Clay Pots! Earthenware Jars! Purple Sand! The Rise of Chinese Coffee Schools!

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The Rise of Pot Milk Tea in Yunnan

Recently, pot milk tea has been gaining popularity on the streets of Yunnan! Small clay pots are neatly arranged on stoves, brewed fresh and sold on the spot for grab-and-go convenience. According to netizens' shares, each stall is crowded with people, struggling to meet demand.

This method of brewing milk tea is somewhat similar to last year's stove-side tea brewing trend, where people gathered around stoves quietly waiting for the tea water to boil slowly. The warm atmosphere made it popular throughout the autumn and winter seasons. As temperatures gradually warmed, the enthusiasm for stove-side tea brewing has also subsided, but consumers still seek ritual experiences. Thus, businesses that understand young people have seized upon the residual warmth of stove-side tea brewing, introducing this "pot milk tea" that allows consumers to enjoy a full ritual experience with just a short wait.

The New Chinese Style of Milk Tea

To give pot milk tea more spring flavors and local Yunnan characteristics, the tea used in the milk tea is produced in Yunnan, as is the milk. Additionally, Yunnan edible roses are added, along with red date slices and goji berries that enrich the blood, as well as rock sugar that moistens the lungs, perfectly capturing the health-conscious yet ritual-seeking younger generation.

The "New Chinese Style" in the Milk Tea Industry - A Lesson for Coffee

Comparing the milk tea and coffee industries, we can notice that the former's understanding of "new Chinese style" focuses on ritual experiences. The utensils used and the ingredients added can showcase "Chinese elements" while complementing the milk and tea themselves. The latter, however... has started moving in a direction that ordinary people cannot comprehend. Today, a netizen's comment made the writer want to quote it here:

Previously, various coffees incorporating unique regional foods swept across the internet, and an article titled "Coffee can be niche but not bizarre" shot up to the top of Weibo's trending topics.

Cups of creative coffee with strong "Chinese food culture" elements have been subverting people's understanding of coffee, and netizens' comments are as follows:

There Are Better Choices for the Development of New Chinese Style Coffee

Amidst various novelty creative products, the impression that new Chinese style coffee leaves on people, aside from being novel, seems to be numbness. People have entered a state of being unable to understand more subsequent innovative products. Theoretically, such development is not healthy. Continuing in this state will only make general consumers more wary of coffee innovation.

The intention of drawing more attention to specialty coffee through "Chinese-style" approaches is inherently good, but such forced collisions can easily "kill" coffee.

We can see that when other regions develop their own coffee cultures, they evolve through changes in preparation methods.

Italy formed the Italian style due to inventing the pressure espresso machine, Japan formed the Japanese style due to its unique roasting and brewing methods, Australia formed the Australian style due to its dedication to flavor expression in Italian milk-based coffee, so China should also have its own unique way of expressing Chinese-style coffee.

China has so many cooking methods, and so many tea brewing techniques - these can all be benchmarks for Chinese-style coffee.

For example, "water-bath brewed coffee" which was highly discussed over a year ago. Using the method of water-bath soup cooking, coffee powder liquid at a certain temperature is placed in hot water for long-term brewing. By controlling the coffee grinding fineness and extraction time, coffee particles will release pleasant, mellow flavor substances in the water-bath container.

Although brewed at high temperature, the temperature in the container will remain within a certain range, effectively controlling the release of bitter substances from coffee particles, ensuring the extracted coffee tastes rich and mellow, with a smooth mouthfeel without bitterness.

Another example is the "purple clay pot steamed coffee" that appeared at a coffee exhibition half a year ago. This method actually has similarities with water-bath brewing, which is low-temperature slow extraction. Although the temperature inside the steamer is very high, the temperature of the coffee in the pot rises much more slowly than direct boiling.

Meanwhile, the water used for coffee extraction is small, and the coffee liquid quickly becomes saturated, so the miscellaneous bitter flavors in the later stages of coffee are less likely to emerge. Additionally, the purple clay pot itself has the effect of absorbing substances that cause miscellaneous coffee flavors, effectively reducing the bitter taste of coffee.

Yet another example is the "clay pot coffee" which has become a specialty in the Macau region. Using a charcoal stove + clay pot to brew coffee, the clay pot allows the coffee to heat more evenly, and the small flame of the charcoal stove allows the aroma of coffee powder to be fully released in the clay pot.

According to the writer's grandfather's recollections, the key to clay pot coffee brewing is that before brewing, the coarse coffee particles need to be steamed without water for 1-2 hours, which can reduce the coffee's astringency. The clay pot should be chosen without glaze on the inner wall, which can reduce the coffee's bitterness, while roasted eggshells need to be added to make the coffee's aroma more unique and rich.

In fact, there are many Chinese cooking methods and tea brewing techniques that can make coffee different and also reflect Chinese flavors. Coffee brewing is not limited to changes in existing coffee brewing methods, and the creation of creative coffee is not limited to changes in flavor materials. Innovation needs to step out of the original framework and create something unique to be called true innovation.

"Although coffee became popular in China later, it cannot lose its identity." Innovation can attract more people's attention to coffee, but it also needs roots and soul to promote Chinese-style coffee, otherwise people will only remember the "appearance" of Chinese-style coffee, not its charm.

Image source: Internet

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