course, it is OK to be casual and leisurely when making coffee, but it needs to be built on a more solid theoretical foundation and practical experience than imagined. Only when you have a thorough understanding of all the contexts of coffee making, can you smoothly present your ideas on the coffee. Many artists we know well, when we know their free-flowing works, we often feel that they just play according to their own feelings, but the difference is that they have talent. However, if you understand it more deeply, you will find that artists have experienced a solid foundation of training, and so is coffee.

Of course, machine assistance will be helpful for the presentation of stable coffee, but don't forget that it is important for the person in charge of adjustment to use his senses and experience to train the parameters of the machine, which is the core value of brewing technology. Then don't forget that what customers need when drinking coffee is a complete eating experience, so human temperature is sometimes the key.

Bo: you are a science brain, constantly looking for the best flavor in the process of coffee extraction. You should have read a lot of reference books along the way, so I would like to ask, what is the most important book that affects you personally? Are there any books that must be recommended to readers at different stages of coffee brewing?

Wu: in the early days, when I first learned to make coffee, I did read all kinds of coffee books, but I didn't really think it affected me very much. The reason is that the most difficult and important thing in brewing coffee is not brewing skills, but the development of taste senses. However, the most effective way of sensory development is to taste and guide it face-to-face, which is difficult to explain in books, and ordinary coffee books do not discuss it. However, if I want to recommend, of course, I have to recommend my new work, "tempering," because I try my best to explain the most important things in words, hoping to enlighten the readers.

Bo: what is your SOP advice for those who dream of coffee? How to take the first step? Go to class or study by yourself.?

Wu: I think you can study by yourself first and try to buy some simple equipment to operate by yourself. For example, hand punching is a good entry-level instrument. Then begin to train their own sense of taste, the most common problem that most people encounter is that coffee is the same, it is difficult to compare the difference between today's coffee and yesterday's coffee, that is because without taste training, the memory of taste will be relatively short. So I suggest that you can do this with your friends or family. When drinking coffee, you can order or brew two different kinds of coffee at the same time, so that you can compare them at the same time. And then found that different coffee taste can actually be very different. When you have such recognition and experience, the sense of taste will be easier to improve.

Bo: coffee is a seemingly dreamy but cruel industry. If there is a younger generation who wants to open a coffee shop, what reminder would you give him?

Wu: first of all, I hope they can know that being a guest drinking coffee, being an employee of a coffee shop and opening a coffee shop are three completely different things. Before opening a coffee shop, you must know that there will be a lot of things to do besides brewing coffee and drinking coffee after opening a coffee shop. If it is just because you like to drink or like to brew coffee, then it is recommended not to open a shop.

In addition, thinking about the business model of the coffee shop and doing digital simulation and calculation as much as possible can effectively increase the possibility of making a profit.

Bo: what is coffee to you?

Wu: coffee means life to me. Since I was a student, coffee has played a very important role in most of my life. It is an interest, a job, a career and an extension of myself.

Bo: can you share your next step with us? Do you have any plans that you want to share with you first?

Wu: I am trying to promote Simple Kaffa coffee beans outside Taiwan. I have made initial achievements in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. I hope to make greater progress in the near future. In addition, we are actively training more new generation of baristas. I hope that when I win the championship of the World Barista Competition, I will create a better stage and resources for them to develop their skills.