Coffee
Professional barista knowledge exchange. Follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style) for more coffee bean information. Every time we purchase coffee, we maintain our high standards for in-house roasting and do not allow any defective beans. Of course, the coffee beans presented to consumers are plump and full, with sweet aftertaste and prominent fruit aroma. Everyone might wonder if the coffee beans we purchase are always of such high quality? Of course not. The coffee beans we encounter are selected from hundreds or even thousands to achieve such high quality. So what about those lower quality beans? They are naturally left for consumption in producing countries! Because the good ones are exported for foreign exchange—that's most important! Want to know what kind of coffee locals drink? Let me take you to see— In Laos, we had the opportunity to visit a local roasting facility. They use raw materials that are substandard or even lower-grade coffee beans that we wouldn't use. The probability of finding stones and other debris can be said to be quite high—if you grab a handful of raw coffee beans, there's a certain proportion of foreign matter or defects. Look at this bag of raw beans—the colors inside are truly varied—notice there are black beans, insect-damaged beans, moldy beans, branches, small stones... Take a closer look. See that? There are also moldy beans with parchment... Look even closer. I would never dare to use these beans— And here's our star ingredient... This bucket of butter is the fragrant star that makes the coffee! Before putting the coffee in the roasting pan, they scoop a ladle of butter. As the butter heats, it coats the outside of the coffee beans. After cooling, this layer of oil is absorbed into the coffee beans. When brewing coffee, it's released when heated. This way, the coffee you drink will have a rich milky aroma! (Just imagine the taste of fermented butter after the coffee sits for a while...) Here we discovered an "international scandal"—the white rice donated by our Red Cross to Laos was actually sold by local government officials to private roasting facilities. What for? It turns out the rice aroma is used to cover up the miscellaneous flavors in coffee. I heard that the more white rice mixed in, the more fragrant the taste— The words "Taiwan World Vision" are still displayed on the packaging bags— As soon as the roasting is complete and cooled, it's ground into powder. So the appearance doesn't need to be too good (the grinders are even rusty). What surprised me most was that they actually use cypress wood (that pile in the middle, in pieces) as firewood—such a waste! (Laos is rich in timber, so wood we consider precious they probably think nothing of!) I really wanted to sneak back a few pieces— The wood is ignited here and then dragged inside and placed under the roaster for roasting. Raw beans are poured from this opening. They can roast 100 kilograms at a time— Close-up of the bean inlet. Full view of the roasting machine. The person on the far left is the roaster, he's explaining the roasting process... ALAN introduces the local coffee culture to everyone at the entrance. He said this roasting facility is the second largest in the area. The grade of coffee is determined by how much white rice is mixed in (who would have thought white rice would be used this way here). FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse variety of beans, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com
