Chinese Tea Hub Branches Into Coffee As Tastes Change

For centuries, Pu'er in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea sometimes styled "pu-erh".

Transcript

00:00While tea remains the dominant beverage in China, with a long history and cultural significance,

00:11coffee is slowly gaining popularity, especially among younger generations.

00:16As they cultivate a taste for punchy espressos, frothy lattes and flat whites,

00:21growers are increasingly branching out into tea's historic rival.

00:25Sensing the change, a mountainside cafe in southwestern China

00:29brews handfuls of locally grown beans into a streaming cup of coffee,

00:33a modern twist on the region's traditional drink.

00:59Liao's family has run the Shaowazi, or Little Hollow, coffee plantation for three generations.

01:07Nestled in a shady valley, spindly coffee trees line its steep hillside,

01:12their cherry-like fruit drying on wooden pallets outside.

01:15Every year, the plantations sell tens of thousands of tons of coffee to major Chinese cities,

01:21according to government data. In metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, a thriving cafe scene has

01:27emerged in recent years, driven by people aced between 20 and 40.

01:32To Liao, a trained roaster and barista, coffee from his home region possesses a creamy flavor with

01:38silky, gracious mouthfeel.

01:40In the U.S.

01:53our coffee, and we understood that we have our own coffee in the country.

01:57And we started to try to accept this coffee.

02:01So many people are also trying to try to drink our hand-paste coffee.

02:05Because hand-paste coffee can make you feel the taste of coffee originally.

02:13Long-time farmer Yoo Doon said she had opened new income streams with plantation tours,

02:19homestays and a restaurant fusing coffee

02:21with the cuisine of her native Dai ethnicity.

02:24Her prospects were bright.

02:25She said, adding that she also earned 10 times more revenue

02:29from her beans since learning to process and roast them herself.

02:33First of all, we are farmers.

02:37We usually don't want to drink coffee.

02:39We usually drink coffee from 10 to 3 months.

02:43And we drink coffee from 3 to 10 months.

02:49We usually drink coffee from 10 to 3 months.

02:52And now it's not available.

02:53And we're going to have to go away from the country.

02:57China's coffee output has risen dramatically in recent years,

03:01though it still lags far behind traditional powerhouses,

03:04such as Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia.

03:07We are going to be analysis.

03:16And I think it is important to see it.