TOPIC

Coffee

Coffee
From bean to cup, we look at all aspects of the global coffee industry, taking in crops, stocks, cafes and more.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
highlights from
100 Top Tables 2024 Restaurant Directory
100 Top Tables 2024 Restaurant Directory
Bar Leone co-founder, Lorenzo Antinori poses i a corner booth at Bar Leone. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

The secret to Bar Leone’s success, according to its owner Lorenzo Antinori

Mahaniyom’s “Watermelon” cocktail. The Bangkok bar plans to bring four signatures to The Opposites in Hong Kong on Saturday, December 14. Photo: Handout

Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for December 12-14

Crushed Wine Bar’s new seasonal menu features dishes that celebrate the rich flavours of the colder months. Photo: Karling Hamil

Your Hong Kong weekend food guide for December 13-15

Bedu’s famous Honey Baked Feta. Photo: Handout

Dish in focus: honey baked feta from Middle Eastern restaurant Bedu

Our selection of the season’s tipples includes Tribute, a Christmas cocktail at LPM, Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

7 best Christmas cocktails in Hong Kong: from mulled wine to spiked chai

More from 100 top tables
Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Ramie, in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island, is a new chocolate, tea and coffee specialist. Photo: Facebook/Tetsu Choi
Food and Drinks

5 new cafes and coffee shops in Hong Kong to try in December 2024

Get your caffeine fix this December at new spots that have opened up, from a pet-friendly place to a chocolate-centric cafe.

Starbucks

Is Starbucks seeking help from a partner to regain its perk in China?

Architecture and design

This coffee shop brings retro Milan to modern Hong Kong

Food

Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution

03:01
Artificial intelligence

Can robot baristas save Shanghai’s cafes from an ailing economy?

Shanghai Hi-Dolphin Robot Technology aims to cut down the costs of operating coffee shops to revive the industry, says founder Philip Han.

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Food and Drinks

5 new coffee shops in Hong Kong to try, including at airport

Coffee fiends flying out of Hong Kong are in for a treat, a Kowloon favourite has crossed the harbour and the OG Fineprint has expanded.

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Starbucks

Starbucks’ new CEO vows to make cafes ‘inviting’ once again

In an open letter, Brian Niccol said Tuesday he wants to once again make the cafes “inviting places to linger” with a clear distinction between dine-in and to-go service.

An employee prepares a drink at a Tata Starbucks Ltd. store in Mumbai on August 12, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg
Food and Drinks

Roasts with the most, 5 new Hong Kong cafes that you should visit

Hong Kong coffee culture gets an extra shot with five new cafes that serve up a wide selection of cakes, snacks and hot dishes, and of course, great lattes and more.

Banking & finance

Starbucks loses its perk in China as drinkers flee for cheaper brews

‘Frankly, I don’t think Starbucks can gain a lot of traction in China’s small towns and villages,’ analyst says after the chain’s revenue slides.

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Science

University brews up caffeine hit with China’s first coffee science major

Yunnan Agricultural University is now accepting students into its new undergraduate degree in coffee science and engineering.

China is the 13th largest coffee producer in the world, almost all of it grown in Yunnan province. Photo: Handout
Asean

Opinion | Climate change threat is more than a storm in Vietnam’s coffee cup

From Brazil and Colombia to Indonesia and Vietnam, crops over the last decade have been hit by adverse weather and disease. Supply is increasingly unstable and shrinking, even as land suitable for cultivation disappears

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A farmer watering coffee plants in Vietnam’s central highlands near Buon Ma Thuot in Daklak province on March 13, 2023. Photo: AFP
China economy

Opinion | Luckin Coffee’s rise over Starbucks reflects changes brewing in China

Luckin’s meteoric rise reflects a market shift as Chinese spend more carefully, and increasingly prefer local brands with more efficient service to slower, more expensive foreign names.

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Food and Drinks

How matcha came to matter: the buzz around the tea that is drunk like coffee

Celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid lifted matcha’s profile in the way the Olsen twins did for Starbucks coffee years ago – and now the world is in on the fad

Food and Drinks

Why decaf coffee is no longer getting roasted as being ‘inferior’

Decaffeinated coffee is growing in quality and popularity as new techniques to remove caffeine from beans preserve flavour and add complexities, and people look for their ‘drugs without their drugs’.

brew drip coffee on the table. Photo: Shutterstock Images
China economy

Caffeine boost: China’s rising coffee demand spurs cutthroat cafe competition

China’s rapidly growing coffee consumption is spurring cutthroat competition between local and foreign chains, which are opening shops at breakneck speed, overtaking the number of outlets in the US.

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China’s Luckin Coffee added 5,059 stores in the last 12 months, according to Alegra Group’s estimates. Photo: Reuters
South Korea

How instant coffee became the hottest Korea-wave export

Food and Drinks

Update | A new Korean wave: K-dramas raise profile of Korean instant coffee mixes

Korean exports of coffee mix and instant coffee sticks rose as the world’s K-drama fans saw them in series such as Moving, Vincenzo and My Mister. Entrepreneurs are remaking the humble product.

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Food and Drinks

Textiles, watches, coffee – family’s business changes with each generation

Hong Kong-born entrepreneur Krshna Moriani chose not to take over his father’s watch business; instead he started Barista Baba Coffee, bringing Australian-style coffee beans and pods to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong-born entrepreneur Krshna Moriani founded Barista Baba Coffee, which brings Australian-style coffee beans and pods to Hong Kong. In doing so he opted not to run his late father’s watch import-export business. Photo: Edmond So
Asia travel

Malaysian coffee farmers hope to draw tourists to Borneo region

Tourists are drawn to the homestays of northeast Sarawak, Malaysia, for jungle adventures and to sample indigenous culture. Farmers who have planted coffee bushes hope the project will be another visitor draw.

Music

Tokyo Jazz Joints: Japan’s ‘jazz kissa’ cafe culture revealed in a new project

Tokyo Jazz Joints documents these vibrant vinyl listening spaces – gaining traction across the globe – in a photo project, podcast and new coffee table book

Chinese culture

Opinion | Mao-tai latte shows how to keep Chinese culture modern and relevant

Rather than just Kweichow Moutai’s latest sales gimmick, the Mao-tai-infused coffee could be the start of a cultural renewal that China badly needs. A cultural renewal can help increase China’s appeal to both its own people and the outside world, and this must start from within.

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A Luckin Coffee employee prepares baijiu-flavoured latte, the latest product in collaboration with Chinese liquor brand Kweichow Moutai, at a Luckin Coffee shop in Beijing on September 4. The coffee company has launched the beverage containing extracts of the popular Chinese distilled liquor, causing a rush in stores and enthusiasm on social media. Photo: AFP

Liquor-laced latte a hit with young Chinese

03:10
Hong Kong society

Hongkongers upset with McDonald’s decision to discontinue legacy coffee drinks

Fast food giant to offer some products from McCafé at all locations as replacement.

24
Starbucks

20 years of the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte: are you ready for more?

Starbucks released its Pumpkin Spice Latte in autumn 2003, playing on nostalgia and the powerful link between smell and memory. It was a huge success, and the seasonal drink is still a bestseller.

Food and Drinks

Espresso coffee bars? Seoul’s in love – the city’s baristas explain why

South Korean coffee drinkers are moving away from Americanos as espressos become trendy. There’s been a rash of espresso bars opening that offer the small, strong coffee shots and variations on them.

An espresso and rice cake served at Draw Espresso Bar in Seoul. A new coffee trend has emerged in South Korea – espresso coffee bars, where people can order the small, strong coffee shots and variations on them. Photo: Draw Espresso Bar
K-pop, Mandopop, other Asian pop

How Jay Chou’s mum is about to make US$54 million off her son

The ‘King of Asian Pop’ named his Yeh Hui-Mei album and credits her for childhood piano lessons – now she’s making bank thanks to his bestselling Modong coffee brand

Jay Chou’s mother Ye Hui-mei is set to become very rich thanks to the coffee brand he supports, and the Netflix show J-Style Trip pictured here. Photos: @jaychou/Instagram, Netflix
Starbucks

Starbucks’ China rival Luckin Coffee opens 10,000th shop

Luckin Coffee opened 1,137 stores in the first quarter, beating Starbucks, which opened 153 and trails the domestic chain by more than 3,700 locations.

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Food and Drinks

Where to find Tokyo’s best old-world cafes as speciality coffee scene thrives

Kissaten, or old-world speciality cafes in Japan, are experiencing something of a renaissance in Tokyo. Here are some of the best in which to explore this side of the city’s coffee culture.

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