The thousands of amorous feelings of coffee baked by Lai Yuquan, the champion of WCE World Cup Bean Baking Competition.

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The thousands of amorous feelings of baking coffee

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon in summer, the sun is dazzling, and there is a coffee holding OH in Kaohsiung City, which is less than 15 ping. There is a long queue at the cafe coffee shop, the smell of coffee is in the air, and everyone is waiting for a cup of legendary coffee from the world.

The coffee shop owner's name is Lai Yuquan. He stared at the bean dryer and sniffed the coffee beans from time to time. Standing behind the glass plate, he is inconspicuous, but he has been in the coffee industry for more than 13 years, has nine certifications from two major boutique coffee associations in the United States and Europe, and won the WCE World Cup bean baking contest in 2014.

Defeat Western rivals by natural sensitivity of taste

This world champion is not easy to come by, and European and American players have always been the winners of the baked beans competition. Before Lai Yuquan, there was a challenge from Taiwan, but the best result was only the second. When Lai Yuquan entered the competition for the first time, he beat his Western rival, setting a record for Taiwan in the field of baked beans.

How did he do it?

Lai Yuquan, 36, is born with a keen sense of taste. When he ate dishes when he was a child, he could list the ingredients one by one and even recommend suitable seasonings to add flavor. Growing up, in order to retain the original taste of the food, he insisted that the bento box must be separated.

Obsessed with taste, he worked in a coffee shop near Gukeng in Yunlin County when he was in college, allowing him to find the most suitable partner in his life.

"when I had coffee, I thought, Wow! I can't believe coffee has this flavor! And every time you cook it, it tastes different! Isn't coffee just beans with water? " He waved his hands and said excitedly as if he saw a baby.

The thousands of amorous feelings of coffee drove him to ask for help from the bar player at that time, Dai Ximing, who was known as the "prince of coffee". Unexpectedly, the more I knew, the more interested I became. Every day, I rode my bike to work in a coffee shop 50 kilometers outside the school. After three or four hours of study, I went back to school.

Dai recalls that Lai Yu-Quan's obsession with coffee was not only deep, but also full of "experimental spirit." Once he encountered a problem, he would do an experiment, resulting in two people often having too much coffee.

"in 2007, we took part in the Taiwan Coffee Masters Competition. He practiced with me every day and drank 2500c.c every day. Coffee, hand shaking, palpitations, and sleeplessness are common! " He said with a smile.

"daring to try and daring to rush is his greatest characteristic, which also allows him to walk out of a different coffee road." in the eyes of Dai Shu-Ming, Lai Yu-Quan has a more and more courageous character.

Later, in order to improve, Lai Yuquan went to Taipei to study boutique coffee for five years, and let him know that coffee has citrus, apple and other fruit aromas, as well as Arabica, Blue Mountains and other producing areas, and gradually understand that coffee beans will affect the flavor of coffee.

Bake 100 kilos of beans every day to develop amazing eyesight.

Lai Yuquan repeatedly memorized the coffee flavor and baking skills, but could not really understand it. He admitted that every time he guiltily told the guests that the coffee had a "citrus flavor", he didn't actually drink it.

With a strong sense of dissatisfaction, he further studied and obtained nine international certifications in three years from 2011, which greatly enhanced his taste. When he drinks coffee, he can divide the simple sour and sweet into three degrees, and he has also been certified as a cup tester.

Next, when he learned to bake beans, he realized that this was not just a process of turning raw beans into ripe beans and then grinding them into coffee powder. Baking is like a literary translation, to show the original flavor and essence of coffee beans, therefore, before baking, we must select and eliminate defective beans, lest a mouse shit spoil the whole pot of porridge.

In 2013, he wanted to know the strength of his baked beans. He took the last place in the Taiwan area selection of the WCE World Cup Bean Baking Competition, but he was not discouraged and encouraged himself: "it will be better next time!"

In order to prepare for the 2014 competition, he baked more than a dozen pots and more than 100 kilograms a day, and developed a good eye for picking defective beans. "he often practices in the bean baking room at 40 degrees Celsius from morning to early morning," employee Shao Luojie felt strongly about Lai Yuquan's determination.

Sure enough, Lai Yuquan won the first place in Taiwan and represented Taiwan to compete in Rimini, Italy, and this international competition is a brand new challenge.

"at that time, I was most worried about the machine, because the German bean dryer used in the competition was not available in Taiwan, and I was the first to play." he still can't forget the tension and pressure brought by strange machines.

When he poured into the first pot of beans, sure enough, because of the wrong operation of the machine, he had to dump them all. Seeing that the game was coming to an end, he only baked one pot. Compared with other players who could bake three pots and choose one pot, his chances of winning were much less than others.

Unexpectedly, his beans were favored and won the championship. When he heard the meeting pronounce "Jacky Lai", he immediately raised his arms and shouted, "I am from Taiwan!"

Lai Yuquan recalled afterwards that the key to winning the championship was to pick beans. During the competition, it took him half an hour to choose, while European and American players only took 10 to 15 minutes, but with good beans, the aroma of coffee is naturally different.

After becoming famous, Lai Yuquan's orders have soared. In the future, he wants to promote boutique coffee, set up a COACHEF brand with his team, and open stores abroad to show Taiwanese coffee taste.