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Story and Photos by: Asama Vichaidit
Explore Hong Kong Café

I had a chance to visit Hong Kong last month
to find coffee inspiration, learn more about Hong Kong
coffee culture, and more importantly, explore the highly
anticipated Hong Kong Coffee Championship 2015
which included Hong Kong Barista Championship, Hong
Kong Latte Art Championship, and Hong Kong Cup Tast-
ers Championship. You may be familiar with the first
2 championships, but do you know what Cup Tasters
Championship is about?
Cup Tasters Championship is a cupping compe-
tition where contestants receive 8 sets of coffees. Each
set consists of 3 cups of coffee with one of them being

Cafe Corridor

the black sheep. In order to win, contestants must use
all their senses to accurately identify the black sheep
as quickly as possible. The champion of each national
championship will then represent Hong Kong in the next
world championship.
Putting the championships aside, lets begin our
Hong Kong café exploration. The first café we visited
was Knockbox Coffee Company in Mong Kok. I noticed
Ninety Plus’ Semeon Abay, which costs $HK 120 or
around 580 Baht per cup, on the menu, but unfortunately
it was sold out. The less expensive Nekisse ($HK 85 or
400 Baht) then became my second choice while my travel
companion ordered an Aromatics Espresso which was
sweet and clean. Brewed with a V60, my cup had a rasp-
berry jam-like berry tone, a hint of chocolate, creamy
body, and sweet aftertaste. It was an excellent start to the
café exploration trip. Knockbox Coffee Company offers
2 espresso blends, Aromatics and Mouthfeel. Both blends
use coffee beans from different origins to create uniquely
distinctive coffee character. The Aromatics blend high-
lights fruity aroma and taste with light body while the
Mouthfeel leans towards nutty, chocolate flavours with
Brew Note full body and goes well with milk.

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