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All of a sudden, just like wine lovers, baristas and
coffee enthusiasts flock to Geisha, and famous coffee
farms like Hacienda La Esmeralda, as well as coffees from
champions, overseas cafes etc., “Specialty coffee is much
cheaper than wine!” a cup of Geisha that costs 12USD
(nearly 70CNY), or even 15USD (nearly 80CNY) is con-
sidered affordable, people crack jokes with each other:
“Let’s have more Geisha now, maybe we won’t be able to
afford it in the future!”
Cup after cup, the names of the origins, producing
areas, farms, processing methods, including brewing
parameters etc., the professional terminologies, which
were thought to be ‘boring’, ‘obscure’, are dripping into
those tastemaker’s hearts. Cupping and coffee sharing
turn to be cohesive parties, where coffee lovers meet
each other, indulging themselves in aromatic cups: tast-
ing a new coffee and gossiping about latest insights of the
industry, amassing a collection of hottest coffee packing bags,
all makes the thirsty front-runners exciting. The foreign
names of World Champions, as well as the regional ones,
together with their coffees are already brewed in mind.
It is the best of
times, it is the worst
of times.
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Local Booming
Just in a very short few years coffee has become the
hottest popular drink. Capitals, the intervention of invisible
hand, has driven the third wave of specialty coffee a tidal
wave, all resulting in the birth of home roasters and indepen-
dent roasters, who are devoted to hunting green coffee beans
by themselves, conveying to consumers their interpretation
of the coffee ‘terroir’, the same as that in the wine world.
For a time, home roasting has become a signature of
many specialty coffee shops. After 2018, there are countless
home-roasting cafes, roasting studios and independent
coffee roasting brands spreading allover in China. There
are not only Ethiopian and Panamian coffee beans cracking
in the drums, but also the local such as Yunnan coffee rolling
over in various roasting machines. Specialty coffee from
Thailand or Vietnam, even including specialty Robusta shows
up and inspires both the supply chain and the end-drinkers.
More flavor hunters also joined the crowds of home
roasting, the multifarious roasting machines used would
make a long list: the imported domestic roasting machines,
hand-net roasting, microwave ovens, frying pots, pans……
Can you picture a young housewife pan-roasting an Ethio-
pian Hembella coffee, and sharing with her loved ones?
With so many coffees available at a time, no wonder
coffee consumers cheer: It is the best of times, it is the
worst of times. There are too many coffees to choose!
Right now, in China and throughout Asia, the third
wave shapes a new market, attracting more public with
flavor and aroma, as well as rocking the wave-riders. Di-
versification has been stimulating Asia, a traditional yet vi-
brant market, flourishing with surprises and hopes every day.
In 2001 the opening of the first local special coffee In terms of coffee, more westernized countries and
shop, Corridor, kicked off the movement for Hong Kong regions in Asia include Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,
specialty coffee. Over there the coffee men have taken the who led the regional third wave coffee movement years ago
advantage of free trade and become a leader in Asia spe- and are now walking hand in hand with their new peers.
cialty coffee community. Facing various challenges and competition inside and
According to a report by Perfect Daily Grind, despite outside the value chain, the local roasters and coffee brands
the challenge of high tariff and the unappreciated Robusta in various countries are striving to evolve. The booming
coffee, the enthusiasm of the specialty coffee consumers, local coffee industry in Asia plays a harmonious symphony
plus the support from the government and the collaboration “the Native, the World”, driving the world’s specialty cof-
with small micro-coffee processing plants, all pushes Thai fee forward as well.
specialty coffee rising, bringing a ray of sunshine to the There is a Chinese saying “Hundreds of flowers blos-
local and world coffee community. som, Hundreds of thoughts shared”, which best illustrates
In Paris Coffee Revolution, a French crowdfunding book the world’s coffee scene in the past two years.
for specialty coffee, there is a statement: “The biggest chal- The patrons are more willing to support local coffee
lenge for French specialty coffee is to change the taste buds roasters, as a result, on one hand the end users start to
of the French”, all is the same in Malaysia. The multi-ethnic, become ‘picky’, on the other hand their sensory level and
multicultural coffee tradition is deeply rooted, but luckily tasting standard get improved, and the consuming behavior
kopi coexists harmoniously with specialty coffee. become more rational.
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