Thursday, February 01, 2007


regional coffee culture: the shanghai barista competition

"shanghai's three best brewers of coffee were chosen at a competition in the city yesterday, based on their ability to brew up a good cup of espresso, cappuccino and their own signature blend."

for all the tea in where? clearly this's another sign of how specialty coffee -- third wave coffee -- continues to take asia by storm.

this is the mark of the coffee crisis' real end. when china begins to drink coffee en masse, whether specialty or soluble (preferably a mix of both), then coffee farmers will see sustainability, and the sharp jolts of the market will be less harmful.

aside from the global implications, there's also the interesting fact that 2 of the winners are women. asian women and women of asian/asian-pacific descent seem to be excelling in baristaship lately: the u.s.a's phuong tran in 2005 and of course australia's hazel de los reyes (now turned prize-winning roaster, to boot!) are examples that immediately spring to mind. . .

the specialty coffee family is open to all, and offers exciting, lucrative careers to people of all origins, ethnicities, and gender. while it used to be the case that coffee was a man's world, i think those of us here at the dopey pink coffee blog can especially celebrate how quickly true equality of opportunity has come in the gorgeous bean.

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posted by fortune | 8:35 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments