Can Chinese-Style Coffee Capture the Palate of the Nation?

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The Rise of New Chinese-Style Coffee

In recent years, "New Chinese-Style" has become a hot topic in the domestic food and beverage industry. With changing attitudes among China's younger generation and rapid evolution of global food culture, many traditional Chinese food cultures and imported items introduced to China have begun to receive new interpretations.

For example, traditional Chinese pastries, under the innovation of the younger generation, have retained traditional production techniques while meeting the demands of new consumers. Similarly, coffee, once considered one of the high-end imported products, has begun to don a Chinese coat in recent years with the rise of national trend culture.

The Need for Innovation in Coffee Culture

Widely used global coffee extraction methods and various creative coffees can no longer satisfy the curiosity-seeking hearts of the new generation of coffee consumers.

As a result, many coffee practitioners have begun to combine coffee with local representative food cultures, Chinese-style decorative styles, or unique Chinese cooking methods (such as extracting coffee through low-temperature stewing), creating two-in-one experiences that stimulate public interest in coffee through cultural consensus.

Integration of Chinese Elements in Coffee Culture

The overall "nationalization" of coffee shops, from menu design to store decoration, reveals Chinese elements everywhere. Coffee products are combined with Chinese-style tableware - coffee served in lidded bowls, cock bowls... Coffee is paired with local traditional foods, introducing combinations like coffee + Chinese breakfast/Chinese medicinal herbs/local snacks, making coffee more accessible to the general public, and so on.

Today, making a new thing stand out in the domestic market cannot be separated from innovation in local flavors and scenarios. The gradual "Sinicization" is indeed a good coffee niche track. The rise of "national trends" in recent years has created extremely favorable conditions for the development of new Chinese-style coffee.

However, this is not a long-term development, as many "New Chinese-Styles" are merely guidance toward new consumption habits, not practices worth "inheriting."

Because they lack roots, lack soul, and lack professionalism. Things without foundation will soon be forgotten and lose interest from consumers.

The Challenge of Substance Over Style

Although coffee has achieved great development in the domestic market and people's demand for coffee is increasing, it remains more superficial. The taste of coffee itself is not what people care about.

People's support for Yunnan coffee is support for Yunnan, or support for "national trends," not genuine support for coffee itself.

Few people pay attention to the efforts made by coffee cultivation researchers and growers to make Yunnan coffee better. Few people focus on the extensive coffee and roasting knowledge that coffee roasters/brewers need to learn to bring out better flavor characteristics from Yunnan coffee beans.

The reason is that many new Chinese-style coffees are too flashy, covering up what truly needs our attention. If a food item cannot be accepted and leave a deep impression through its own taste, even with exquisite cooking and gorgeous packaging, it will not be remembered for long by people.

The same is true for "Chinese-style" coffee. Whether it's Chinese local coffee beans or various creative coffees on the market, people only remember the appearance and do not appreciate coffee itself.

Looking Toward the Future

Of course, such Sinicization is not entirely a bad thing, after all, it has made more people start paying attention to coffee. Then we should seize this opportunity to allow genuine Chinese-style coffee to develop better and more professionally, and to gain more inheritance and promotion from people.

Image source: Internet

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