In August last year, a coffeeholic, Kin, named himself Barista Gor Friend (friend of a barista), started his business by teaching basic coffee knowledge in various aspects. He advertised in an online broadcast channel I’ve been listening to. I wanted to learn more about coffee and meet new friends sharing the same interest. Therefore, I attended his class.

Kin earned a couple of certifications from Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), a non-profit trade organisation for the specialty coffee industry. The coffee class he organises is not just for teaching, but to meet with other coffeholics and people who want to learn more the basic knowledge. People often start learning about coffee without rich resources. After spending lots of time and money, they still can’t determine if something is good or bad or distinguish the general difference between coffee beans from Africa and South America.

Coffee tonic, one of the coffee drinks served during the class

The class started by talking about what coffee is and how a coffee fruit turns into a coffee bean we find in the stores. We also learned the different characteristics of coffee beans from different origins and the best way to select coffee beans in the stores. Besides understanding the basic knowledge of coffee beans, like aroma and analysis of tasting notes, we tried brewing using various tools and methods.

After the class, I realised that coffee knowledge is much broader than I expected. I began my journey by buying more tools and books. I learned by reading books, watching YouTube videos and conducting experiments. AeroPress is one of the new tools I bought for coffee brewing. This is a tool which can brew coffee much more consistently than V60.

The more I know, the more I know I don’t know.

AeroPress, a cheap but reliable brewing tool

I built a good relationship with Kin. In 2022, I got a chance to visit his factory and work as a teaching assistant in on of his coffee classes. Whenever we meet, we exchange ideas and findings from experiments in coffee. Thank Kin, now the owner of Cups Hong Kong, for guiding and inspiring me throughout this year. If he hadn’t started his business, I couldn’t have been addicted to coffee that much.

A new way brewing drip bag coffee

Learn to make affogato by mimicking

Having been immersing in drip coffee for a half year, I started to explore the brewing technique that I had been putting on my wish list for a long time – espresso.

… (to be continued)

Cups HK – https://www.facebook.com/CUPSHK