Boutique Coffee Culture Coffee visit in Southeast Asia

Coffee visit to Southeast Asia-Singapore Cafe.

Tourists are often at a loss in front of a Southeast Asian coffee sign on the streets of Singapore, on the corner of Vietnam, Malaysia and other places. Although the transliteration of "coffee" was used by clever ancestors in the early years of its spread, Singaporeans always refer to coffee by Kopi, which is pronounced from Hokkienese, causing Kopi O and Kopi C to inexplicably become the signboards of many Southeast Asian cafes, replacing Espresso or Cappuccino.

Kopitiam (coffee shop in Singapore) is basically the transliteration of "coffee shop" in Chinese (Taiwanese dialect). As a matter of fact, these Southeast Asian coffee from Singapore, Malaysia and other places already have a deep relationship with China, and it is not just because of the large number of Chinese. At the beginning of the 20th century, many cafes were opened in Singapore, Malaysia and other places. Most of the people who opened and patronized the cafes were people from "Xia Nanyang". In order to integrate into the so-called English civilization world, the rich took Western civilization as the fashion trend. popular to coffee shop gathering, for a long time has become a kind of culture.

There are other advantages in these Southeast Asian coffee: at that time, most of the cafes were from Hainan, which was an interesting thing in Singapore at that time. At that time, Chinese people who went to Singapore always had different batches according to the provinces. Because Hainan people arrived last and most of the industries were already occupied by people from other provinces, Hainanese Chicken Rice became a famous local dish. These Hainan people who run cafes all have the same experience-they have worked on British ships and often helped in the kitchen, bringing back the British food culture.

At that time, there were many coffee seats in Southeast Asia, serving cheap breakfast or lunch with coffee. Although most of the traditional Singaporean Kopitiam have been revamped, there are still exceptions, such as the Zhenmeizhen Coffee and Western Coffee Shop on East Coast Road on the East side, which has not even installed air-conditioning in summer, and the so-called Kaya Toast, which should be called coconut toast. Butter and homemade Kaya sauce are not put on one side for you to take, but are thickly smeared (or only smeared with Kaya sauce) in advance. Kaya sauce is a classic local creation, and this sweet and greasy coconut sauce definitely reflects the common interests of the people of all ethnic groups in Asia. The reason that Zhenmeizhen is still popular until now is that the half-cooked eggs are always just right and the Kaya sauce is always the most authentic.

In these Southeast Asian cafes, coffee is never served regularly with milk and sugar. They are usually more processed when they are made, such as stir-frying with corn kernels and butter, which makes the coffee slightly sweet; in a cafe, baristas put processed coffee powder into a coffee filter made of fabric. over time, they infiltrate the taste of the coffee, then pour hot water into the coffee beans in the coffee filter and directly into the cup with condensed milk or milk and sugar. Kopi C refers to coffee with only milk, while C actually comes from Carnation (carnation), a canned milk brand chosen by most Singapore cafes. Although many cafes no longer use this brand, it does not prevent it from becoming popular. Kopi O means black coffee (with sugar); Kopi Siutai means less sugar; and Kopi Kosong is coffee without sugar or milk, because kosong means "nothing" in Malay.

The most interesting thing is Kopi Tarik, which refers to the kind of coffee that is poured back and forth in two cups before serving, and Tarik means "rewind". The original function is to cool down, but this method usually creates a lot of foam in the coffee, just like a cappuccino, so they invented a new product, called Kopiccino, which is a genius idea. The reason why Southeast Asian coffee likes to use condensed milk instead of milk may be due to Robusta coffee, which is now more produced in Africa. This kind of coffee is better at resisting diseases and insect pests than Arabica coffee, but it tastes more bitter. Heavy taste naturally needs to be re-adjusted.

Coffee visit in Southeast Asia-Indonesian Coffee.

Indonesia has always been one of the best coffee producers in the world. Java coffee used to be synonymous with top coffee, while Sumatra and Sulawesi are also rich in top coffee. Coffee was introduced by the Dutch in the 17th century, when Ceylon (Sri Lanka) began to grow coffee, all Arabica coffee. At that time, this kind of coffee was only for Europe, and it had to be transported by sailing for a long time, which made the coffee less acidic and tastier. During the developed shipping period, merchants had to store the coffee for several years to get a better taste, and the storage also pushed up the price. As a result, shoddy quality and all kinds of smuggling are common. Java coffee reached its peak in 1880, but a rust disease hit many parts of Indonesia, including Java, killing large areas of coffee trees. Only 1/10 Arabica coffee remained in Indonesia, mostly in Sumatra. Later, although the Dutch brought robusta coffee, which is more resistant to diseases and insect pests, Indonesian coffee is no longer popular because it tastes better than Arabica coffee.

Most of the remaining old plantations are concentrated in eastern Java, including Djampit, Blawan, Pancoer, and Kayumas4, all near the Ijen volcano on the Ijen plateau, which have grown the same kind of coffee from the 18th century to the present. Now speaking of Indonesian coffee is more like Sumatra manning coffee, or Luwak coffee (Kopi Luwak, civet coffee). Luwak coffee is known as the world's most expensive coffee, mainly from Sumatra, Java and other islands, extremely rare.

The most expensive Southeast Asian coffee was found to be because Dutch planters banned local workers from drinking coffee, and the workers had to find another way to get their own magic fruit and found it in the excrement of civets, which was washed and grinded. It became more expensive when it was discovered by the Dutch. Bali is famous for its golden coffee, which is actually the specialty of Sumatra's Golden Mandheling coffee, also known as Golden Manning. Sumatra's Mantenin is one of the top coffees in the world, with a stronger flavor than Java coffee and a longer aftertaste. You need to recognize the Golden Butterfly logo when buying.

Coffee visit in Southeast Asia-- Vietnamese Coffee.

In Vietnam, drinking coffee between friends is as natural as shaking hands. A cafe in three or five steps is not only a street view of a Vietnamese city, but also seems to be a ritual and an important way of socializing, while Vietnamese only drink tea at home. Vietnam, which has been colonized by France for many years, is deeply affected not only by the language, but also by the way it drinks coffee, often served with baguettes and milk sugar.

Vietnam is rich in robusta coffee, the main and initial production is in the Annan plateau, but the changeable natural environment provides a variety of choices, now the northern plateau produces Arabica coffee, while the south produces more robusta coffee. In order to narrow the gap with Brazilian coffee in quantity and make a breakthrough in quality, the Vietnamese now put more emphasis on expanding the planting scope of Arabica coffee and have begun to introduce and experiment with some special coffee, such as Indonesian civet coffee, which is locally called C à Ph ê Ch.

It is said that the unique taste of Vietnamese coffee is due to the addition of butter (occasionally vegetable oil) in the baking process and the use of deep baking in French baking, which is definitely a heavy taste. no wonder the Vietnamese like to drink it by filtering. and drink with condensed milk, otherwise it is fierce on the forehead, the aftereffect is fierce, and even make people drink chest tightness. This sweet taste with bitter ice and fire is also the flavor of Vietnamese coffee.

Coffee visit to Southeast Asia-Malaysian Coffee.

Malaysia has more in common with Singapore in cafe culture and coffee drinking, but Malaysia is the only Liberica coffee producer in the world outside West Africa. This kind of coffee is rich in aroma and light in flavor, accounting for less than 2% of the world's cultivation. The taste of this coffee is not acceptable to everyone, so its market is weaker than that of Arabica or Robusta. Malaysians are also gradually abandoning the cultivation of this kind of coffee, or switching to other varieties, of course, more people choose oil palm. And Liberika coffee is becoming more and more weak, even in Malaysia, it is only enough for self-sale.

The most famous of the new old-fashioned coffee chains in Malaysia is Old Town, which has made Ipoh White Coffee the representative of Malaysian coffee. Cafes such as Typica in Kuala Lumpur still roast the dwindling Liberika coffee by hand, bringing it back to its roots and sometimes paying three times as much for beans, allowing growers to keep it. Traditional Liberika coffee is roasted with sugar to make it darker and drink without sugar.

White coffee from Indonesia is roasted with no sugar but only butter, so it is relatively light in color. Compared with local coffee, white coffee does not have a long history. It first came from Ipoh (Malaysia's fourth largest city, mostly Chinese. Cantonese is the lingua franca). In the early years, it was famous for tin mines, and most of the French settled in, and the first Chinese to come here were tin miners. The so-called Old Town is generally known as the old street farm of Ipo. there are also several of the oldest Kopitiam, Xinyuanlong, Xinyuanfeng and Nanxiang, which can eat orthodox white coffee, which is not much different from the traditional Kopitiam.

Coffee visit to Southeast Asia-Laos Coffee.

Laos produces the best coffee in the world. Laos did not grow coffee for a long time, and it was not introduced by the French until the early 20th century, but its unique natural environment made Laos the king of the best coffee in Southeast Asia. Laos coffee is famous for its delicate and complex aroma and rich taste, with citrus fruit and floral aromas in the aftertaste, with a hint of chocolate sweetness, fresh and gentle taste.

Laos coffee is produced in the plateau of Bolaven, which occupies Barcelona province in the south, and is basically distributed around Basong, so Basong is called the coffee capital of Laos. The latitude here is about 15 degrees, the altitude is more than 1300 meters, the climate is suitable, the rainfall is abundant, and the rich nutrition of volcanic ash geology creates unique conditions for this kind of Southeast Asian coffee. At first, all coffee grown in Laos was Arabica. Later, about 80% of the coffee grown in Laos was changed to Robusta because of diseases, and now Arabica coffee is being replanted.

The production of coffee in Laos is already small, and Arabica sells almost all its own coffee to France, a relationship that has not changed since colonial times. Robusta coffee is exported to Nestl é in Thailand. Basong does not have many large plantations, most small farmers produce, November-January is the harvest time for Arabica coffee, and February-March is the Robsta harvest time. Laotians also like to pour coffee into a glass mixed with condensed milk, and then have another cup of green tea.

Coffee visit in Southeast Asia-Thai Coffee.

Coffee was introduced later in Chiang Mai and Chiang Lai provinces in northern Thailand than in Laos because opium poppies were no longer grown. As the former Golden Triangle town, northern Thailand has always been one of the bases of Kunsha, and the mountains are covered with poppies. And the soil suitable for growing opium poppy is always suitable for growing high-quality coffee or tea. Since drugs were swept out of Thailand in the 1980s, the high mountains around Chiang Rai have been covered with tea or coffee plantations because of royal renovation projects. Lanna Cafe coffee was grown by NGO in 1997. There are many local NGO projects, environmental protection projects and royal projects. Tourists can participate and contribute their work in order to find a new way out for local farmers after wiping out the drug trade.