Drinking tea is a Chinese ritual, but grabbing a casual cup of coffee is catching on as people find it tasty, convenient and fashionable. Xu Wei attended China's recent "Coffee Olympics" and reports on the craze for cuppa.

To Chen Peng, each cup of coffee has its own personality - the result of specially selected beans, careful brewing and the creativity of a barista.

The 26-year-old coffee maker, a barista with bravado, has a special understanding of coffee in China -the kingdom of tea - where drinking coffee is still a nouveau fashion statement.

On Chen's blog, he has posted a poem he penned about coffee and himself. "I am a coffee bean, a silent coffee bean. Silence means hope. Silence means expectation. Crush me and I will leave my aroma," it reads.

Pretty passionate, coffee is also a casual, practical drink. In an urban culture on the go, grabbing a cup of coffee or getting a coffee-to-go makes sense. So does a business meeting over coffee and whiling away the time with coffee and conversation.

Once considered an exotic drink for foreigners and China's white collars, coffee now appeals to all kinds of people who want to recharge with a caffeine fix.

Coffee shops are springing up, consumption is rising and lingering over an aromatic brew is the thing to do. The term "coffee break," however, has not fully entered the lifestyle vocabulary.

Coffee lover Chen, who teaches coffee brewing in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, discovered coffee more than five years ago while he was studying hotel management at university in Chengdu. After graduation, he joined a foreign trade company that deals primarily in coffee.

He trains future baristas to make the perfect cup of coffee, specializing in espresso. "Coffee is more than a refreshing drink - it represents a mood and the spirit of both the maker and the coffee drinker," Chen says.

Last week, Chen competed in the final of the Sixth China Barista Championship 2008 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. He competed against 12 other coffee lovers and baristas from Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou (Guangdong Province).

The winner, Lin Jinbao from Beijing, will represent China in next year's World Barista Championship - also known as the "Coffee Olympics" in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. The date has yet to be confirmed.

Though Chen didn't place, his passion for the brew and his bravura performance were moving.

He was the only candidate who carefully designed the table setting for the seven jury members, decorating it with flowers and pictures of Chen and his wife Lily Zhang. "We're a team," Chen says. "She is the person who always stands beside me and cheer me up."

The contest was divided into three 15-minute segments - preparation, coffee-making and cleaning. Chen and the other contestants had to make four cups of espresso, four cups of cappuccino and four cups of a creative coffee within a limited time. Chen's was a concoction of coffee, cream, chocolate and peanuts. He likes to describe it as a "family drink."

The jury of coffee company owners and coffee association members judged the quality through observation and taste. Points were given for skill in using espresso and cappuccino machines; the grinding and use of the bean, and the creativity and flavor of contestants' special coffees.

The highlight was the creative concoctions and transformation of a basic cup of coffee into a sometimes frothy confection.

Winner Lin's creation, "Surpass," was a combination of iced espresso, milk and rose petals. He is a marketer and teacher at a Beijing coffee institute.

Zhou Yungui, the first runner-up, combined espresso with milk and chocolate powder. He created a design on the surface of each drink shaped like the Olympic logo of linked rings, an expressing of high hopes for the upcoming event in Beijing.

Third prize went to Wang Yantao from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, who created a "green" coffee by adding carrot juice and a ginger slice.

Winner Lin will compete in the "Coffee Olympics" with winners from 50 other countries and regions. He was chosen from among 130 China contestants.

The annual contest was launched in 2000 by the Specialty Coffee Assn of Europe and the Specialty Coffee Assn of America to promote fashionable coffee drinking, coffee culture and provide a stage for baristas.

Lin says he hopes Chinese baristas can surpass themselves and put on a good show in the caffeine Olympics. "Coffee maker is a relatively new profession in China," says Lin. "The contest is a rare chance for me to update and perfect my coffee-making skills."

Joe Hsu, general manager of Orsir Coffee Co, heads China's judging panel. He and other judges think being a good barista means not only serving a drink, but also utilizing extensive knowledge of the coffee plant and coffee-making equipment. Most important, he or she must interact with customers and sell products with affability and knowledge.

"It's impossible to become a top barista without emotion and passion, even though one has terrific skills and knowledge," Hsu says.

China's coffee culture is expanding and the industry is growing in double digits. China grows a fine arabica coffee in Yunnan Province.

Statistics show that China's annual coffee and coffee bar industry amounts to 23.15 billion yuan (US$3.3 billion) while the number of cafes grows at about 20 percent annually.

The potential for growth is enormous. The market of China's coffee and coffee bar industry is expected to reach 50 billion yuan in the next five years. In 2012, coffee consumption is expected to reach 120,000 tons. The demand for baristas is also rising.

The potential for growth is enormous, but changing tastes in the kingdom of tea remains an enormous undertaking and a mission of education - the recent coffee contest is just one example of popularizing the coffee-sipping pastime.

Judge Hsu believes it can be done. Most people in the UK used to prefer a rich, strong cup of tea with milk, he says, but today coffee is equally popular there.

"Even Taiwan, where the coffee industry took off only four years ago, has nurtured several thousand professional coffee makers," Hsu adds. "This profession is expected to have a bright future on the Chinese mainland."

(Shanghai Daily April 11, 2008)