The coffee shop stuff.

Cafes have become an important place for young people to meet and make friends. Photo taken by Guo Ma

It is generally believed that the first mellow cup of coffee in the world was carefully boiled by Arabs. At the beginning of the 17th century, coffee entered Europe with the traveling merchants of Venice, and the French and Italians went crazy. They wrote books, poems, and even wars for it. In 1654, the first coffee shop in Europe appeared on the streets of Venice. Over the next few decades, coffee shop signs that released fragrance were lit up one after another in London, Paris and Vienna. Cafes took the closed salon life of the upper class to the streets, and in many cities, it was the earliest public social place for citizens to meet freely. People read newspapers, debate, play cards and play billiards here.

"30,000 cups of coffee is the end of my life." Balzac coined the famous saying "I am not at home, in the coffee shop; not in the coffee shop, on the way to the coffee shop", and immersed his whole life in coffee. Apart from offering this drink "black as devil, hot as hell, pure as angel, sweet as love," the cafe is also a stage for the interpretation of politics, economy, philosophy, culture, and history, and now it has become an important place for people to relax and communicate. In the past two years, coffee shops in Fuzhou seem to spread all over the city overnight, either along the streets or scattered in alleys, with different personalities.

Fruit mother: high-quality persistence

In the Weibo of Fuzhou gourmet people, there is no lack of people who affectionately praise micro-roasted coffee. For example, the petty-bourgeois young woman "H" commented that "Piccolo Latte milk tastes lighter, the milk foam is extremely delicate and tight, and the texture is excellent." In the snack bar on Zhongping Road in Taijiang District, Fuzhou, a woman will point to the YMCA across the street and say that there is a restaurant called "Micro Bake" where the coffee is delicious. Guo Ma, the owner of the micro-roasted coffee factory, did not expect that her shop would enjoy both elegance and popularity, but this is exactly in line with her purpose: to bring coffee into ordinary life.

Guo Ma and Mr. Guo used to be in the coffee business in Australia, and the coffee shop was as kind and easy as a canteen to them. "A local cup of coffee costs about 3-5 Australian dollars, which is the same as mineral water and cola. Many coffee shops offer light foods such as sandwiches and desserts. Local breakfasts and lunches are basically held in coffee shops, and coffee is an important part of people's lives. At present, the domestic coffee shop is still a high consumption in most areas, and I feel that it has deviated from the essence of "daily drink". " Guo Ma said that when we go back to China to open coffee shops and sell coffee, the greatest hope is to integrate coffee and cafes into the lives of Chinese people, so that people can enjoy high-quality coffee at reasonable prices.

In August 2011, the "Micro-roasting Coffee Factory", a self-baking coffee shop in front of the store and behind the factory, opened in anticipation of curry friends. The store covers the trade of raw beans, roasting of cooked beans and coffee making, and the most attractive are several professional equipment known as "artifacts": the German PROBAT L12 roaster, the global serial number NO.33 SLAYER and SYNESSO variable pressure extraction coffee machine.

"the quality of coffee is one of my absolute intransigence. These machines sell for hundreds of thousands of yuan in China, which can be said to be the most advanced configuration in the world. The coffee beans we choose are special coffee beans, which account for only 2% of global coffee bean production, and keep them fresh. " Guo Ma said, "every element in the store should be professional." When it comes to the decoration of the store, we have been communicating with famous Australian designers through E-mail for 15 months, such as using white tiles as far as possible in places where we come into contact with food, and we have chosen ordinary white tiles for a long time; as small as every cup filled with coffee is the most traditional and professional, such as lattes use traditional Italian glasses instead of common mugs, and cabbage cups use cups for international professional competitions. The price of coffee is still very approachable. " Guo Ma thoroughly implemented the spirit of "not afraid of trouble, try hard", hoping to "open the mass market with the most professional quality".

In order to make more people know how to appreciate coffee, Guoman uses Weibo and other platforms to publicize and hold coffee tasting meetings every week in "micro-roasting" on weekends to patiently teach knowledge and methods of coffee bean grading, tasting and home-making. "the initial weekly tasting meeting of 10-15 people has reached 40 people after five weeks, and now there are about 200 people participating. It can be seen that there are many people who want to learn practical coffee knowledge, which makes me more firm in my practice. " The mother said.

"in fact, as long as there are freshly roasted high-quality coffee beans and some simple equipment, you can easily enjoy high-quality coffee at home, and the cost of a cup is no more than 4 yuan." At present, Guo Ma is promoting making coffee at home to her friends. "Let's restore coffee to the simplest enjoyment: it is a delicious and enjoyable daily drink," she said. "

China Coffee Trading Network: www.gafei.com