johannabanana Senior Member Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Vienna, Europe Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La San Marco 1,2,+3group,... Grinder: 2 LSM, 3 Tourmix, 1 demoka... Vac Pot: not yet Drip: Melitta aroma boy,... Roaster: Precision & Mr. Gunter :-D
Posted Sun Jan 11, 2004, 7:13am Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
Hi Peter :-D Sorry for muddling swedish with danish - I guess a lot of Europeans from somewhere more south have that problem ;-) For us it sounds very similar. Maybe I read it wrong.... But I fully understand the emotions - it's like Austrians and Germans (which will hate me after my next sentence...) but when someone hears me speaking "german language", they assume I am German, which I'm not, so I always insist I'm spaking "austrian" - it's german, too, but with a very different dialect. (We try to give Germans a hard time understanding what we talk...) So Sweden vs Denmark, Austria vs. Germany, England vs. Scottland - wouldn't we miss a lot of jokes without that competition ? :-}
Have fun!!! Tell me when you visit Vienna again - maybe my espresso bar will be openened then...
Servus Joey
PS.: Visited Copenhagen several times, but only for overnight stops. Had a chance to see the Tivoli (from the inside), the Hard Rock Café and a bit of the City Center, including the Planetarium. It's a nice town with beautiful houses and very friendly people.
"Do everything right. You will gratify some people and astonish the rest." (Mark Twain)
cellocoffee Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2004 Posts: 195 Location: Austin, TX & Taiwan Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Expobar Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: think espresso Drip: think espresso Roaster: not yet
Posted Thu Mar 18, 2004, 5:11am Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
I am glad to hear someone trying to 'change the coffee world in Asia'. That is a hard teask. I have a hard time explaining to my American friends that CHinese don't put sugar in their OO-Long Tea. Mostly, I am very thankful to read your article to know that you wrote this article with actual experience of working all the way through from retail to wholesale. Some personal oppinions:
I think it's a tremendous task if you are truely going to cover all asia about their coffee culture. Aisa, full of many countries with different tea drinking culture background will have different indigenous development of their own coffee appreciation. Did you mean the coffee culture of China since you're based in HK?
First, 'Asia is 5 yrs behind Australia..." is not very objective in my opinion. I wonder HOM MANY years US is behind Italy and how many years Canada is behind France? Also, as I said above, which country in Asia are you trying to compare? I have been to Japan many times and I am from Taiwan. I think many coffee shops in Tokyo make the best Vac coffee and to be honest (not biased, really), Taipei can be found several excellent espresso and cappuccino cafes than Austin Texas where I live now.
Please keep up you work. Looking forward to learning from your report.
Posted Mon Oct 4, 2004, 4:13pm Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
Hi Paull, I can't say I don't agree with youl on the coffee culture in Hong Kong. However, the generalization of term "Australia" may not be something that I agreed in. I don't know which part of Australia you've been to, but after studying in Melbourne for the last 9 years. There are 2 things, I have experienced and adored. one is cycling and the second is the coffee. With the history of Italians in Melbourne, we have long built our very own coffee culture (Even though the "older" ones may not be the best coffee makers). There are many cafe with very friendly and professional baristas in Melbourne who put effort into making the best expresso. Many of them could also includes different latte arts on their drinks. Of course, I wouldn't know what America or Canada's coffee a like even though I've been to both places. But you needed to spent enough time to dig into a place before you could find the treasure. I didn't tasted any good coffee from America when I was there. Maybe I just haven't done my research properly, I wouldn't exactly say that their coffee is behind Australia. Enough criticisums, I'm very interested in knowing where to find good coffee in Hong Kong. It could the area that I go to, I have always had triouble finding a nice cafe to go to. I just don't remember having a nice expresso in Hong Kong. I have tasted some pretty average ones. Maybe you could give me a hand in looking for better coffee. ciao, henry
coffeedane Senior Member Joined: 4 Dec 2003 Posts: 4 Location: Taiwan Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Wed Oct 13, 2004, 2:43am Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
ppanduro Said:
Hej Holger - selv på jagt efter den ultimative espressomaskine er jeg netop stødt på Coffeegeek.com, som ser ud til at være mødestedet for den ultimative kaffenørd.... Bare en hilsen fra det våde og lidt kedelige Danmark - og så kan det jo være vi "tales" ved ... venligst Peter
pchong Senior Member Joined: 17 Jun 2002 Posts: 11 Location: Singapore Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Elektra Micro Casa a Leva Grinder: Mazzer Mini Roaster: Home made, rangetop.
Posted Tue Dec 21, 2004, 6:39am Subject: Interesting article Paul
I live in Singapore, but don't find many places to have great coffee here. Bakerzin is a notable exception - I believe the only one bothered to do latte art in Singapore, and some Spinelli. But in the main, coffee is Starbucks level. Local coffee is drinkable, but mainly robusta.
Am in Beijing this week, and the coffee is awful here. Haven't found a good coffee place yet.
Posted Thu Feb 17, 2005, 4:15am Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
You're bloody joking aren't you? Coffee in Australia, and for that matter India, is so far ahead of anything you will dream of getting in the States. Man, I drink about 6 coffees a day, and I'll stop drinking them the day Italians work out what good coffee is let alone the Americans...
I get my beans specially imported from India. Monsooned Malabar AA, then lovingly roasted by a professional roaster, while I have breakfast at his cafe.
In India, my father gets 100% Pea Berry of the same coffee. You could make it in a plunger and it would probably taste better than the best I've had in America.
pstam Senior Member Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,298 Location: Beijing Expertise: Professional
Espresso: ECM, SAN MARCO, EURO 2000 Grinder: MAZZER Vac Pot: YES Drip: YES Roaster: YES, HOME STYLE
Posted Mon Feb 28, 2005, 8:06am Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
Paul_Pratt Said:
Paul Pratt starts off with a short article to set the tone for what his column will be about - the coffee scene and culture in South East Asia, and Hong Kong.
JbCole Senior Member Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Hong Kong Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Coffee Grinder: Mortar and Pestle-just... Vac Pot: Sorry not American Roaster: Searching
Posted Wed Jun 1, 2005, 7:57am Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
Just on my way back to Hk. Where do you buy unroasted beans and are there any specialist roasters? I remember there being a small Egyptian place in Mid-Levels a few years ago.
paragsatyal Senior Member Joined: 8 Jun 2005 Posts: 28 Location: Sydney, Australia Expertise: Pro Barista
Posted Sun Jun 12, 2005, 6:10pm Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
hi i am from asia, nepal to be precise. it's no where near HK or singapore but north of india and south of china. i am a coffee lover who's desperate for a good cup of espresso (which is very hard to find here). nepal is actually 10-12 years behind places like singapore or hk in terms of coffee scene. not talking about the other parts, coffee for 95% of the people in kathmandu is nescafe (people have no idea of coffee except for few select parts). and rest 5% of the kathmandu residents haven't even tasted a decent espresso. infact the definition of coffee for most of these people is filter coffee. there are no starbucks here. just a few restaurants that serve "espresso" made with machines like moulinex duomo (and ironically that's what i own, that's the best machine you buy it here in nepal). the only place that serves good espresso is a french restaurant called "chez carolina" that uses an espresso pod and some italian machine (which they didn't let me see) to go with it. they are the only ones who know what they are doing. but then again their cappucinos have milk froths with half centimeter sized bubbles...not a good sight to see. coffee beans are grown in some places in nepal--robusta i think, and they are not bad at all, but there is not a single quality roaster here. most of them are pan roasted by the people who grow them and are usually over roasted. this is what most restaurants used, with exception of one, which uses indian beans. and that's what i use--it's anytime better than the over roasted fresh coffee beans. however they do serve pretty good cold coffees with european flavorings and ice cream and whipped cream and stuff. well that's the scene in nepal...just wanted to share.
pstam Senior Member Joined: 27 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,298 Location: Beijing Expertise: Professional
Espresso: ECM, SAN MARCO, EURO 2000 Grinder: MAZZER Vac Pot: YES Drip: YES Roaster: YES, HOME STYLE
Posted Sun Jun 12, 2005, 7:15pm Subject: Re: Setting the Scene for Coffee in Asia by Paul Pratt
If any of you have a chance to visit Beijing, please check the coffee shops or restaurant & Bar with logo of Kaffa Cafe and taste their coffee to compare to the one you know in other area, from
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