Hong Kong Coffee Tide more and more coffee drinkers in Hong Kong in recent years

Ma Jiewei (Hong Kong)

There are more and more coffee drinkers in Hong Kong in recent years. I'm one of them myself. Having patronized the coffee shop Colour Brown for many years, I not only became a regular customer, but also got to know the young owner Edwin. He loved coffee, studied it carefully, and quit his job to start a business. Over the past few years, he has made remarkable achievements, made great efforts to promote coffee culture, founded the Hong Kong Coffee Industry Association, won the examination of fine coffee appraisers in the United States, and has served as the chief judge of many coffee competitions in Hong Kong.

Several of our friends decided to invite Edwin to give an intensive reading course to learn about coffee culture. Last week, I had the first lesson for six hours in a small shop in Saigon; six students, teaching in small classes, were surrounded by bags of fragrant coffee beans, one shiny coffee machine after another, and rows of colorful coffee cups. Edwin is calm and relaxed, explaining the three waves of coffee. The first is American style, the second is Italian style, and the third wave is the recent rise of hand style. I immediately asked, Italian coffee has a long history, why after American coffee? The teacher said interestingly: "Yes, Italians look down on American coffee. The name Americano has a kind of Italian meaning of making fun of Americans."

The American style became the first wave because there were so many people in the United States. in the early years, in order to refresh the mind and drink coffee at home, it became popular all over the world, with amazing output and sales. What is American coffee? Instant drink, or make coffee, stored in a glass container, warm all day, like boiling water to drink.

In fact, when brewed coffee is stored for an hour or two, the taste has gone bad and is not suitable for drinking. You often see Americans go to work, everyone has a big cup of coffee, you can understand that American coffee is fast and not refined.

No wonder friends in Europe laugh that American coffee is yellow mud water.

Espresso has a long history, but it is popular after American style. The second wave of coffee culture should be matched with exquisite coffee beans and scientific coffee machines. All the changes in espresso are based on espresso's small half cup of black liquid. This is basic. In order to make this small cup well, there must be a well-designed compressor to absorb the original flavor of coffee with high-pressure hot water. Espresso can be made into Flat white by drinking or adding milk, and Cappuccino, Latte, or Macchiato by adding soaked milk, depending on the ratio of milk to coffee and the thickness of soaking. Espresso is mostly drunk in stores, but it is difficult to spread to families, because the machines that make espresso are expensive, and the more expensive the equipment, the stronger the coffee is. However, in the past decade, a large number of family coffee machines have been launched, and the way of self-brewing is also very popular. In the past year, we have even sold "smart" compressors, sending coffee capsule (capsule). As soon as you press the button, you will have a cup of delicious Italian coffee.

As for the third wave of hand-made coffee, basically no machinery, with a cup and Lu can be separated, the focus is on the use of coffee beans, blending to suit their own taste of coffee. Its delicacy lies in controlling the quality of beans and the temperature of hot water. The reason why it is so popular is that you can make a variety of boutique coffee at home.

The coffee boom in Hong Kong in recent years has an interesting background. Over the years, Hot Tea, HK Style, Tan Dao Coffee, and even the "tea coffee" of "Lianggou" are all different from the above three waves of trends. Hot Tea, HK Style uses many kinds of tea to mix, the tea flavor is extremely strong, today has been the unique food culture symbol. Hong Kong-style coffee is also strong, because the high temperature is long, coffee powder and impurities are too soluble in the water, so it has a bitter taste. Hong Kong's "golden tea" is also a feature. Hong Kong people call it a mandarin duck, which is a mixture of tea and coffee with a stronger flavor. Accustomed to drinking Hong Kong style, the taste of Hong Kong people is heavier, thicker and more miscellaneous, so it is difficult to adapt to the finer coffee. However, with the popularity of large chain stores and small boutiques, the tastes of Hong Kong people have gradually changed. They not only like authentic milk tea, but also begin to understand the boutique coffee of various places.