03/05/2025

LYFE SATURDAY | MAY 3, 2025

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A worker holding the fruit of a coffee plant at the Tianyuzhuang coffee plantation in Pu’er.

Coffee plants (foreground) and rows of tea plants (centre) at the Tianyuzhuang coffee plantation in Pu’er.

Shihao pouring coffee for a guest at the Xiaowazi coffee plantation.

China develops taste for coffee

A T a mountainside cafe in southwestern China, Liao Shihao brews handfuls of locally grown coffee beans, a modern twist on the region’s traditional drink. For centuries, Pu’er in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea – sometimes styled pu-erh – famous across East Asia and beyond. But as younger Chinese cultivate a taste for punchy espressos, frothy lattes and flat whites, growers are increasingly branching out into tea’s historic rival. “People are coming to try our hand-drip coffee... and more fully experience the flavours it brings. In the past, they mostly went for commercial coffee and would not dabble in the artisanal varieties,” said Shihao, 25. Shihao’s family has run the Xiaowazi , or Little Hollow, coffee plantation for three generations. Nestled in a shady valley, spindly coffee trees line its steep hillsides, their cherry-like fruit drying on wooden pallets outside. When visited this month, clusters of tourists sipped boutique brews in the airy cafe overlooking its verdant slopes. “It is very good,” said Cai Shuwen, 21, as he perched on a bar stool lifting sample after sample to his lips. “Even though some beans are more astringent than I imagined, others have exceeded my expectations.” Brewing success Every year, Pu’er’s plantations sell tens of thousands of tons of coffee to major Chinese cities, according to government data. In metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, a thriving cafe scene has emerged in recent years, driven by people aged between 20 and 40. To Liao, a trained roaster and ARMED with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs recently completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake which they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2-tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of cream. To claim the record in the Guinness book, the cake had to be at least 8cm wide and 8cm tall. The logistics were so difficult that the team “used blowtorches to heat the bowl” for the

spry in his advanced years. “Drinking coffee can make you younger and healthier... and prevent ageing. Also, everyone is tired at work these days... and they want to give their brains a boost,” he smiled. Richer pickings China’s coffee output has risen dramatically in recent years, though it still lags far behind traditional powerhouses such as Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia. Yunnan, near three borders with Southeast Asian nations, accounts for virtually all of China’s coffee production, much of it concentrated in Pu’er. On a visit to Yunnan last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the province’s coffee “represents China”, according to state media. Keen to further expand the sector, officials have rolled out policies to improve production, attract investment and boost exports, according to government statements. They have also merged coffee production with tourism, dovetailing with a central government push to increase domestic consumption. Longtime farmer Yu Dun, 51, said she had opened new income streams with plantation tours, homestays and a restaurant fusing coffee with the cuisine of her native Dai ethnicity. Her prospects were bright, she said, adding that she also earned “10 times” more revenue from her beans since learning to process and roast them herself. “We used to say only rich people could drink coffee, but that has all changed now,” she said. – AFP

o Local bean growers make tourism part of business

A worker raking coffee beans during the drying process at the Xiaowazi coffee plantation. – ALL PICS FROM AFP

but not too heady, and slightly fruity,” he added. Free from artificial pesticides and interspersed with other species for biodiversity, Little Hollow yields about 500 tons of raw coffee fruit per year. Xiugui himself drinks two or three cups a day, and credits the caffeinated beverage for keeping him

decades ago. At the time, the older man was one of few people in China who had studied coffee cultivation. But the region’s relatively high altitude and temperate climate were well-suited to the unfamiliar crop, said the now 83-year-old. “The quality of the coffee we plant here is strong but not too bitter, floral

barista, coffee from his home region possesses “a creamy flavour with a silky, viscous mouthfeel”. Modern commercial plantations only sprang up in Pu’er in the 1980s, and the area is still better known for its centuries-old tea trade. Liao’s grandfather Liao Xiugui said “nobody knew anything about coffee” when he arrived in Pu’er a few

French pastry chefs complete ‘world’s longest cake’

Pastry chefs work on the strawberry cake, measuring 121.8m in length, during a Guinness World Record event in Argenteuil.

Pastry chefs celebrate their achievement and the cake made using 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of cream. – ALL PICS FROM AFP

highlight farm produce, so French strawberries and products such as milk, cream and butter,” he said.

cream mix, said the chef’s wife Nadia El Gatou. Youssef said that since a child, he

had wanted to set a record. “I was looking for a product or a French pastry, and I also wanted to

Residents of Argenteuil who went to see the calorie-packed record-breaker were given a piece to take away. – AFP