American Coffee crisis-screw your Americano, isn't it common sense to drink Rusiano in Russia?

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American coffee _ what is American coffee

Starbucks coffee in Russia is the most expensive in the world.

If there is one thing more difficult than opening a bookstore in Hong Kong, it may be opening a coffee shop in Russia.

Alexey Karanyuk, founder of Jeffrey's Coffee, which already has several coffee chains in Moscow, told CNN: "Ten years ago, or even five years ago, if you were going to open a coffee shop, restaurant, or something like that in Russian, you'd better not even think about it, it's bound to go bankrupt." The fashionable pastimes common in metropolises, such as drinking an emotional cup of coffee, meeting friends for dinner, and meeting the opposite sex in a bar, have never appeared in Russia in the past. The locals themselves do not yearn for this kind of communicative culture, and the more traditional citizens even resist it from the bottom of their hearts, believing that it is a cultural invasion from the United States and Western Europe, which is incompatible with Russia's own historical background. Nearly 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Soviet thinking still seems to exist in this vast land. A cup of coffee from Moscow may be mediocre, but it has a deep historical aftertaste.

Russia's coffee craze has even started more slowly than neighboring China. The American coffee shop chain, which represents Starbucks, was popular in Europe and the United States as early as the 1990s. However, it was not until 2007 that the first branch settled in Moscow. In 2015, there were only 100 stores in Russia. At present, there are more than 3000 Starbucks stores in China, and the speed of expansion is great. But one thing is that Russian coffee is the most unique in the world and is very famous-famous for its high price. Taking into account local prices, buying a cup of Tall milk coffee at Starbucks in Russia in 2017 is equivalent to buying the same Starbucks in the United States for US $12.32 (about HK $96), according to a report by consumer research group ValuePenguin. Basically no young people in the United States will be willing to pay for this cup of coffee, because the same cup of Starbucks in the United States, only 2.75 U.S. dollars (about 21.5 Hong Kong dollars), is the world's flattest, but also only nearly one-fifth of Russia's.

Medvedev suggested that citizens should rename Americano as Rusiano to be considered politically correct.

On the other hand, drinking coffee in Russia, in addition to luxury, may also be criticized by people around you for being politically incorrect. Be especially careful when you are alone, and be sure to figure out how to describe the cup of coffee you want to drink, otherwise you will offend the head of state. The incident took place in 2016, with a sensational remark from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, ranging from political attitude to food culture, thoroughly revealing Russia's core values. At that time, Medvedev was thanking the Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov, who attended the meeting, saying that the other party was an excellent and constructive partner. Andrei Kobyakov jokingly said that he relied on drinking coffee every day to have such energy, but he did not expect that Medvedev was not amused at all when he heard that his words had changed, and replied: "when it comes to 'give me a cup of American coffee (Americano)', this is quite politically incorrect for me. We should rephrase it. "

"Let us rename." The Russian prime minister immediately suggested that citizens should change Americano to Rusiano (Russian coffee). The meaning behind it is not obvious? In Russia, drinking American coffee and a cup of drink with the name of the opposite country is like betraying and humiliating the country. Later, the state media broke up the bureau and clarified that Medvedev was only joking on the spot, but obviously, Rusiano was born, how dare any Russian citizens really take it as a joke? For example, Burger King, another American restaurant chain representative, did not enter Russia until 2010. Like other coffee shops, in order not to stimulate political nerves, they followed the rules and changed the Americano on the menu to Rusiano in the Russian context.

However, Russia's allergic reaction to coffee is not just a name taboo between Americano and Rusiano, but stems from more far-reaching social problems. Because the matter of drinking coffee involves the Hipster atmosphere, which is widely loved by young people in Western countries, which is still in its infancy in Russia. Over the past few decades, for political reasons, Russia has been extremely wary of Western countries and has been hostile and alienated, until the new generation gradually put aside their prejudices and expect to travel from their old homeland. Some people have returned to Russia with new business thinking, and opening a coffee shop is the best example.

Jeffrey's Coffee founded by Alexey Karanyuk is one of the Russian coffee shops born in the context of American culture. The reason why it is called Jeffrey's is really with a bit of Russian humor: the American name that comes to mind at the first time seems to be Jeffrey. The furnishings in the store, such as the soft comb in the middle, are actually from the famous American TV series "Friends." from the coffee shop to the details in the store, many elements are stolen from the United States.

In order to make drinking coffee a local preference and cultivate this consumption habit, some Russian coffee shops also adopt the Time Cafe or Anti-Cafe model, which means they will not charge for each cup of coffee, but on time. Operating in this form is also based on the desire to break the old Russian culture. Unlike the French and Americans, who are used to spending time out for a cup of coffee or following the legacy of the communist regime in the past, "Russian citizens are very cautious and never smile at neighbors and strangers." So says Maria Orlova, a photographer and author of Moscow Coffee Book. According to her description, buying coffee in former Moscow is tantamount to food rationing. "it's like it's just a'OK, pay, shut up, leave 'gesture."

Konstantin Dmitrienko, one of the managers of West 4 Coffee Brew Bar, a coffee shop chain that has successfully sprung up in Russia, started running coffee shops in Russia in 2014 like a wasteland cow with his partner Maria Raylyan after living in Manhattan, New York for a while. The name of the store is the homonym of "West" and "Rest", and the language connection also echoes the development of Coffee Literature in Russia. The two men aim to introduce New York culture and move American business thinking to moribund Russia. A place where music can be played and elegantly decorated, a coffee shop full of culture and youth, a consumption pattern that is both West and Rest, rich in European and American metropolitan style, in fact, this has only been developed for a few years in Russia, but it has been an earth-shaking change for coffee shop operators.

The so-called change does not mean that Russians have changed from rejecting coffee to falling in love with coffee, but that their ideas have been politicized. Citizens are now trying to accept a fashionable and comfortable coffee shop, although it is a business developed by Europe and the United States, and Russian coffee shops are only plagiarists, benefiting from American experience and imitating the practices of others, but they are beginning to understand that coffee shops are not essentially equivalent to American and European products.

"now we are seeing a new look in Russia, and the atmosphere is slowly changing." Alexey Karanyuk is also looking forward to the development of Russian coffee shops.

This trend, known as the Rusiano Revolution (Russian Coffee Revolution), may be quite bitter for Russians. The taste is unique, which is difficult to taste and experience in other places, all because they are not willing to return to the traditional cold and inhumane iron cage life, but at the same time they are unable to completely put down their posture and accept the cultural looting of Europe and the United States. When society is keeping up with the trend of the times, it is hard to avoid both expectation and humiliation.

Let's just say that Russians are really afraid of bitterness. They prefer a kind of sweet coffee called "Raf", which is an espresso with two teaspoons of sugar and lots of cream. It is very popular in Moscow. This is a clumsy way of drinking coffee that Europe and the United States may not understand, but at least it shows that the people of this place do not just want to be imitators, as Alexey Karanyuk concluded: "We want to develop a set unique to Russia." The unfunny joke, or all intended to express the same expectation.

Rusiano may be not only a cup of coffee, but also a set of Russian values placed between strong political sentiment and the changing mainstream culture. Transplant something in the name of the United States (Americano), however, insist on using the Russian form (Rusiano) to operate, in the process of extracting the essence, learn from other countries and develop at home.

[cold knowledge] do you really know how to do Flat White and American coffee?