Work-life balanceCoffee connoisseurs

COFFEE CONNOISSEURS

Nick Chan with pour-over brewing equipment

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G rowing in Nick Chan’s farm plot in Fanling is an eight-foot coffee tree he

has been raising for six years. The tree began flowering in its fourth year. Chan regards it as more of a pet than a coffee source, and visits his plot every weekend to harvest other fruits and vegetables. “There are two kinds of coffee trees: one grows at high altitudes, Arabica, and one grows at low altitude, Robusta,” he says. “The coffee produced from sea-level trees has no character and so the coffee from my tree actually doesn’t taste good,” he laughs.

The Senior Tax Manager at EY and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs began studying coffee six years ago after being introduced to the beverage’s health benefits by a colleague. At the time, Chan’s impression of coffee was inclined towards the memory of instant coffee, which he drank during secondary school at exam time.

Some CPAs like Chan take their knowledge of coffee to the next level, better appreciating a world of complex tastes and brew-ing techniques. For them, coffee is no longer just a morning stimulant.

Rest and relaxation can be found inside their cups, even throughout their busy schedules.

Reasonable amounts of hot black coffee are good for heart health and energy levels, says Chan. “One to two cups per day with plenty of water is healthy, around 50-60 grams of medium grind coffee per 0.9 to one litre of water.” Indeed, coffee can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a study by the United States National Institutes of Health in 2012.

Chan prefers pour-over coffee over espresso because the true taste of the bean is more distin-guishable with hand drip brewing methods. A pour-over involves slowly pouring water over ground coffee beans in a filter cone and allowing the extracted coffee to

Every bean has a story, every cup has chemistry. Tigger Chaturabul talks to Institute members to find out what draws them to study the science of coffeePhotography by Anthony Tung and Juliet Shayne Lui

“ Buying beans through the Internet from small cooperatives helps ensure that the money goes directly to the farm.”

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Work-life balanceCoffee connoisseurs

drip into a decanter, a process that takes 5-10 minutes.

“People tend to like espresso because of the crema layer on top, which is a kind of coffee oil, but it’s difficult to taste the more subtle flavours of the beans that way,” he says. His favourite fla-vour notes are orange or pineapple, preferring light and fruity coffee, while his favourite beans are farmed in Colombia or harvested wild in Ethiopia. “Buying beans through the Internet from small cooperatives helps ensure that the money goes directly to the farm,” he says. Sustainability is important to Chan and in addition to finding a wider variety of beans to try, he can simultaneously help the farms maintain or expand their crops.

On Saturday mornings, Chan takes the time to roast his green beans by using a copper pot and carefully maintaining the cooking time and temperature. “I roast a small batch of green coffee beans for the week ahead. After around 10 minutes, I stop roasting when I hear the first cracking of the beans for a light roast,” he says. “The beans should be consumed starting from the third day after roasting to allow chemical reactions to finish.”

When Chan roasts or does a pour-over, it helps to be completely focused. “You have to control tem-perature, time and pouring speed all at once so you really have to turn off all channels and only open one for coffee,” he says. “This is how I relax, along with reading some books while I enjoy my pour-over.”

Chan’s coffee tree was pur-chased as a small plant from the Hong Kong Coffee Club, although he never imagined he would be able to grow it successfully in Hong Kong. “When you have the chance to grow a coffee plant, you get to experience the entire process from start to finish, from growing to harvesting, roasting to brewing and then finally to drinking. It’s a very memorable experience.”

Within the communityCoffee from local cha chaan tengs used to make Carrie Chung uncom-fortable and disrupted her sleep at night, making her dislike the beverage. It wasn’t until a coffee enthusiast and friend introduced a cappuccino to her at a small café in Central that her interest began. “I was curious about why she liked coffee so much,” says the Senior Financial Analyst at LCJG Limited and Institute member. It was then that she experienced the leap between instant coffee and freshly ground beans, and began a coffee habit that has been retained until now, 10 years later.

“That café is no longer there but I still remember how new the coffee flavour was to me at the time,” says Chung. Now she visits cafés around Hong Kong with her friends to try different coffees and shop environments.

In 2011, Chung attended a cof-fee cupping session hosted by the Institute at Caffè HABITŪ where she learned more about coffee ori-gins and coffee tasting. Cupping,

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“ The ideal latte balances the ratio between both ingredients (milk and coffee).”

Carrie Chung at a café near her workplace

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Work-life balanceCoffee connoisseurs

a technique used to assess the aromas and flavours of different coffee beans, is a great way to train tastebuds to detect the more subtle notes of coffee. Different coffees are brewed and sampled at the same time to compare body, sweetness, acidity, flavour and aftertaste. “We reviewed coffee from different countries and it was interesting to learn how to pair certain types of coffee with differ-ent foods,” remembers Chung.

Chung’s favourite coffee is a latte because she finds milk and coffee to be a perfect match. “The ideal latte balances the ratio between both ingredients. If there is too much milk, it will dilute the coffee flavour,” she says. She also appreciates 3D latte art, a craft seldom practised in Hong Kong.

A seasonal ginger latte is Chung’s current favourite latte variation, on offer at a café near her workplace that boasts a wide open sitting environment and imports beans from a variety of countries. “Ginger is another ingredient that complements cof-fee and milk quite well and drink-ing it in the wintertime makes me feel warm,” she shares.

Her normal coffee routine on a weekday is to buy a wake-me-up takeaway latte from baristas who know her as a regular before heading into the office. Weekends however are another story. “I enjoy going to cafés to meet friends, read a book or just slowly sip away at a cup of cof-fee for an hour or two,” says Chung. “My friends and I like to chat with café owners or baristas to learn

more about different coffee flavours and they will sometimes recom-mend other cafés for us to try. It’s more of a community environment where I can relax and explore.”

Café cultures Barry Tam doesn’t like to see CPAs hunched around a meeting table in intense formality. Instead, the Founder of CPA firm K.W. Tam & Co. and an Institute member serves coffee as a way to lighten up the atmosphere and turn uncomfortable meetings into smooth conversations.

“CPAs are always under time pressure to meet deadlines. Coffee breaks in the morning and afternoon are also how I have my moments of relaxation and some time to think when I’m at the office,” says Tam. For maximum efficiency, Tam uses a capsule coffee machine to enjoy a quality espresso from the comfort of his desk.

Tam is both an avid traveller as well as a wine connoisseur, in addition to his coffee interest. Six years ago, he travelled to Bordeaux, France and sat at a café sipping an espresso in leisure mode. “Every-one sat outside in French cafés and just watched the people on the street. Not only did the aroma of the coffee stay on my mind, but the entire environment made a huge impression on me,” says Tam. “That was when I began to really look into coffee more deeply.”

Now when Tam travels, he makes sure to try the local coffee at every destination. “I went to Ethiopia for the first time last November to join the 15th Great Ethiopian Run for

charity,” he shares. “While I was there, I was amazed by the way they served local coffee, like a Chinese gongfu tea ceremony.” As part of the country’s traditional coffee-drink-ing culture, a number of small cups are arranged on a tray on a low table with small stools. Hot water is used to clean the cups and steaming black coffee from freshly roasted beans is poured from a clay pot, served with sugar but no milk. “It didn’t matter if you were at a shop by the road or at a five-star hotel, this is how coffee was served in Ethiopia,” says Tam.

Barry Tam enjoying a single origin pour-over

“ Making coffee and practising accounting are both processes that require a human touch to make all the difference.”

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As one of the regions where cof-fee is said to have originated from, Tam was particularly interested in sourcing single origin local beans in the East African country. “I came back to Hong Kong with two bags of beans, one store-bought and professionally packaged and one from a local market, simply sealed in a plastic bag,” he says. “Although both of the beans come from Ethio-pia, their flavours are very different because of the differences in roasting and processing. That was the most surprising thing I learned

about coffee.”Tam often travels to Taiwan

and Japan to enjoy their coffee cultures. “In Taiwan you can find many cafés that offer all types of coffee because the coffee scene is very popular there. I gain much of my coffee knowledge by reading books I buy in Taiwan,” he says.

To Tam, the art of the coffee is similar to the art of accounting. “The most important part is the communication with the client,” says Tam. “For example, a barista will need to memorize what flavours

each coffee offers and communicate with the customers to find out what their needs are. This is similar to an accountant working to understand what the clients need and how to help their business.” Then, when the product is handed over, it is down to the barista or CPA to make the client understand how to grasp the full benefits of the product.

“Making coffee and practising accounting are both processes that require a human touch to make all the difference,” says Tam. “That’s art.”

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