Coffee Culture Takes Off in Tea-Loving Hong Kong

Hong Kong — “I made only 20 cups a day when I started the business. But now I sell up to 150 cups a day,” Johnson Ko, the owner of Coco Espresso, said. “I’ve seen rapidly increasing numbers of coffee drinkers in Hong Kong.”

Ko is one of a number of young entrepreneurs to have embraced the coffee culture — and turned it into a thriving business.

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Ko opened Coco Espresso in 2007 after returning from Australia where he had acquired his skills and knowledge about coffee making.

Located in Sheung Wan, in the western part of Hong Kong Island, Ko’s little café welcomes customers with an aroma of coffee that fills the whole room.

Most of his patrons were foreigners at first, Ko said, but more local people came to visit the café after it was featured in a TV show hosted by Moses Chan, a Hong Kong-based actor.

“He is a key figure who has supported the coffee boom in Hong Kong,” Ko said.

In January 2009, Chan hosted a weekly TV programme titled Coffee Confidential on TVB, Hong Kong’s largest broadcaster.

In the nine-episode series, Chan recommended secret coffee spots in Hong Kong, from small boutique coffee shops to internationally famous coffee outlets.

Baristas interviewed on the programme shared their knowledge about coffee with the audience.

Barista, derived from the Italian word for “bartender,” refers to a person who prepares and serves coffee drinks.

The television series was later edited into a book, My Coffee Guide, which features 30 Hong Kong cafés.

“Thanks to Chan, so-called coffee connoisseurs emerged in the city,” said Ko. “They know what cappuccino really is now.”

Dixon Ip, another barista, runs a coffee shop in an old shopping mall in Quarry Bay, on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island. Despite its less-than-convenient location, his Xen Coffee is thriving.

“Luckily, Moses picked up my siphon coffee in his book. And it brought new customers to my café,” Ip said, pointing at an article clipped from My Coffee Guide and posted on the wall of the tiny cafe.

Most of new customers show up in Xen Coffee holding the book in their hands, Ip said.

STARBUCKS KICK-STARTS A TREND

Hong Kong’s growing coffee culture took root in 2000, when Starbucks Coffee Company, the international chain, opened its first store in a territory where tea culture was traditional and pervasive. Its debut introduced Hongkongers to drinks with exotic names such as “cappuccino” and “caramel macchiato”. Ko was one of them.

“At that time I went to Starbucks quite often. I thought drinking coffee there was the display of status and that by doing so I could show others how I enjoyed the leisure time,” he said.

Later, Ko went to Australia to learn coffee making. “That’s where I encountered authentic coffee,” he said. He worked for a coffee shop in Sydney, run by his uncle. “I went to the Sydney Coffee Academy, a café and barista training centre too.”

Kyoko Kitamura’s Kitamura Coffee was established in 2003 in Happy Valley.

“I believe I’m the first roaster in Hong Kong. There weren’t many coffee shops in the city back then and I was sure I got ahead of the times in the coffee business,” said Kitamura.

“Now it seems Hong Kong’s coffee culture has entered the next phase. People are looking for something beyond Starbucks.”

In 2008, Starbucks opened its 100th outlet in Hong Kong, according to its company website. While its coffee chains are expanding in the city, independently owned coffee houses entered the market one after another and became competitive with the big names.

MUTLINATIONAL CHAINS VS INDIE COFFEE SHOPS

Shirley Ng, in her thirties, said big coffee chains and small shops serve different purposes.

“Starbucks is available wherever people look. I go there to buy coffee when I’m in a hurry or when I want to hang out with friends,” Ng said in an interview at Bonfire Café, a small modern café in Causeway Bay.

“But not for the actual coffee itself. Siphon coffee here is way more tasty and authentic.”

Suki Lo, 25, a barista with five years of experience working at Starbucks, has a serious interest in coffee.

“I like to try coffees at little cafés on my days off,” she said. “Big coffee chains are still popular because of their convenience and fast-paced environment.

“But I agree that small cafés serve you coffee of better quality.”

Along with the growing popularity of small coffee shops, some young baristas stand out as influential coffee artists.

COFFEE ARTISTRY

After three years of training, Tracy Kwok, a 25-year-old barista from Epoch Café in Wanchai, won the Hong Kong Grand Barista Championship in 2009. She uses espresso as a pen and draws complicated designs such as hearts and swans on the foam of milk.

Kwok thinks Starbucks and Pacific Coffee, another corporate chain with 73 branches in the city, bring a positive influence to Hong Kong’s coffee culture. People are now aware of “what is good coffee and what is not,” she said.

Recently Coco Espresso quit serving lunch, which used to be a main source of profit, because sales of coffee drinks had jumped over the past year. Ko plans to focus more on serving espresso-based beverages so that he can further develop the coffee culture in Hong Kong and spread his coffee secrets.

“I want Hongkongers to know that coffee should be drunk within 10 minutes to enjoy its best smell, flavor and taste,” Ko said.

“One day I want to install only bars without chairs. Coffee lovers come in and enjoy a quick coffee standing at the bar. Just like a café in Italy.”