A slender iron can filled with boiled water. The little girl in the cafe slowly walked to the table with the ground coffee powder and gauze leaks. The leak kept pulling back and forth in the iron can, and a cup of mellow and fragrant coffee was born.

Text/Chen Miaolan Photo/unsplash.com

A slender iron can containing boiled water. The little girl in the cafe slowly walked to the table with the ground coffee powder and gauze leaks. The leaks kept pulling back and forth in the iron can, and a cup of mellow and fragrant coffee was born.

In Hainan dialect, coffee is called "Gebi". If you want to experience Hainan’s local coffee culture, you might as well go to Xinglong to have an authentic “Gebi”!

As early as a thousand years ago, humans were addicted to coffee

When the whole world was clamoring for being addicted to milk tea, coffee standing beside him sneered: "Who dares to be first when it comes to addiction, when it comes to addiction, who dares to be first?" In the beverage circle, coffee does have the capital to clamor with milk tea.

Human addiction to coffee was affected by coffee when it was discovered in Ethiopia, Africa more than a thousand years ago. At first, people were simply obsessed with the taste of coffee and its refreshing effects. Until the 15th century, Islam's "prohibition" opened up another addictive attribute of coffee - socialization.

Muslims who cannot communicate their feelings at the wine table can only use coffee to conduct daily social activities. Therefore, coffee has become a "people's social drink", and coffee shops have also become an important place for social activities. For example, the first cafe in Britain was opened by businessman Thomas Hosky in 1650, and its main purpose was to entertain business partners. In China, coffee is also popular all over the world due to its social attributes.

Around 1836, the Danes opened China's first coffee shop in Guangzhou. Before the translation of coffee was decided in the early years, Chinese people called it "the black wine of Fangui", "Kaofei", and "gaifei", and early introduced the "killing fat" in the Western diet book "Zhuanyang Fanshu". From this we can see that coffee was not popular among Chinese people at the beginning.

The turning point occurred in the 1930s. A group of the earliest coffee shops were opened on the Bund in Shanghai. This coffee, which is called "cough potion" by Shanghai people, has become a symbol of fashion and modernity, and has gradually become popular in the social circle of Shanghai literati.

To this day, coffee's addictive attributes continue to grow, from public social to private spaces. This space itself has magic. It can be a public place to meet friends and clients, or a private area where a person guards a small square table. In this space, it does not conflict with each other's hearts and enjoying being alone.

is known as the "world-class" domestic brand - Xinglong Coffee

China's local coffee is mainly concentrated in Taiwan, Yunnan and Hainan. In 1884, British tea merchants introduced coffee tree to Taiwan; in 1892, French missionaries brought coffee from Vietnam to Yunnan; in 1898, Malayan Chinese Kuang Shilian brought coffee seeds back to Hainan.

Compared with Taiwan and Yunnan, Hainan coffee is mainly grown with Robusta species. Its coffee has a high oil content, a strong but not bitter taste, fragrant but not strong, mellow but not astringent, and a little fruity. It can be said to be a good product in terms of taste and quality. Among Hainan coffee, Xinglong coffee is the most famous.

In 1960, Premier Zhou visited the Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm and after tasting Xinglong coffee, he said: "I have drunk a lot of foreign coffee, but the coffee we grow ourselves is good. Xinglong coffee is world-class." Subsequently, Xinglong opened the first state-owned coffee factory after the founding of New China and became China's first geographically protected coffee product.

Coffee is no stranger to Xinglong people who have been influenced by overseas Chinese culture for a long time. In the 1950s, Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm was established in order to resettle more than 10,000 overseas Chinese compatriots who returned from the Nanyang region. While building a new home, these overseas Chinese have also brought back the living habits of other countries and regions, including drinking coffee.

This town with a permanent population of about 35,000 people is home to more than 200 cafes. The annual consumption of coffee beans per capita has been stable at more than 100 tons in the past ten years. Perhaps because of its origin, it is regarded as a modern coffee by urban petty bourgeoisie, but it seems particularly popular in Xinglong.

"Ah sister, come on a cup of songbi", this familiar "Haipu" can be heard in many coffee shops in Xinglong.The local medium-sized coffee beans are put in a special iron pot and roasted to a certain temperature. Blow off the seed coat with a fan, add sugar, salt and butter and stir-fry evenly. The coffee made from this special roasting method is bright in color and has a strong aroma.

The brewing method is also quite unique. First pour white sugar or condensed milk into the bottom of the cup, then pour in black coffee and stir gently. A cup of coffee, a few plates of Nanyang-style snacks, groups of Xinglong people sat around and chatted, and the communication language was rich and colorful, including Mandarin, Hakka, Hainanese, and there were also Minnan and Indonesian dialect.

Many Xinglong people may not remember when they started to develop the habit of drinking coffee, but their dependence on coffee is as natural as eating rice every day. "It's not that you're drinking coffee, but also on the way to the cafe" describes the daily life of Xinglong people.