China Coffee Baristas Learning to Make the Perfect Cup of Joe（在线收听）

Even though China is typically known for its myriad of tea varieties, slowly but surely, Western coffee culture has been brewing its way into China's big cities and even into smaller ones as well.

So much so, that coffee barista training schools are popping up. Both younger Chinese and older coffee enthusiasts and coffee-holics are joining in to learn about how to make the perfect cup of Joe.

Andrea Hunt has more:

 
The second you walk in the door of China Barista Coffee, it smells like freshly brewed espresso... There are huge, bar sized, metal espresso makers. And smaller, silver Italian segmented pots. There's even a bubbling, Brazilian coffee siphon that resembles something out of a mad scientist laboratory.

China Barista Coffee training school is located in the heart of Beijing's 798 Art District and churns out around 200 coffee baristas every year.

Vice president of the Training Center Ji Ming says he's learned that after working in the coffee business ten years, often the Chinese customer isn't familiar with coffee.

"They give you the coffee, they give you the milk and they mix together and they think, 'that's coffee. Bitter.' And sometimes, you cannot drink it. So, I decided to open a coffee shop to let people know what is really good quality coffee without milk, without sugar, only the really good quality coffee."

But slowly, Fu Yu, the manager at CBC says that Chinese colure is finding a love for coffee.

"After the 1990s, coffee entered the public eye in Beijing, but people then usually drank coffee when they had business matters or parties. It wasn't until the 2000s that coffee became more of a pastime on a relatively small-scale and it was still considered petty bourgeoisie. After the Olympics when many foreigners came to China, young people and even the middle aged in Beijing starting learning about coffee, Now, sitting around drinking coffee is seen as a good way to relieve the pressures of work."

Twenty-one year old student like Nick, whose Chinese name is Wu Bin Xiang, have come all the way from Qinghai to study coffee here. Nick is also the winner of last year's coffee barista competition.

"Well, about six years ago, I really was exposed to coffee for the first time and I was fully attracted by the glamour of it, the taste and the aroma. From then on, I fell in love with coffee, and all the jobs I've had since have been associated with coffee."

He definitely knows his coffee now and hopes to one day make a shop.

Here they learn about coffee bean varieties, aromas, machines, preferences by country and the like.

One of the teachers, Li furong, explains that the course here is much more intense than what the student would learn just working in a coffee shop.

"Here, we can provide all kinds of coffee makers, different types and flavors of coffee beans, and we have different recipes for making coffee. Students can learn to make different flavors of coffee to satisfy different needs of their future customers. Learning to make coffee in a coffee shop is different because it means using the same types of beans and recipes. It's very limited. Studying here at the coffee barista school teaches students the basics plus professional knowledge so they can work anywhere, even other countries."

For some, like Zhao Yazhou, it was a good career move. Only one month after graduating, he found a job working at Hi Café in 798 Art District. Zhao had always liked the rich aroma of coffee. The first time he tried a bottled coffee drink, he was hooked.

"I think the things that I've learned from CBC coffee school will benefit me a lot in the future. Especially when I'm starting to operate my own bakery. The Chinese society is continually progressing and coffee is becoming more important in a bakery while people are sitting and savoring their cakes."

What's more, almost one trained CBC coffee barista graduate a month starts a café in Beijing or around China. This is indeed a turning point for a culture deeply rooted in tea. Seems the timing is as good as ever though in Beijing. So, maybe it's better to stir while the coffee is hot.

For CRI, I'm Andrea Hunt.