It is truly amazing where coffee can be found these days in China, though what is actually in the cup is not always equally amazing. With my wife and I about to start up a cafe (coffee shop) in our little town of Sanjiang, I find that I am starting to see the world through different colored glasses...coffee-colored glasses.
In my travels through countless towns and cities in Thailand and China this Chinese New Year, anything and everything with the word "coffee" caught my eye. Thailand and China are hardly comparable when it comes to coffee culture. My "coffee radar" was very busy in Thailand, but not so in China.
As expected, the bigger cities in China do have more coffee possibilities, but of the cities I have visited, coffee is still a foreign language. You can buy coffee in the cafes and bars in these cities, but it is usually stale coffee with no taste, prepared with cheap equipment by undertrained staff, at a premium price. That is the worst possible combination imaginable.
This all comes to mind because of an article I noticed about some tourists finding a cup of coffee in Longji village (known for it rice terraces) in the county just next to where our coffee shop will be opening. The author was surprised to find coffee in such a remote Chinese village, and well she should be.
The people of China's beautiful Southwest have heard of coffee and even tasted the instant coffee available in local stores, but there is still no coffee culture. Southeast Asia has it, but in Southwest China (I will not speak of the rest of China for lack of experience) fresh coffee is still a luxury or high-end item in their thinking.
Sure, it will cost more than green tea, which is produced locally, but this is a stigma that our humble cafe plans to bust. Sure, not everybody will like it, but of the local taste tests we have done already, most people were pleasantly surprised with fresh coffee. And just like the trends in coffee in most of the world, the milky sweet lattes are a favorite! Times, they are a changin'.
Established in 1921, [name removed] is the oldest coffee factory in Colombia, founded even before the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia.
Today, after 85 years of experience [name removed] continues with its innovative spirit and openness to change and improvements. We currently have a wide variety of roasted and ground coffee and instant coffee products. Moreover, we’re working to develop new products in order to diversify our current list and offer you, our customers, more coffee possibilities.
We look foward to working with china.
Posted by: Juan Molindez | 26 Jul 2007 at 08:38
Thank you for dropping by, but what you left above is not exactly an on topic comment. We appreciate comments which come from your own brain, not preconceived marketing pushes.
Posted by: Cooper Strange | 26 Jul 2007 at 13:53