The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • L10

EYOND a curved bay window painted with flowers, Sherry Gao is pouring coffee made from single- origin beans, infusing honey with tea leaves and hoping that herMan- darin Coffee all but hidden in a charming Pasadena will introduce you to your new favor- ite coffee and turn your preconcep- tions about Chinese beans upside down. Much of theWestern world imports its specialty coffee fromAfrica and South America. new shop also pulls shots and sells beans fromGuatemala and Ethi- opia, but the owner and former Intelligentsia barista hopes that shedding a light on Asian flavor in lattes and Yunnan-sourced coffee could expose customers to the coffee-producing and help to dispel bias against the beans, which for decades, until only a few years ago, were primarily used not for specialty drinks but commodity coffee such as instant products. tohigh- lightChinese coffee because a lot of people never hadChinese coffee before, or even if they have, theyhada really bad experiencewith Gao said. themindset that bad or cheap, but not the case anymore.

been changing so muchover the last dec- ade. They keepgetting better andbetter, so hoping to changepeo- in termsof the own first im- pression ofYunnan the strong- est, but changed. She first tasted it roughly six years agonot as aprofessional but as a curious consumerwhile visitingChina; standing at a small kiosk at a coffee expowere farmers offering samples of their ownbrew. want to speak ill of it but says that toher she credits largely to the and natural processing are ubiquitouspractices in China, thoughmuchof the coffee that endsup in theU.S. has undergone a washed, orwet, process, that requires fermenta- tion andwater usage before thebeansdry.

Recent experimenta- suchas the addition of fruit or sugarcanemo- lasses during the fer- mentationprocess; anaerobic tanks; or usingmultiplemethods is coffee farmers tomore nuancedand flavorful results. timeanew product comes in, it tastes better than the last said. can see that getting better andbetter.We were like, to be part of Farmers inChina have grown tea formore than 3,000 years, but coffee hasbeen cultivat- ed there for only about a anuptick in the1980s: firstwith government incentiviz- ing, thenaround the turn of the century and the 2010swith interna- tional corporations investing in the crops, primarily initially for use in commodity coffee. Anumber of Western companies have planted flags inYunnan, premier coffee growing region, in abid to get in on the growing market. Starbucks, one of the first to enter the space, has promised to train 50,000 coffee far- mers by the endof this year.

But in the last10 to15 years, tastes andde- mand for specialty, high-grade and third- wave coffees emerged, especially from local growers and shops. According toChinese newsoutlet thePaper, more than 6,900 coffee shops exist inShanghai than 4,200 of them independ- ently owned. According toTohm retail coffeemarket explod- Coffee operates inSilver Lake andWestHolly- woodandbymail throughapopular coffee subscription service. The owner says he sam- pled 20 to 30Chinese coffees annually for roughly five years but onlymore given improvements fromprocessing experi- mentation and invest- ment in the specialty retail it piquedhis interest.He’s also noticed theprolif- eration of specialty Yunnan coffee over the last two years andhas begunoffering it occa- sionally in-store and throughhis subscription service, hoping to intro- ducehis customers to the locally lesser-known coffee region. heart- ening, he says, to see Mandarin stock the beans, just as it is to see more of the global indus- try takingnote and reaching out farmers to collaborate and educate.

Theprod- uct, he says, has a lot of promise. nese coffee interesting to me is got aunique Ifergan said. you taste that, you immediately can see that aChinese coffee. a commonper- ception ofwhat these coffees are andhow they are, that low quality. And I think Muchof the coffee output is exported for and throughmajor domestic demand for China-growncoffee has risen sodramatically thatGao says now hard to outbid themar- ket ofChina-based coffee are willing topay apre- mium.

just simply competewith internal she said. pay any price for that coffee because very trend- ing right now BenWilde began contacting farmers and exporters through WeChat forumsand worksdirectlywith the farms tobringunroasted Yunnan coffee to the U.S.Hiswife,Kina, operatesChinatown CoffeeRoastery, amicro operation that currently offers three varieties of the single-originChi- nese coffee, amongoth- ers, plus oneblend.The white-and-blackbags sit in aback corner ofAlex KingCourt, whereKina Wilde roasts thewashed Menglian, honey-proc- essedYunnanandnatu- rally processed Xishuangbannabeans. a little bitmore expensive because really hard, logistically, and the customsprog- ress ismore foundedhis green-coffee company, PacificaRe- new, in 2020 and imports Chinese coffee regularly. is a hard country to get coffee TheWildes begin roastingChina- growncoffee.BenWilde hadalsoheard that the beanswere subpar for anything beyond commodity use, but theybegan to investi- gate and sample, delight- ing inwhat they found. a lot of these kinds of fruity acidities, and in a he said, the citrus, but youalso get someof the subtle earthy flavors of black Micro andmidsize roasters are already sourcing fromWilde, and he says that recently, larger coffee companies havebegun contacting himabout thepossibility of purchasingby the container load.

when those guys get it, it blows the roof off this he said. now in thewhisperings between roasters and cafes, but to at, positive every step of the way. Youget to bepart of this growing thing that spotlights aneworigin really underrated inmanyways, not even ratedbecause people just even think about Both IferganandGao hope to seeChinese coffee gain awareness andpopularity beyond Asia manyof its specialty importers are located. Gao sources hers solely throughMontreal-based roasterRabbitHole, whichhasbeen import- ingYunnan-grownbeans for years. These yield a light, almost almond-like flavor, first ship to theUnitedKing- domvia theLondon- basedAsian-coffee im- porter IndochinaCoffee, then fly toCanada, where roastedby team.

Fromthere theymake theirway eachweek to they were first included in house blendof espressobut now runas a single- origin espresso so that guests canbetter taste andappreciate the fla- vors independently. Gaoalso sells 250-grambags of the whole beans at $2 to $3 more than thebags of her varieties from andMexico. Currently the onlyChinese coffee thatRabbitHole offers, but the roaster is working to expand its offerings froma range of Asian countries, which Gao is looking forward to showcasing. Gao only hoping to spotlightChinese coffee culture through single-origin espresso pulls.Her signature lattes atMandarinCof- feeStand evoke classic Chinese andTaiwanese dishes, drinks and flavor profiles spun innewand creative fashions. For the GuiHua espresso latte, the teammakes osman- thus syrupdaily to avoid the notes growing bitter, infusinghoney with osmanthus for at least18 hours.

flavor profile is inspiredby HongKongmilk teabut espresso, rooibos tea andTaiwan- ese brown sugar.Apine- apple take onan es- presso tonicwas inspired clas- sic film anduses house-madepineapple jamandChinese rock sugar. To further connect with the community, Gaohopes to oneday host classes for home brewing andoffer other interactive how-to events. After all, she says, theYunnan coffee tastes excellentmade in ownkitchenwith a pour-over hopes only amatter of timebefore home specialty-coffee enthusi- asts catch on too. MandarinCoffee Stand isat 380S. Lake Suite111, inPasa- denaand is opendaily 8 a.m.

to 4:30 p.m. This shop is hot for improved coffees COFFEES out of Yunnan province are becoming more nuanced and flavorful. Sherry Gao, below, spotlights them at herMandarin Coffee Stand in Burlington Arcade, where in espresso shots and lattes infused with tea. Photographs by Stephanie Breijo Los Angeles Times MANDARIN COFFEE AIMS TO SHIFT PERSPECTIVES BY STEPHANIE BREIJO L10 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2023 LATIMES.COM LENTYof coffee drinkers arenot looking for Theymightbe open to the latest experi- mental naturalwine, or rotate flavors of boba to see if theyprefer yuzuor passion fruit, vary fromthemorning vanilla latte ordark roast with three sugars.Coffee is the stuff of daily rou- tines andpersonal rituals. This is true inmy household.

I have come to coffee obsession late in life, really in the four years beenwithTheTimes. beena serious tea drinker formuch longer; pour-overs, as re- mindedby visiting friends whowant their joe strong andviscous appreciatemy fiddly efforts, are as close to tea asbrewedcoffee veers. Duringa few recent, rewardingand jittery weeks spent criss-crossing themetro area for coffee research, I started from stance: I drank mostly pour-overs and straight espresso shots or minimum-milkmacchi- atos.Clarity of coffee fla- vorwas the sole objective. Kumquat changes its lineupof coffeesmonthly, includingadditions of restrained, calibrated coffeedrinks. ForFebru- ary, the shop introduceda coction: theRuby Marocchino espresso mixedwithhot chocolate ganacheandpineberry syrup.

It tasted like straw- berries andpineapple dipped in chocolate, plus coffee. I deny the appeal. It remindedme thatpart of the greatness ofL.A.—coffee andother- is anopenness to creative statement. I began to imbibewitha moreopenmind. This is how I came to admire the espresso tonic atMandarinCoffeeStand inPasadena.

SherryGao useshomemadepineap- ple jamrather thana typical citrus accent, and it pings thedrinkwith equal sweetness and tartness.AtThankYou Coffee inChinatownand Anaheim, the signature bluepandanmilk turns more gray thancerulean, herbal- vanilla flavorwedswith the coffee to create a haunting third taste. Any limitingdogma that remained inmedis- solvedwhen Iwalked into DudleyMarket inVenice a couple of Sundays ago. I was there for theHooked coffeepop-up that runs out of the restaurantmost mornings. I know muchaboutHookedwhen I arrived; a trusted col- leaguehad recommended it. Thebaristahadhis back tomewhen I ap- proached the counter; he pulled espresso shots while carryingona con- versationwithawoman sitting at thebarnearhis workstation.When the barista turnedaround, I realizedwho topher Alameda, a legend in the L.A.

coffee scenewhohas wonmultiple latte art competitions. forgetAla- meda.He’s oneof those peoplewho seemsas if a sunlike source of light surges out of him. Imet him last yearwhenhewas manning thebar at the SilverLake locationof Dayglow. Iwas looking for advice onwhichbeans to buy, andhehadplenty to say.Hemoved fast, talked fast andhadabedrock confidence about coffee that cameoff as reassur- ing rather thanarrogant. I askedhimatHooked what I shouldorder.He suggesteda cafe rico, an espressodrink fromhis days as the founding barista Shop less thanamile away.

nicknamedafter the century-oldPuerto Rican coffee company. Alameda scents a cortado withorange, vanilla and outlandishor alchemical but adrink inperfect proportions.The swerv- ing, heart-shapedart drawnwith foamedmilk was, as ever, gorgeous. amodernL.A. classic, as satisfying in its ownwayas pour-overs. Coffee, at homeor out in theworld, is somuch aboutpersonal taste.But in the landof possibility, if you trust a favorite barista, younever know whatwonderful universes might openat thebottom of a cup..