#coffeeloveproject

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presenting coffee love project @xiuxiu in xiamen :) 

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Lof10 is my go-to spot for coffee in soho HK #coffee it carries bluebottlecoffee and @barninela

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Seesaw in shanghai. 2 strada machines. I order beans from here :)

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Exploring Coffee in HK - 3D latte art & good cortados are universal

Finally, Coffee Love Project made to HK, where I spent 3 months in summer 2011. Never did the idea of exploring coffee shops occur to me when I was interning at a bank. I always go to the same two baristas at the Starbucks located within the skyscraper. What never changed though was that the barista Don't and Wa always knew my personal drink and had it ready for me before I even opened my mouth. That personalized experience and the opportunity to get to know your baristas and be-friend them had paved roads for my coffee exploration project 2 years later. 

Due to other activities in HK, I did not get to do a full exploration and this is a sneak peak version of the coffee shops in HK - I hope to visit more in the future. Welcome your suggestions :) 

1. Allegretto Viva Espresso, Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) 尖沙咀廣東道33號中港城第三座平台1A號鋪, near TST Metro

Specialty: known for 3D latte art 

I have long heard about and seen on Instagram extensive amount of pictures of 3D latte art in HK's Allegretto in TST. Staying in an Airbnb in TST, I ended up visiting Allegretto with a good friend to catch up :) 

I explained my coffee collage project to Kitty Yeung, the famed 3D latte barista, and she make 2 cats and "Welcome to HK" to my latte art. 

The drinks are good but not the most spectacular. However, the 3D latte art itself is enough worth a visit. Plus Kitty is very friendly. 

2. Barista Jam, Sheung Wan Shop D, G/F, 126-128 Jervois Street 上環蘇杭街126-128號地下D舖

Australian Coffee Shop with dessert and food menu

Originally heading to the famed Cupping Room, but it closed at 5pm on a Friday. Per my foodie and coffee enthusiast friend Natalie's recommendation, I walked for another 3 minutes and arrived at Barista Jam. I have seen friends' foursquare check-in here before, and the name is quite memorable. 

Dark in side with a bar stool section and bench style tables with conversations among friends and hipsters.  Ziwei and I sat down and ordered a cortado and a latte, as well as a forest cake. Shortly after I sat down, I started chatting with the guy with Surface Pro sitting across from me. After a few exchange, I realized that he is a food safety professional leaving close to the Shenzhen- HK border, but works frequently in coffee shops. He recommend me coffee shops from Causeway Bay to Mongkok. It is always nice to run into fellow coffee lovers and have a meaningful conversation. 

The forest cake has layers of chocolate and cheese cake at the bottom, tasty yet a bit too sweet for me. 

I tried the cortado and it was tasty, and I only wish they have an equivalent of Mast Brothers or Dandelion chocolate in these coffee shops. 

3. Cupping Room, Sheung Wan 皇后大道中287-299號永傑中心LG舖（入口於急庇利街） Speciality: Latte Art, egg-based breakfast. Probably the best coffee shop in HK, barista championship 

Stepping into Cupping Room reminds me of lower manhattan, either Third Rail or Blue Bottle in Chelsea, and slightly remind me of Little Collins in Midtown East. 

I arrived on a weekend and thus tried their weekend special salmon poached egg tartine. Given that avocado smash was sold out, I was only disappointed by my cravings for avocado smash at Aussie shops, like Blue Stone Lane or Little Collins in NYC. 

4. Yardbird x Stumptown Sochu 33-35 BRIDGES STREET

Nested in a less foot-traffic street on the hill in Soho, steps away from the creative community center PMQ is one of "it" HK restaurants - Yardbird. I enjoyed Lotus Root Salad, Yellowtail Salad, Sweet Corn Tempura, Rice Cakes, and KFC (Korean Fried Cauliflower), and sipping on a Bloody Kim Jong Il cocktail (with kimchi as an ingredient).

As one of those "no reservation " restaurants, Natalie and I arrived around 6:15 on a Friday night, we sat at the bar to get a more authentic experience while witnessing the hectic bar staff. 

Looking up the counter in front of me, I saw a huge jar with writings "Yardbird x Stumptown Shochu" - is this HK? I asked myself. Since Stumptown reminds me of all the coffee I drank in NYC and LA. 

I nicely asked the bartender to bring down the jar to take a photo and shortly after, the manager came to me and asked to have it back on top (for safety reasons). At the end of the meal, Natalie and I got the peanut butter ice-cream and the sochu (a little sweet but coffee + shochu definitely worth a try). 

My visit to Hong Kong was packed so that I did not get to try out many coffee shops. I hope you enjoy the few that I got to experience and let me know where are your favorites in Hong Kong. (Below with Natalie, my coffee and foodie friend that I've known since the summer internship in HK, later we met up in NYC, Philly and HK to explore the best food and cafes) 

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#CoffeeLoveProject in East Williamsburg with photographer Yao Wen

Photographer friend Yao Wen came to NYC and we went around East Williamsburg and some of my favorite spots in East Village. 

1. Blue Bird Coffee on 1st Street and 1st Ave

Biscuit Sandwich and Soy Flat White. 

2. Bowery Coffee on Houston & Bowery 

Ran into coffee enthusiast from SF who is working on an iPhone app with coffee info around America - Mappuccino

3. Gasoline Alley Coffee - 331 Lafayette St

4. Variety Cafe - 368 Graham Ave

5. Beaner Bar - 447 Graham Ave

Mexican Latte

Davet stamps on the Coffee Love Project board 

6. Tar Pit - 135 Woodpoint Rd, Brooklyn

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Filming #CoffeeLoveCrawl - Bring Coffee Culture to Chinese friends in NYC

Meet Miguel of WaysideNYC - CoffeeLoveProject.com from Chenyu on Vimeo.

One day, I hope to open a coffee shop in China that brings hand-crafted cup of Joe with good-sourced beans and a social space for people to meet and connect.

Yes - China is still a tea nation, but China also has 1.3 billion people. It is not so much about converting everyone, but rather to cultivate a coffee culture that people want. Like how the young crowd crave for Blue Bottle or Sightglass, do they really go purely for their coffee? I doubt it. I find it may be the brand and vibe that is associated with Blue Bottle. 

Here is my thesis: 

Coffee culture (let alone appreciation for artisan hand-crafted coffee)  is not big in China now, but in order to create the demand, we first need to educate Overseas Chinese.

When a critical mass of mobile Chinese start to appreciate artisan coffee, they will bring the demand back to China.

CoffeeLoveCrawl

In Oct, I was contacted by a documentary crew from China about CoffeeLoveProject.  Paul of Wayside Cafe kindly offered to host our crawl. 

Miguel demonstrated Kalita, Bee House and Chemex for the group, many of us are coffee newbies and the learning was quite interesting for all. 

52g Chemex 650ml 3.5 min 32g Beehouse 415g water 3-4min

The group felt more knowledgable and comfortable to order coffee drinks when presented with a variety of coffee options in a cafe. I think that is the first step! Thanks Wayside's Paul and Miguel. 

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#CoffeeLoveProject in SF Day 2- the Mission @Fourbarrel, @StanzaCoffee, @PhilzCoffee, @RitualCoffee

I feel so blessed working on #coffeeloveproject - constantly touched by the baristas & coffee enthusiasts I have met. SF is a welcoming city

— Chenyu Z (@chenyuz)

September 9, 2013

Author’s note: this is a much belated post on my exploration in the Mission area in SF. I did a coffee "marathon" in the Mission on Sunday Sept 8th and thanks to Instagram and notes I took - I recorded most of the memory.

Note: I am not an expert on coffee tasting, this blog is mostly about stories at coffee shops, interactions with locals & baristas, and my new learnings at each place ;) 

After studying coffee maps, google map and tips from SF locals on day 1, I had a general sense of places to check out: Ritual, fourbarrel, dandelion chocolate, Stanza Coffee,Phil’s coffee , birite creamery, Humphry Slocombe, grand coffee etc, I thought if I let the locals help me refine the itinerary, it would make the project more interacting and “live like a local”.

After lunch at Kat’s at Lower Pac Heights, I shared a Uber and got dropped off on 14th and Valencia St to visit fourbarrel coffee.

1. Fourbarrel(4B) - unexpected encounter of the original 4B spot Ive been a big fan of the Mill and watched interviews of Jeremy Tooker, thus was excited to visit fourbarrel. After walking into fourbarrel, to my left was a filter coffee bar and in the back, roasting is happening on site. They say fourbarrel is hipster - I did sense that, strongly. Besides that, the word popping up in my mind was “grey” and wild (impression i got from the animal heads & interwined rope) . On the wall are animal heads above shelves of coffee.

As a latte goer, the non-dairy choice in SF is almond milk (Califina)- so I substituted my usual soy with an almond latte.

One thing that captured my attention is the special grey ceramic cups - not to my surprise, when I flipped the cup, it has FBAD engraved. It’s a special edition ceramic cup made for fourbarrel.

I asked coffee drinkers in 4B, “Where is your fav coffee?” “4B” 4B got some serious fans here :)

As I headed out, I noticed the bike rack under the sun.

At the cross roads, a chalkboard “Hot Coffee in a Sweet Alley -  Caledonia Coffee Cafe Colletive” captured my attention. ” hmm it’s not on my research.”

The adventurous part of me decided to go and it was worth it. I went into Caledonia Alley and saw a door, two bikes hanging and 3 men working.

After a short conversation, I learned that this is the back of 4B; whats more, this is the original spot of 4B, where it started in 2008.  I got my stamp at this special location. Unexpected discovery like this makes my heart warm and keeps me going :)

2. Stanza Coffee - friendliest baristas who helped me design Mission coffee tour As I kept walking on Valencia, Stanza Coffee’s high decorative wooden door and artwork on the sidewall came to my eyesight. Compared to the hip looking fourbarrel and blue bottle, this pace feels exotic and humble. (although its worth to point out the mustache shape in Stanza logo ).

I entered, and light from the backyard shine into the room. On the left are tables with long back chairs and people reading books. On the right, drip coffee equioments are displayed.

After being caffeinated at 4B, I got a herbal tea made by Dimitrius. I showed them CoffeeLoveProject and Leyna gave me suggestions to check out Craftsman & Wolves, Arizmendi and I ran a few items on my to-do list and got her feedback.

Combining online research and local know-how, I wrote down the rest of my Mission itinerary.

As I was talking to Leyna, a Stanza frequent Ed asked me about this project and he said, “Come to meet my wife Rebecca. we are eating next door.” I went and took a photo with the couple in a local bistro and

Ed said “my son works nearby, i texted him to have you visit him.” Here comes a surprise addition to my trip was to visit Morgan (Ed’s son) at Mission Workshop and learned about Bicycle Coffee from Oakland, delivered by bikes.

3. Mission Cheese & Dandelion Chocolate next door on Valencia One thing I love about Instagram is the human connection it enables - as I become friends with baristas all over the world from this hash tag projects. I’m having coffee advisors in my pocket 24/7. Yesterday, I got a tip from @bassamkasir (who made me a nice soy latte at PennyLane coffee near the UN HQ ) to check out Mission Cheese while in town. So I did. The cheese platter with wine looks awesome & the coffee served here is Thanksgiving Coffee Company.

Mast brothers in NYC is absolutely my favorite chocolate factory to visit and I love how they only use 2 ingredients (cacao beans & cane sugar). I was excited to find a SF equivalent that collaborates with 4B - Dandelion Chocolate. After walking into the chocolate factory, I immersed myself in the smell of cacao beans and the delight of looking through all types of cacao beans and final products.

I bought their Venezuela chocolate bar and added to my chocolate collage.

4. Tartine Bakery and Bi-rite Creamery Besides exploring coffee shops, I’m also a big fan of exploring ice cream and dessert shops that carry coffee flavor, such as bi-rite creamery. The line was incredibly long and I went in to take photos and observe. Excited to see the Ritual coffee toffee flavor ice cream but couldn’t wait for the line. It is almost amazing to see the die-hard fans who are willing to wait for hours for a local experience, most ideally with friends.

Tartine Bakery is on Google Map and I could not miss it . I walked under the sun and passed Mission Dolores Park. Again, long line but I went in to ask a local what to get here “country bread”save for later.

A guy with skateboard came to me and said he is a producer from LA and wanted to chat. I got scared and started walking away. Then I realized The Mission is not Williamsburg.

5. Along Valencia - Craftsman & Wolves + Arizmendi I loved the sleek decor at Craftsmen & Wolves and the good looking cakes along with Sightglass Coffee.

i see here as a grest girlfriiends catching up, but at Arizmendi , a co-op up on 24th and Mission, I felt more at home. A savory treat here is the olive round - small portion and satisfactory.

A guy in maroon hair put down his book and asked me about this project. He said he is from Cambridge and have gone to places on my board. He said keep up the good work.

6.Grand Coffee - Jeremy Tooker’s personal to-go spot Time flies fast and the clock was ticking to 5pm. I passed by Ritual Coffee and said hi to Lilly as promised but had to rush to Grand Coffee on 22nd and Mission. walked up to 24th and it appears more and more dangerous and somewhat uncomfortable as I the street number goes up. grand coffee was closing and the place seems tiny, but also made me more curious about what the coffee experience would feel like.

7.Philz coffee - little great mint leaf I stumbled upon the famous Phiz Coffee on 24th & Folsom as I came back from Grand coffee.

Locals say that Phil used to hang out here and it creates a community around a coffee shop. Here I met an engineer who builds bridges and he has travelled to China. As it s getting dark, he recommended me not to walk around by myself.

(Look at Nick's smile - won't your day be better when such a nice barista make you a hand-crafted coffee?) 

8. Humphry Scolombe - bluebottle Vietnamese coffee flavor I rushed to Humphry Scolombe on 24th & Harrison and the Andy wharhol Campbell soup inspired menu made me smile. Instead of the famed “secret breakfast”, I got the “bluebottle coffee” ice cream. Soon, a homeless lady came to me and I Ubered back to Ritual in the dark.

9. Ritual Coffee - Scott & Sal (how dots connect in my project) It was 830pm. I promised Lilly (in the lower photo below)  I would visit Ritual. So I did. Big space, warm baristas and art works hanging. I explained CoffeeLoveProject to Scott and he said - I worked at Nine Street Espresso for 5 years in NYC. Wow - that’s cool! What’s more - his colleague Sal (in the upper photo below) who I met at Hayes Valley pop-up used to work at Diesel Cafe up in Porter Square at Cambridge! :)

i took some post cards on coffee brewing method and sat down to work on my collage board.

Then magic happened. I heard a familiar voice and a few words came to me. I looked up and isn’t that Keith and Mike - my FB interviewers that I never met in person. I waited till they were leaving to say hi. My mind tells me that’s serendipity.

This concluded my Mission Coffee Exploration - full of interesting encounters and surprises. It has been 11 weeks since my trip, I’m glad that I took notes on Instagram and am able to kee track of these stories as they have become part of my journey.

SF I will be back :)

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Week 4 #CoffeeLOVEProject tours East Village - Brooklyn Gorilla - LES

From East Village to Brooklyn back to LES - Coffee Adventure is a 9-5pm business

  1. East Village [Third Rail Coffee] - [Porto Rico Importing] - [Abraco] - [Blue Bird] 

  1.1 Third Rail Coffee , on 10th street and 2nd Ave

I started Week 4 #CoffeeLoveProject in Third Rail Coffee's new East Village spot on 10th street and 2nd Ave (159 2nd ave). Ally (a real foodie) from California is in town visiting, and we had a nice chat about digital anthropology and healthy food. We started the coffee o'clock at 930am (my earliest coffee adventure). 

At Third Rail, we met barista Zach and the manager Jonathen who recently moved to NYC from LA.  There was a group of Japanese tourists who were looking at my board for a long time, and finally came to ask if they can take a photo together. 

(Note:  all my coffee drinks are soy based & soy latte is known to be harder to make) 

1.2 Porto Rico Importing Company on St. Marks &  btw 1st/2nd av 

Since we are in East Village, Ally and I went on an East Village coffee tour.We first stopped by Porto Rico Importing Company and I love going in and smell the various flavored beans. Porto Rico Importing Company has over 100 year history. The staff there are very down-to-earth. 

  1.3 Abraco - where hardcore espresso fans gather on 7th & 1st Ave

I was really excited to spot the Greek coffee cup at Abraco, although they did not have any printed cards or prints. Mentally, I associate Abraco with big beard and hardcore espresso fan. 

I got to hold the Greek coffee cup & The famous olive oil cake. I like the pose of the guy behind me drinking likely a cortado. 

1.4 Blue Bird Coffee - cute Australian coffee joint where everyone is obsessed with their breakfast biscuit on 1st ave & 1st street 

Going East and South on 1st street and 1st Ave, Ally and I stopped by Australian Coffee shop Blue Bird Coffee. I loved their cobalt-like blue hue (very calming for me) and noticed that everyone at the shop was eating a huge egg biscuit. look so appetizing. Yum! 

Barista made us a flat white soy drink - the Pacific Foods barista series was wonderful for soy latte. 

Taking a photo with barista Mindy; Sadie and I communicated on Instagram before, but he was out the day.

Look how beautiful are the little blue birds in the background. 

  2. Brooklyn - [Gorilla Coffee] - [Konditori] - [Kos Kaffe]

Here I come - 5th Ave & Park Place - the much anticipated Gorilla Coffee. The power of social media is that 2 weeks ago, I got a twitter message from @gorillacoffee to go to I am Coffee on St. Marks, to try their #shakerato. I did and posted a photo on Instagram and tagged both Gorilla & I am Coffee. then the conversation continued. 

So below you see I tried to put Gorilla Coffee & I AM Coffee next to each other on my board. The Gorilla print is really captivating. 

Then college friend Osei came, and helped take photos of me working on cutting the cards into coffee mug shape. 

The baristas were brewing coffee in #CHEMEX coffee filter, and taste each other's coffee. They graciously let me try. To learn more about Chemex: http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/

College mate Osei came to show some support to #CoffeeLoveProject. with baristas in the background :) 

2.2 Kos Kaffe - finding a cute coffee tree

Osei and I then trekked to Kos Kaffe down the road - there is a cute coffee tree in the shop. 

Here is the story of the coffee tree. 

2.3 Konditori - Swedish coffee house We passed by Konditori on the way to Kos Kaffe as it is a Swedish coffee shop. I still remember during my trip to Stockholm, I was truly surprised by the size of their coffee cup. Konditori in Swedish means a meet-up place. 

3. LES - Pushcart Coffee & Doughnut Plant

It started drizzling in late afternoon and I put on the covers for my board and headed to LES to meet up with Eddie. 

3.1 Pushcart Coffee Eddie and I stopped by Pushcart Coffee after getting off line F @ East Broadway. As a signature spot to represent LES multi-cultural immigrants, Pushcart was a symbol of immigrants. 

Stumptown coffee served here. Photo below is me explaining the board to the baristas. 

I like the old photography in the back. 

A wall where people can sign at their height. 

3.2 Doughnut Plant In the rain, Eddie and I went to say hi to Raphael that I met outside Van Leeuwen ice cream truck in Williamsburg last Saturday. I notified Raphael my arrival via instagram. Doughnut Plant is indeed wonderful - I had a coconut-lime small donut shared with friends. 

Next week, I will take #coffeeloveproject to Chicago for exploration. Stay tuned.