文/ Zac Anderson

Zac Anderson，澳大利亞籍，在北京生活多年。曾在墨爾本和澳大利亞黃金海岸的咖啡館、餐館、酒吧和俱樂部工作過，對(duì)咖啡文化有很多研究，喜愛咖啡、喜愛中國。

“那么，你喝咖啡嗎？”我希望聽到一個(gè)溫暖的回答“是”，以便能了解到一些關(guān)于當(dāng)?shù)乜Х瑞^的建議。

“不，味道太苦了。”

上次在北京時(shí)，進(jìn)行這種對(duì)話的次數(shù)超出了我的想象，通常會(huì)有完全相同的結(jié)果。當(dāng)然，我確實(shí)遇到了一些咖啡愛好者，他們向我介紹了當(dāng)?shù)睾馨舻目Х瑞^，其咖啡品質(zhì)甚至比澳大利亞墨爾本的還要好。墨爾本擁有世界上最好的咖啡，大多數(shù)當(dāng)?shù)厝肆?xí)慣了高品質(zhì)的咖啡，他們都認(rèn)為星巴克只屬于中等水平。無形之中，墨爾本人也因?qū)Х葮O其講究而聞名，我們知道如何辨別優(yōu)質(zhì)咖啡。我想說，雖然大多數(shù)咖啡都有苦味，但苦只是味道中的一部分。好咖啡應(yīng)該是甜味、酸味、咸味保持平衡，不應(yīng)太苦，結(jié)合到一起應(yīng)該是獨(dú)特風(fēng)味的咖啡。

在北京，我不僅要找到滿足我口味的優(yōu)質(zhì)咖啡，還真的想知道為什么有這么多當(dāng)?shù)厝苏J(rèn)為咖啡太苦了。對(duì)我來說，好咖啡不苦。那么是什么使本地咖啡如此苦澀呢？我開始探索當(dāng)?shù)夭煌目Х瑞^，盡可能多地品嘗不同的咖啡。我絕不是研究咖啡風(fēng)味的專家，但我確實(shí)有8年以上在墨爾本和澳大利亞北部的黃金海岸擔(dān)任咖啡師的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，曾接受過世界上最好的咖啡師的培訓(xùn)。我認(rèn)為北京的咖啡苦主要有3個(gè)原因：咖啡豆品種、烘焙方式以及咖啡的制備和食用方式。我主要關(guān)注的是意式咖啡，這是最常在咖啡廳飲用的。自己在家制作咖啡就是另外的問題了。

我注意到北京的大部分咖啡顏色非常黑，即使是與澳大利亞市場上同一品牌的雀巢速溶咖啡，也比澳大利亞的顏色更深。我在許多咖啡館研磨機(jī)中看到的豆子幾乎都是黑色的。而在墨爾本，咖啡豆通常是淺棕色。回想起在Veneziano Coffee Roasters進(jìn)行的培訓(xùn)，我學(xué)會(huì)了烘焙時(shí)間及其對(duì)咖啡豆的影響?？Х榷购婵镜臅r(shí)間越久，顏色就越深。顏色越深，味道就越苦。選擇深層烘烤的原因有很多，我鼓勵(lì)您與當(dāng)?shù)氐目Х葞熣務(wù)劵蜃约鹤鲆恍┭芯??？梢哉f，咖啡豆顏色深可能是本地咖啡苦澀的首要原因。因此，如果您想品嘗優(yōu)質(zhì)咖啡，請(qǐng)注意咖啡豆的顏色。

本地咖啡苦澀的其他原因可能只是我的猜測。新冠肺炎疫情暴發(fā)前的5個(gè)月，我生活在北京，不過還沒有足夠的時(shí)間來探究問題的根源，但我想提出兩個(gè)比較可能的原因。第一個(gè)原因是，北京的咖啡館可能選用羅布斯塔咖啡豆（深焙后容易帶有苦澀味），而不是阿拉比卡咖啡豆（不容易有苦澀味）。第二個(gè)原因是，也許消費(fèi)者尚未意識(shí)到可以添加其他飲品，有助于消除苦味。

讓我們先談?wù)劻_布斯塔咖啡豆和阿拉比卡咖啡豆。在16—18世紀(jì)的西方殖民時(shí)代，咖啡已成為最有價(jià)值的商品之一，巴西、越南、印度尼西亞等世界各地都在種植。最初，歐洲殖民地最常種植的咖啡豆是阿拉比卡咖啡豆，以其原產(chǎn)地命名，即13世紀(jì)蘇菲王朝時(shí)期的阿拉伯半島。但是，一種惡性疾病席卷殖民地，許多阿拉比卡咖啡樹因此死亡，全球咖啡貿(mào)易陷于癱瘓。正是在這個(gè)時(shí)候，種植者注意到了另一種咖啡樹，這種咖啡樹并未受到疾病的嚴(yán)重影響，比阿拉比卡咖啡樹更健壯，因此被命名為“羅布斯塔”。

這是當(dāng)今種植的兩種主要咖啡豆品種。阿拉比卡咖啡豆占全球咖啡貿(mào)易的60%，羅布斯塔咖啡豆占近40%。也有其他幾個(gè)品種，但都極為罕見。這兩種咖啡豆的主要區(qū)別是：羅布斯塔豆便宜，生長更快，咖啡因含量更高，生時(shí)更苦、更黑。阿拉比卡咖啡豆價(jià)格更高，生長更慢，咖啡因含量更低，風(fēng)味更淡、顏色更淺。這可能是北京的咖啡如此苦澀的第二點(diǎn)原因。在澳大利亞，任何值得一去的特色咖啡店都使用阿拉比卡咖啡豆，因?yàn)樗奈兜劳ǔＲ獌?yōu)越得多，而且不那么苦。

最后，在短暫的探索北京咖啡館的過程中，我注意到咖啡的口味與咖啡的制備和食用方式有關(guān)。首先，我觀察到許多咖啡師的水平都不如他們的墨爾本同行?？Х葯C(jī)有些臟，制備技術(shù)較弱、提取時(shí)間過長，這些都是造成咖啡苦澀的重要原因。我的意思不是貶低任何人，只是想幫助咖啡師改善。我自己并不是一個(gè)完美的咖啡師，事實(shí)上，職業(yè)生涯剛開始時(shí)，我的技能太差了，以至于都不被允許為顧客煮咖啡。為了提高技能，我付出了很大的努力，所以現(xiàn)在我才感覺有資格提出一些建設(shè)性的批評(píng)。不幸的是，作為顧客，對(duì)于咖啡師的技能提升無能為力。但隨著中國咖啡標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的不斷提高，咖啡師的技能自然會(huì)有所改善，就像過去10年來澳大利亞在這方面的提升一樣。

通過選擇添加合適的飲料，顧客確實(shí)可以很好地控制風(fēng)味。我們都知道喝咖啡的兩種基本方法：加牛奶或不加牛奶。深入了解這兩種方式可以幫助您選擇更適合的口味。有很多人不能很好地消化乳制品。但是不要因此就認(rèn)為不能品嘗咖啡，有很多替代飲品可以滿足相同的需要，都能平衡咖啡中的苦味、酸味、咸味和甜味。如果您當(dāng)?shù)氐目Х瑞^提供的話，我強(qiáng)烈建議嘗試杏仁奶。這是澳大利亞最常用的乳制品替代品之一，能使咖啡味道很美妙。如果不喜歡杏仁，可以嘗試燕麥奶、豆?jié){、椰子奶、澳大利亞堅(jiān)果奶，甚至是不含乳糖的奶。最受歡迎的牛奶咖啡樣式之間的差異其實(shí)很小。純白、拿鐵和卡布奇諾的口味幾乎相同，因此選擇哪種類型的牛奶非常重要。如果您喜歡不加牛奶的咖啡，請(qǐng)注意咖啡的味道都會(huì)變得更濃烈。如果咖啡師水平不高或咖啡豆很黑，咖啡會(huì)更苦，我建議加入一些糖或風(fēng)味糖漿。大多數(shù)咖啡館都會(huì)提供香草、焦糖、巧克力、榛子等。有一點(diǎn)要注意，點(diǎn)冰鎮(zhèn)的咖啡（如冰美式）時(shí)要確保咖啡師在加冰和冷水之前先將糖加到熱的意式濃縮咖啡中，否則糖將不會(huì)溶解。

當(dāng)然，除了上面列出的以外，還有更多選擇。所以，要多出去走走，嘗試不同地方的不同飲品，相信您會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己喜歡的一款。我真的希望這些知識(shí)可以幫助人們品嘗到優(yōu)質(zhì)的咖啡，當(dāng)我回到北京時(shí)，希望可以坐下來和大家一起品嘗美味的咖啡！

“So, do you drink coffee?” I ask, hoping to hear back an enthusiastic “YES” so I can get some recommendations for good local cafes.

“No, the taste is too bitter.”

When I was last in Beijing, I had this conversation more times than I can count, usually with this exact same outcome. Of course I did meet some similar coffee lovers who did show me some amazing local cafes where the coffee was on-par or even BETTER than what I’m used to back home in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne boasts some of the best coffee in the world and as such, the standards are really high, so most locals are accustomed to the high quality. To give you some perspective,most coffee drinkers in Melbourne consider Starbucks to be mid-tier.We Melbournians have developed a reputation for being coffee snobs,something that even I myself can not avoid, despite being aware of it. We know good coffee because we’re spoiled with it as our ‘norm’.I should also just say now that while bitterness is part of most coffee flavour profiles, it is just that… a part of it. It should be balanced out with sweetness, sourness, and saltiness, not so bitter that is the only flavour note you notice. The end result should be a distinctly uniquecoffeeflavour.

More than just trying to meet my snobbish, I was extremely curious to find out why so many locals in Beijing told me they think coffee is too bitter. Good coffee has never tasted bitter to me. We are all humans and we are all the same on the inside, so what is it about the local coffee that makes it so bitter? I started to explore different local cafes and try as much coffee from as many different places as I had time for. I must preface the rest of this article by saying that I am by no means a coffee flavour expert, but I do have over 8 years experience as a barista in Melbourne and also the Gold Coast in Australia’s North.I’ve worked with speciality coffee and have been trained by some of the best in the world, including at the famous Veneziano Coffee Roasters in Melbourne, the same place where world-championship-contestant baristas have trained. There are 3 key things in my opinion that may be responsible for this phenomenon of bitter coffee in Beijing: the types of beans used, the way they are roasted, and finally, the way coffee is prepared and served. I am primarily focusing on espresso coffee, the type you would expect to have at a cafe. Options for making coffee at home by yourself is another topic for another day.

The first thing I began to notice about (most of) the coffee I found in Beijing was that it was very very dark. Even Nescafe instant coffee,the exact same brand that is available in Australia, is darker than the Australian version. The beans I saw in many cafe grinders were nearly black. Back home they’re usually light brown, very light brown. I recalled my training at Veneziano Coffee Roasters where I was taught about roast time and the effect it has on beans. The longer the coffee beans are roasted, the darker they get. The darker the beans, the more bitter the flavour usually is. There are a few reasons why darker roasts are chosen, I encourage you to talk to your local barista about it or do some research for yourself. Suffice it to say, dark beans are the first and probably strongest key to why so much of the local coffee in Beijing is so bitter, so if you’re hunting for good coffee, pay attention to the colour of the beans that the cafe is using.

The other reasons why so much of Beijing’s coffee is bitter can only be hypothesised. In my 5 months of living there before Covid-19 hit, I just didn’t have enough time to get to the bottom of it, but I have 2 very strong theories I’d like to put forward. The first is that it is possible that cafes around Beijing are using Robusta beans, rather than Arabica beans for their brews. The second is that perhaps consumers haven’t become aware of the plethora of flavour options that help to smooth-out the bitterness.

Let’s talk first about Robusta and Arabica beans. In the days of Western colonisation around the 16th, 17thand 18thcenturies, coffee had become one of the most valuable commodities and was grown all over the world from Brazil to Vietnam, Indonesia, and so on. In the beginning, the most commonly grown type of coffee bean in the European colonies was the Arabica bean, named after it’s place of origin, the Arabian peninsular in the days of the Sufi dynasty in the 13th century. However, a vicious disease ripped through the colonies all over the world, attacking and killing off many Arabica plants, bringing the global coffee trade to its knees. It was at this time that coffee growers noticed a different variety of coffee tree that was not greatly affected by the disease, it was more robust than the Arabica trees, so it was given the name ‘Robusta’ and grown more and more.

These are the 2 major types of beans grown today. Arabica beans account for 60% of global commercially sold coffee, while Robusta beans account for the other 40% or thereabouts. There are a few other varieties as well, but they are extremely rare. The major differences between these 2 varieties of beans are as simple as this... Robusta beans are: cheaper, quicker to grow, stronger in caffeine content, more bitter,darker when raw. Arabica beans are: more expensive, much slower to grow, weaker in caffeine content, much lighter in flavour, and much lighter in colour when raw. Thus, here may be our 2nd key as to why Beijing coffee is so often bitter. Any speciality coffee cafe in Australia worth its salt uses Arabica beans, because the flavour is generally far superior, and nowhere near as bitter.

Lastly, the things I noticed in my brief time exploring Beijing’s cafes have to do with how the coffee is prepared and served. First off, many of the baristas whom I observed preparing my espresso coffee did not have the same level of training as their Melbournian counterparts. I often saw dirty coffee machines, poor tamping technique, and very long extraction times, all of which are big contributors to the espresso tasting bitter. I don’t mean to belittle anyone with this criticism, in fact I hope it does nothing but help improve the experiences for both baristas and customers in Beijing. I myself am not a perfect barista, and in fact when my career first began, my skills were so poor that I was not permitted to make coffee for customers. It took a lot of diligent, hard work to improve my skills to get to where they are today, which is why I feel qualified to give this constructive criticism of others’ work. As a customer, unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do about the skill of your barista, this is something that will naturally improve as the standards get higher and higher in China, just as they have in Australia over the last 10 or so years.

However, you do have a lot of control (as a customer) over the flavour profile by choosing the right kind of drink. We all know the 2 basic ways to have a coffee: with milk or without milk. Understanding the options of these 2 styles deeply can help you to choose the right kind of coffee for your taste. Many people around the world are lactose intolerant, meaning they can’t digest dairy products very well. If this is you, please don’t quickly dismiss coffee as something you can’t have,because there are so many alternative milks that do the same, if not a better job at balancing out the bitter, sour, salty, and sweet notes that are present in all coffee drinks. My strongest recommendation is to try almond milk if your local cafe offers is. It is one of the most commonly used dairy alternative in Australia, and it makes your coffee taste so nice. If almond isn’t to your liking though, you could try oat milk, soy milk, coconut milk, macadamia milk, or even just lactose-free dairy milk. The differences between the most popular styles of milk-coffee are really small. A flat white, latte, and cappuccino are nearly identical in flavour, so the choice that matters is really which type of milk is used. If you like to have your coffee black, just be aware that, for better or for worse, the coffee flavours will be much stronger, so if the barista isn’t quite up to scratch or the beans are really dark, you will notice the bitterness more. I recommend adding some sugar or flavour syrups to these kinds of coffees. Most cafes will offer vanilla, caramel, chocolate,hazelnut and so on. Just make sure if you are getting something iced,like an iced Americano, that your barista adds the sugar to the hot espresso before adding ice and cold water, or the sugar will not dissolve and mix through the drink properly.

Of course there are even more options than those I have listed above,so get out there and try different drinks from different places and I’m sure you will find something amazing that you love. I really hope this knowledge can help you hunt down some great coffee, and that by the time I come back to Beijing, we can all sit down and have a delicious cup of coffee together!