Brewing Up the Best Cup of Coffee

Editor’s note: In the world of coffee, there is a hierarchy (等级) based on brewing (酿制) methods and coffee bean quality. Manual brewing is superior to machine brewing. Italian-style coffee is usually preferred over the American style. At the top of this world, it is specialty coffee (精品咖啡). And becoming a specialty coffee barista (咖啡师) requires specific training. Let’s go to the story of one such barista.

To customers, specialty coffee may be just a simple drink, but for specialty coffee baristas, it is a demanding science. Fei Teng, a 35-year-old barista with 10 years of experience, considers various factors like altitude, climate and grinding (研磨) when making specialty coffee. Fei also has his own principle of developing creative coffee. The Salty Mocha, created by Fei, gained popularity among coffee enthusiasts. “The sea salt neutralizes the sweetness of the mocha, adding layers of flavor to the taste. By introducing innovative changes to classic coffee, it can bring new and wonderful experiences to the taste buds,” Fei told Teens.

Fei majored in fine arts in college but chose to become a coffee apprentice (学徒) after graduation. He began by learning the basics of coffee, including its varieties and roasting levels. Through training and participating in competitions, Fei improved his barista skills, like grinding beans and frothing milk (打奶沫). “Becoming a barista is easy to get started, but difficult to master,” said Fei. To enhance his sensitivity to the quality of coffee beans, Fei tasted a wide variety of coffee, often drinking more than 20 cups a day. That led to diarrhea (腹泻)at times.

“In addition to coffee knowledge, service skills are crucial but often overlooked by baristas,” Fei said. Baristas need to patiently address customer questions and convey the concept behind their coffee in an attractive manner. “Some baristas even create music introductions for their coffee and share them with customers,” added Fei.

“Many view being a barista as a cool job, but actually, it is quite hard and there is a lot of physical labor, like cleaning the cafe,” Fei said. However, despite the challenges, career prospects are promising. A 2023 report reveals that Chinas coffee industry reached 200.7 billion yuan in 2022.

Having dedicated a decade to the coffee industry, Fei plans to continue focusing on specialty coffee and further contribute to the growth of the Chinese coffee sector.

【小题1】What sets the Salty Mocha invented by Fei apart?

A．Its flavor.

B．Its popularity.

C．Its aroma.

D．Its price.

【小题2】What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Why Fei chose to be a barista.	B．What Fei learned about coffee.
C．How Fei understood his career.	D．How Fei upgraded his skills.

【小题3】What does Fei think of baristas service skills?

A．They determine a baristas success.	B．They are more important than basic skills.
C．They require creativity and talent.	D．They are frequently ignored.

【小题4】What does Fei want to do?

A．Promote Chinese coffee overseas.	B．Establish his own unique cafe.
C．Continue pursuing his barista career.	D．Teach people how to make coffee.