What is Social Media? What's it Like to Run a Coffee-Focused Social Media Platform?

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This article does not represent Coffee Workshop. I just want to share with you the daily life of a writer (hereafter referred to as "I"). Although the article is a bit long, I hope it can bring some help to those who are confused about a coffee career and those who want to enter the coffee industry.

This article mainly wants to talk about what I have learned over the years as an editor in the coffee industry information sector, and also answer some comments and questions from netizens.

Why Did I Enter the Coffee Industry?

When I was a child, teachers often asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. My answers without exception were three: veterinarian, barista. (In the end, because I couldn't face life and death, I gave up my dream of becoming a veterinarian...) More than a decade ago, I already had a strong interest in coffee, mainly because several generations of my family have had the habit of drinking coffee.

My grandfather's mother came from Singapore and lived and grew up there until she got married and returned to her hometown of Nanfan Shun (Guangzhou, Foshan area of Guangdong Province). She also brought back the method of making Nanyang coffee. My great-grandmother (grandfather's mother) once said that this was the taste of home, and also the difficulty of Chinese people going to Nanyang, hoping that every generation could remember this taste.

The subsequent generations were all coffee connoisseurs, and I grew up surrounded by the aroma of coffee. The reason I wanted to become a barista was because when I was 4 or 5 years old, my grandfather took me to the revolving restaurant on the top floor of the Aiqun Building in Guangzhou (which has been closed for many years). At that time, it was one of the few places in Guangzhou that offered freshly ground and brewed coffee.

It was also that time that I drank my first cup of Blue Mountain coffee in my life, and for the first time felt the charm of freshly ground coffee. From that moment on, I was very eager to pursue the profession of a barista.

In 7 Years of Working in the Coffee Industry, I Also Experienced Setbacks and Confusion

I never thought that coffee would undergo such tremendous changes in the past decade. After I reached working age, I suddenly found that the threshold for coffee shops to recruit staff was very, very high.

In 2016, I took a trip to Taiwan Province, which opened my door to knowledge about specialty coffee and the development of the coffee industry. At the same time, I also brought back 3 books on specialty coffee. I would flip through them whenever I had free time. Until now, these 3 books have become very worn out.

At that time, I thought that as long as I read enough books and knew more about coffee, it wouldn't be difficult to find a barista job.

However, reality was very "cruel." At that time, many independent coffee shops would not hire students who had just entered society and looked young. So in order to gain more barista experience, I worked as a barista at two large chain restaurants, where I learned the basics of making espresso and acquired management knowledge.

However, I became confused. After working in chain stores for 3 years, I began to feel tired of this industry. The daily "grind" and standardized production processes and management work made me feel very bored. So I resigned and went to work at a matcha specialty store to see if I could develop an interest in tea.

In fact, I couldn't, because I really love coffee too much! So I came to an independent home-roasted coffee shop, originally thinking I would just continue with daily coffee production, but unexpectedly, I began my career in coffee media.

When I First Started Working in Media, It Was a Real Test of Willpower

The scope of self-media work is very broad. My job initially was to continuously output coffee knowledge and update the coffee knowledge official account. From the first day, I doubted my life. I resolutely discovered that the coffee books I had read over the past few years were far from enough to support my daily work.

Working overtime until late every night to complete my work was something that really tested my mentality. Because you could only keep flipping through books, constantly from different channels, digging out every piece of knowledge about coffee producing regions, coffee brewing techniques, coffee roasting techniques... (It was really dug out, every detail would become the topic of an output article).

Not only that, because in my previous work I was only exposed to fully automated coffee machines, my understanding of coffee making and flavors only停留在书本上的知识，以及添加了风味糖浆的意式咖啡上。为此，每当杯测的时候我就十分苦恼！因为真的喝不出来，完全不知道怎么区分。

So in order to improve my senses, whenever I encountered fruits and various sauces, I would force myself to distinguish the flavors among them, and smell the 36 bottles of aroma products that brought mixed emotions. This sensory training, under continuous daily attempts and recording, took me 1 month to understand how to distinguish and identify most flavors.

Many people might think that these things are actually unnecessary because green coffee merchants provide flavor references. However, everyone's roasting method for coffee beans is different, and the taste of coffee will also have different manifestations.

Just like two beans roasted with different curves, although the colors look similar to the naked eye, there are actually very big differences. So why are there differences? That requires exploration from the information and state of the green beans themselves, as well as the roasting process.

Only through personally doing and experiencing can one write more authentic feelings, and understand that many things are not as simple as they appear on the surface.

Since It Was Tedious, Why Did I Choose to Stay?

Looking back now, I often laugh with my friends: for someone with my impatient personality, being able to work here for three years, even I find it incredible.

As for why I stayed, it might be because when everyone truly calms down and deeply understands coffee and the coffee industry, it's a very interesting thing.

Over these years, continuously receiving different knowledge, consultations, and sharing and feedback from coffee practitioners has been truly enjoyable. As a listener, I rarely express personal opinions on what everyone shares, but I will collect everyone's personal experiences and opinions into articles to share with everyone, giving you an understanding of the most authentic coffee industry.

"If There's No News, You Don't Have to Post!"

This is a comment I often see these years. Everyone has different reasons for following official accounts. Some want to see coffee knowledge, some want to see the development of the coffee industry, some want to see gossip, some want to see very simple popular knowledge... Different articles have different positions, and the daily position will be updated with the day's information.

The coffee industry is neither big nor small. Will there be news every day? No. So when there's no news, my work is still to provide everyone with coffee-related information (which is not the same as "news").

Every day I struggle with what to write, what can be told to everyone from a fair perspective, hoping to help everyone understand this industry from different angles.

We cannot guarantee that every day's article will satisfy every reader. What we can do is hope that when you search for relevant information, there will be an opportunity to answer your questions.

Is Working in Coffee Media Hard?

No job is easy. Every position has its frustrating aspects. More importantly, it's how you view this job yourself. I personally enjoy this job very much, because everything that happens and is experienced every day has become the key for me to open new doors.

While doing coffee self-media, I am also a worker at a coffee shop. Of course, my daily work is not just sitting in front of a computer typing.

The first thing I do when I wake up every day is open the information software and take a quick glance, then return to the coffee shop to open it, then sit down to carefully look at everyone's questions and sharing. I also need to be responsible for production, chat with customers, and chat with peers. Every minute that passes becomes the key to my inspiration. Maybe I won't write immediately, but there will always be a time when it's useful.

I enjoy this job because what I see and hear every day prevents me from being obsessed with a specific area/thing. Simply put, my curiosity has made my focus very broad.

I can't say that I can master everything I learn, but learning is earning. I feel a great sense of accomplishment in being able to apply what I've learned, so I can persist.

Is the Coffee Industry Worth Everyone's Persistence?

Persistence in any profession is based on one's true love for the profession and the ability to calm down and understand the industry. Being able to enjoy one's work is a very happy thing.

There are different angles of development in any industry. You must find the right angle for yourself, one that makes you happy and gives you a sense of accomplishment, in order to persist better.

The coffee industry has more than just baristas. If you really want to engage in the coffee industry, you might as well understand the entire industry chain, find where your interested shop is, see how much time and how deep you're willing to spend on the same thing every day, and then choose the direction to invest in.

Important Notice :

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