A dozen international coffee experts moved around a long wooden table, pausing at each steaming cup, heads dipping,smelling and tasting. In the wings, coffee farmer Yang Fan watches attentively as the judges’ circle, awaiting a decision on her latest crop of beans.
In recent years, China is fast developing a reputation as a top coffee producer. This tasting was a side event to the first ever Pu’er International Specialty Coffee Expo in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, which ran this winter and drew more than a thousand attendees, including industry aficionados (酷爱者) from across the globe.
“Coffee has huge potential in China,” says Liu Ying, who is working in private investment in Beijing to grow coffee in Pu’er five years ago. “The younger generation prefers to drink coffee in their offices much more than tea.” Still, Pu’er remains synonymous with tea. In a region of China known for thousands of years of tea growing, a new crop is beginning to change the country’s landscape: coffee. This town near the Laos border is surrounded by the green hills scored with tea plantations; it produces a variety of tea which is also called Pu’er. But the region’s mild climate is also perfect for growing Arabica coffee. And as China’s young people move away from traditional tea in favor of the invigorating coffee, Pu’er’s farmers are catering to the demand. Yunnan accounts for 98% of China’s coffee harvest, with half coming from the misty landscape around Pu’er. Today, China is the 13th biggest coffee producer in the world - rising from zero output three decades ago to 136,000 tons annually today.
In April, Seattle’s annual Specialty Coffee Expo decided to showcase China as its portrait country of origin. It follows on the heels of Starbucks’ launching its first single-origin Yunnan coffee last year after eight years of partnership with Yunnan farmers.
With global coffee prices at record lows, Yunnan farmers are processing beans in bespoke (定制的) ways to create distinct flavors -allowing them to enter the market of specialty coffee. “At current coffee prices, I can’t even feed my family,” says the farmer Yang. “My only way out is to produce specialty coffee, to make the best coffee beans.” That means letting beans dry in their cherries, thus producing a wild, fruity flavor, or allowing them to “honey” in their sugary inner layer, which adds a slight sweetness.
“If I told you this was Colombian or Panama coffee, nobody would argue with me,” says Samuel Gurel, CEO of Pu’er’s Torch Coffee Roasters, as Yang breaks into a laughter. “It’s a great example of how Chinese coffee is evolving.”
12. What is the best title of the passage?
A.Coffee gains ground in China’s tea-growing heartland |
B.Coffee is taking the place of Pu’er tea in Yunnan province. |
C.Bespoke coffee in Ynnnan has a variety of flavors. |
D.China has become a top coffee producer in the world. |
13. People grow coffee in Pu’er because ________.
A.they have the tradition to plant coffee |
B.Starbuck needs coffee from Yunnan province |
C.coffee planted there has a special flavor |
D.they think coffee has great potential in China |
14. What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?
A.Pu’er cannot produce coffee. |
B.Coffee enjoys a good reputation. |
C.Pu’er is most famous for its tea. |
D.Coffee is as popular as coffee. |
15. What does Samuel Gurel think of Yang’s coffee beans?
A.He is worried about it. | B.He thinks highly of it. |
C.He doubts about its future. | D.He shows no interest in it. |