Coffee anyone? Short blacks in Yunnan
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Lijiang,
China
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
China and tea go together like Burt and Ernie on Sesame Street. Tea is synonymous with the Middle Kingdom. Think images of a vermilion-red pagoda, a lake lined with cherry trees in blossom, and some Mandarins sipping green tea.
So where does coffee fit into the equation? Well, until recently it was as unknown as KFC, Coke and no-smoking laws. Recently, that is, a couple of hundred years ago, that dastardly imperial power France, sent it messengers with the Good News and a hankering for coffee. The French were looking to expand into Indo-China, up from Vietnam and Laos. Their entry point to China was the province now know as Yunnan. As well as possibly bringing coffee from other French colonies or even France itself, they probably brought coffee seeds from Vietnam where the 'bagette and coffee culture' was firmly installed.
The south of Yunnan offered ideal conditions for the cultivation of coffee, and it is in the south of the province and also Hainan island that China's coffee production is now based.
But as mentioned in a recent Reuters article from China Daily, coffee-drinking was once regarded as an offence punishable by imprisonment. During the Cultural Revolution, such Western activities such as coffee-drinking could land you in prison.
How times have changed. Now coffee drinking could land in debt. Particularly in tourist paradise Lijiang, where cafes and restaurants charge as much as US$7 for a cup of coffee. Part of the reason why coffee is so expensive is that China's coffee industry is still in its infancy, with commercial production only really starting in the 1950s. On Hainan island the first beans - robusta - were brought in from Indonesia. And the industry is still small with coffee consumption a mere one-tenth of tea consumption.
The quality in the past has not been great. But now specialty roasters like Italy's Illy are using Arabica beans from the south of Yunnan. And just as people clamour for New World wines, buyers and consumers are keen to try the rare and exotic coffee from the south of China. About 25,000 tonnes of Chinese coffee will be exported this year, compared with 18,000 tonnes imported. An estimated 28,000 tonnes of coffee is produced in Yunnan,which seems a lot, but neighbouring Vietnam grows around 900,000 tonnes, making it the world's second largest producers. According to industry analysts, Chinese coffees have a light-medium body and acidity.
Keen to avoid high entry tariffs, companies like Nestle and Starbucks are now looking to use more locally-grown coffee. Freshly-brewed coffee seems to be a drink of the middle and upper class in China. Most the locals I know are quite happy with powdered Nescafe or those Three-in-One sachets of coffee powder, sugar and whitener.
Yunnan coffee, popular with backpackers and travellers in the last few decades, was dark, gritty and more like Turkish coffee. But now many cafes feature premium imported coffee from Lavazza and Illy.
'Do you drink coffee?' I asked some of my English-language students the other day.
'Yes, but Lijiang doesn't have a Starbuck's cafe.'
'You know, in the West, many people prefer to go to other cafes than Starbucks.'
'Why?'
'The coffee is better.'
One of the group starts to explain about the appeal of an American chain outlet with its neon lights, plastic seating and spotless floors. They are amazed that I haven't frequented Starbucks back home.
'The only reason you go to Starbucks is to use their clean toilets'
'Really?'
