文/ Zac Anderson

Zac Anderson，澳大利亚籍，在北京生活多年。曾在墨尔本和澳大利亚黄金海岸的咖啡馆、餐馆、酒吧和俱乐部工作过，对咖啡文化有很多研究，喜爱咖啡、喜爱中国。

“那么，你喝咖啡吗？”我希望听到一个温暖的回答“是”，以便能了解到一些关于当地咖啡馆的建议。

“不，味道太苦了。”

上次在北京时，进行这种对话的次数超出了我的想象，通常会有完全相同的结果。当然，我确实遇到了一些咖啡爱好者，他们向我介绍了当地很棒的咖啡馆，其咖啡品质甚至比澳大利亚墨尔本的还要好。墨尔本拥有世界上最好的咖啡，大多数当地人习惯了高品质的咖啡，他们都认为星巴克只属于中等水平。无形之中，墨尔本人也因对咖啡极其讲究而闻名，我们知道如何辨别优质咖啡。我想说，虽然大多数咖啡都有苦味，但苦只是味道中的一部分。好咖啡应该是甜味、酸味、咸味保持平衡，不应太苦，结合到一起应该是独特风味的咖啡。

在北京，我不仅要找到满足我口味的优质咖啡，还真的想知道为什么有这么多当地人认为咖啡太苦了。对我来说，好咖啡不苦。那么是什么使本地咖啡如此苦涩呢？我开始探索当地不同的咖啡馆，尽可能多地品尝不同的咖啡。我绝不是研究咖啡风味的专家，但我确实有8年以上在墨尔本和澳大利亚北部的黄金海岸担任咖啡师的经验，曾接受过世界上最好的咖啡师的培训。我认为北京的咖啡苦主要有3个原因：咖啡豆品种、烘焙方式以及咖啡的制备和食用方式。我主要关注的是意式咖啡，这是最常在咖啡厅饮用的。自己在家制作咖啡就是另外的问题了。

我注意到北京的大部分咖啡颜色非常黑，即使是与澳大利亚市场上同一品牌的雀巢速溶咖啡，也比澳大利亚的颜色更深。我在许多咖啡馆研磨机中看到的豆子几乎都是黑色的。而在墨尔本，咖啡豆通常是浅棕色。回想起在Veneziano Coffee Roasters进行的培训，我学会了烘焙时间及其对咖啡豆的影响。咖啡豆烘烤的时间越久，颜色就越深。颜色越深，味道就越苦。选择深层烘烤的原因有很多，我鼓励您与当地的咖啡师谈谈或自己做一些研究。可以说，咖啡豆颜色深可能是本地咖啡苦涩的首要原因。因此，如果您想品尝优质咖啡，请注意咖啡豆的颜色。

本地咖啡苦涩的其他原因可能只是我的猜测。新冠肺炎疫情暴发前的5个月，我生活在北京，不过还没有足够的时间来探究问题的根源，但我想提出两个比较可能的原因。第一个原因是，北京的咖啡馆可能选用罗布斯塔咖啡豆（深焙后容易带有苦涩味），而不是阿拉比卡咖啡豆（不容易有苦涩味）。第二个原因是，也许消费者尚未意识到可以添加其他饮品，有助于消除苦味。

让我们先谈谈罗布斯塔咖啡豆和阿拉比卡咖啡豆。在16—18世纪的西方殖民时代，咖啡已成为最有价值的商品之一，巴西、越南、印度尼西亚等世界各地都在种植。最初，欧洲殖民地最常种植的咖啡豆是阿拉比卡咖啡豆，以其原产地命名，即13世纪苏菲王朝时期的阿拉伯半岛。但是，一种恶性疾病席卷殖民地，许多阿拉比卡咖啡树因此死亡，全球咖啡贸易陷于瘫痪。正是在这个时候，种植者注意到了另一种咖啡树，这种咖啡树并未受到疾病的严重影响，比阿拉比卡咖啡树更健壮，因此被命名为“罗布斯塔”。

这是当今种植的两种主要咖啡豆品种。阿拉比卡咖啡豆占全球咖啡贸易的60%，罗布斯塔咖啡豆占近40%。也有其他几个品种，但都极为罕见。这两种咖啡豆的主要区别是：罗布斯塔豆便宜，生长更快，咖啡因含量更高，生时更苦、更黑。阿拉比卡咖啡豆价格更高，生长更慢，咖啡因含量更低，风味更淡、颜色更浅。这可能是北京的咖啡如此苦涩的第二点原因。在澳大利亚，任何值得一去的特色咖啡店都使用阿拉比卡咖啡豆，因为它的味道通常要优越得多，而且不那么苦。

最后，在短暂的探索北京咖啡馆的过程中，我注意到咖啡的口味与咖啡的制备和食用方式有关。首先，我观察到许多咖啡师的水平都不如他们的墨尔本同行。咖啡机有些脏，制备技术较弱、提取时间过长，这些都是造成咖啡苦涩的重要原因。我的意思不是贬低任何人，只是想帮助咖啡师改善。我自己并不是一个完美的咖啡师，事实上，职业生涯刚开始时，我的技能太差了，以至于都不被允许为顾客煮咖啡。为了提高技能，我付出了很大的努力，所以现在我才感觉有资格提出一些建设性的批评。不幸的是，作为顾客，对于咖啡师的技能提升无能为力。但随着中国咖啡标准的不断提高，咖啡师的技能自然会有所改善，就像过去10年来澳大利亚在这方面的提升一样。

通过选择添加合适的饮料，顾客确实可以很好地控制风味。我们都知道喝咖啡的两种基本方法：加牛奶或不加牛奶。深入了解这两种方式可以帮助您选择更适合的口味。有很多人不能很好地消化乳制品。但是不要因此就认为不能品尝咖啡，有很多替代饮品可以满足相同的需要，都能平衡咖啡中的苦味、酸味、咸味和甜味。如果您当地的咖啡馆提供的话，我强烈建议尝试杏仁奶。这是澳大利亚最常用的乳制品替代品之一，能使咖啡味道很美妙。如果不喜欢杏仁，可以尝试燕麦奶、豆浆、椰子奶、澳大利亚坚果奶，甚至是不含乳糖的奶。最受欢迎的牛奶咖啡样式之间的差异其实很小。纯白、拿铁和卡布奇诺的口味几乎相同，因此选择哪种类型的牛奶非常重要。如果您喜欢不加牛奶的咖啡，请注意咖啡的味道都会变得更浓烈。如果咖啡师水平不高或咖啡豆很黑，咖啡会更苦，我建议加入一些糖或风味糖浆。大多数咖啡馆都会提供香草、焦糖、巧克力、榛子等。有一点要注意，点冰镇的咖啡（如冰美式）时要确保咖啡师在加冰和冷水之前先将糖加到热的意式浓缩咖啡中，否则糖将不会溶解。

当然，除了上面列出的以外，还有更多选择。所以，要多出去走走，尝试不同地方的不同饮品，相信您会发现自己喜欢的一款。我真的希望这些知识可以帮助人们品尝到优质的咖啡，当我回到北京时，希望可以坐下来和大家一起品尝美味的咖啡！

“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!