Exclusive interview | Li Siying, champion of the 2017 World Coffee Brewing Competition in China

Photo | Li Siying

The remaining temperature of the 2017 Shanghai Hotelex Exhibition is not over, and everyone is still talking about the major events and highlights at the exhibition, including, of course, the Chinese trials for the World Coffee Brewing Competition, which has attracted a lot of attention. Some people say that the dark horse of CBC this time is Pan Zhimin. And CBrC also has a dark horse broke into everyone's line of sight, she is calm and confident on the field, under the field is a cheerful, full of positive energy girl, perhaps people who have been to Chengdu HMP Coffee will know this new champion-Li Siying.

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[world Coffee Brewing Competition China tryouts]

Figure | Dianne Wang

Champion (middle)

Li Siying-Chengdu HMP Craft

Second Runner-up (right)

Li Jianfei-Beijing CREMA Coffee training

(S.O.E Coffee Roasters)

Second Runner-up (left)

Li Jinkun-Guiyang George Commune Coffee

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Interview content

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Q: could you tell me something about yourself, your experience and what awards you have won?

A: my name is Li Siying. I majored in journalism in college. I didn't want to talk about making coffee. Very coincidentally, during a holiday, because I was bored and had nothing to do, I wanted to learn something, and then I signed up for a coffee training course to study. It was only at that time that I had a basic concept of coffee and began to like coffee. I gradually became a coffee lover. During the holiday, I also had some experience as a barista in a cafe. I met a lot of friends who made coffee. After graduation, I decided to start making coffee. I didn't get too many awards. I took part in the cbc Chongqing Division in November 2015, which was the second place at that time. I participated in the cbc Shanghai Competition in April 2016. because I and the team made all kinds of mistakes and did not finish the competition smoothly, I said goodbye to the final. In August 2016, cbrc Chengdu Division won the first place.

Picture | from Dianping

Q: what kind of person you are in your daily life, and what other interests do you have besides coffee?

A: in my daily life, I am a more playful and curious person. Besides coffee, I like to sleep, go shopping, go out with friends and watch movies at home.

Photo | Li Siying

Q: what kind of profession do you think baristas are?

A: in my mind, barista is a profession without too many rules. Provide guests with good coffee and service.

Q: could you tell us something about your coffee shop HMP?

A:HMP is a very young store. The area is relatively small, but there are two floors. Upstairs is our studio. Before, the roaster was put upstairs for baking, and downstairs is the place for guests to drink coffee. The address of the shop is not located in the city center, and the street is a path, opposite there is a very beautiful park. Our main guest, in fact, is the residents of the upstairs community, and now it looks a bit like a community store. Later, the roaster moved to the current baking factory, so the second floor became my usual place to follow the process and take some manual interest classes. Generally speaking, it is a small and sophisticated coffee shop.

Picture | from Dianping

Q: why do you want to take part in the cooking competition this time?

A: as I said above, I participated in cbc in 2015, and although I didn't get any ranking or title in the end, for me and my team at that time, I made rapid progress in coffee-making technology, efficiency and way of doing things. Each of us learned a lot about ourselves and the rest of the team through the competition. I think it was a very positive impact, so we took part in the cooking competition immediately after taking part in the cbc.

Q: the ratio of powder to water you used in this competition is about 1:11. Does it have anything to do with your choice of coffee beans?

A: the low ratio of powder to water has something to do with the way it is cooked. The way it is cooked is set according to the state of the beans themselves and what they want to present. I also said during the competition that I like coffee with clean and bright sour quality, high sweetness and outstanding flavor. Based on this, based on the state of beans, there are such cooking methods and data. My beans are finca deborah's sun roses. It is planted at a very high altitude, and the quality is very good. I won't say much about this information. If you are interested, you can go to finca Deborah's website to see it. There are also official account tweets that have been introduced in detail. After I finished the game, a lot of people asked me about choosing beans. What I want to say is that when I drank this bean for the first time, I liked it very much and chose to play with it. Because all the time, I have always believed that only by loving your own beans enough can it help you get the grades you want.

Photo | Li Siying

Q: can you share your feelings about the end of the match? Is there anyone you particularly want to thank for winning the championship?

A: the biggest feeling of this competition is: how long will it be before the World Series? Because before the game in Shanghai, my team and I were basically on the brink of collapse every day (laughter). While taking care of things in the store, you should be constantly familiar with your own process. Coupled with the very creepy character of our team, and the way I do things (a little bit perfect), the whole team has been honing our mental and physical strength since 2017. But in fact, the world tournament time is also very tight, we cherish this opportunity to go out, so we started a cycle, time is more tight, need to improve more things.

During the competition in Shanghai, my team and I also found a lot of problems, roughly in two directions, namely, the efficiency of time use during the preparation period and the understanding of the new rules. I made a mistake myself. I didn't put the hand pot away in the preliminary round. Now when I look back at my whole process and score table, I can see a lot of problems and details more clearly, and begin to think about how I could do better if I didn't do it well at that time. Compared with before the game, I think that after the game, I can see the problem more clearly and think more clearly. I think this is a very important stage. It can help me to play and improve better in the following competitions.

First of all, I would like to thank Wang Shiru, my baker. In addition to baking, she can always make good coffee inadvertently. I really think it's amazing. Thank you, Sister Wei, Lele and Lele's mother, makeup artist, chloe in charge of the cooking competition and more people who help me. The most important thing is to thank my team, partners and parents. Isn't it a bit of a routine? But I really sincerely want to thank ~)

Photo | Li Siying

Q: how do you think you have changed before, during and after this competition? In addition, what kind of impact do you think it will bring to you to win the championship in China?

A: there doesn't seem to be much change in mentality after the pre-match. To win the championship in China, the impact must be there, but so far there is no obvious impact.

Photo | Li Siying

Q: apart from the cooking competition, have you ever thought about participating in other types of competitions?

A: in addition to the brewing competition, I am interested in baristas, coffee spirits and cup test competitions, and I will also pay attention to them. Every competition has its interesting place. You can always learn more. It's a way to improve your skills quickly. So, when everything in the store is on the right track and I and the team are in better shape, maybe I will still participate.

Q: there are still nearly 2 months to go before the Budapest Finals. How will the timing be arranged?

A: there are only 59 days left from now. Because the place of the game, the people I have to face and the language I use are strange to me, and time is very tight, and every day is so full that I can't get away from doing more things. I will confirm the details of the process as well as beans and baking in mid-May, and will arrive in Budapest at the end of May to familiarize myself with the environment. My World Cup coach and my team buddies will try our best to finish this competition. I am also very grateful to many people who are willing to help me. I hope everything will go well.

Now, Li Siying has clenched her ticket to the world stadium, representing herself, the team and China in the finals. I wish her better performance and better results in the world arena.

I believe that every barista has a dream, even if not now, there will be in the future. This love of coffee, because you pay, one day, is a single spark, can start a prairie fire!

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HMP Craft

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Address | 197 Guanghe second Street, Chengdu, Sichuan

Wechat | HMPCRAFT

Photo | Dianping

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