Uncle Coffee teaches you the difference between high-priced coffee and low-priced coffee.

In Taiwan, it is not only easy to drink a cup of coffee, but there are many kinds of prices, from a cup of inexpensive American coffee of 35 yuan to a cup of high-priced coffee of more than 100 yuan, but it is all coffee. Why is the price always so different? It turns out that the most important key comes from the soul of coffee, ─ coffee beans.

GQ: there are more and more cheap coffee on the market. Can you tell us what is cheap coffee?

Uncle Coffee: generally speaking, the price of coffee depends on coffee beans, while the price of coffee beans is determined by the futures market, just like other crops, such as corn, fruits and vegetables, etc. Coffee beans will affect the price according to the state of production. Most low-priced coffee is coffee beans that use the international futures market price, because the price is stable and cheaper, and this kind of coffee beans will also have hierarchical classification, the worst will be instant coffee, the second worst is canned coffee, and then there will be commercial or super coffee.

GQ: how do you define high-priced coffee?

Uncle Coffee: compared with the low price coffee beans, the futures market is used to determine the price, while the high price coffee beans are determined by "competitive bidding". Countries that produce coffee beans hold bidding activities every year, such as the "Cup of Excellence". The standard of bidding is to ask the farmers who grow coffee beans to roast the unbaked raw beans and ask the international judges to score the taste. For the sake of fairness, they will put these coffee beans on the Internet for open bidding, and buyers who want to buy them can send orders directly through the Internet and send them directly from the country of origin. Generally speaking, the coffee beans that win the championship will affect the price of raw beans because of the bidding results, which is why the unit price of some coffee is too high. In addition, what is quite special is that in Panama, a country rich in coffee beans, some estates hold bidding activities on their own. For example, the Esmeralda Jade Manor won the bid at the highest price of US $105 per pound, or at least NT $7200 per kilogram, which can be said to be quite top.

GQ: "Fair Trade Coffee" is often heard in the market these days. does it have anything to do with the price of coffee?

Uncle Coffee: fair Trade Coffee (fairtrade coffee) is an internationally recognized organization that buys coffee directly from small coffee farmers to protect them from the impact of the international futures market, so the organization will buy it with small farmers at a higher price than futures, give it back to farmers and improve local conditions, such as water and electricity, health care or education. Therefore, the purchase of Fairtrade coffee is also a guarantee of life for small farmers in poor areas.