Coffee is a popular daily beverage. People have a craving for coffee for different reasons. Some love its rich and intense aroma, some love its bittersweet flavour, and some are into its grinding process or origins, among others. Ms. Cheng Hoi Leng Fina (2023/IBBA), a recent Chung Chi graduate, organised the “Coffee Workshops x Pop-up Store” through the “Dreaming through Chung Chi Scheme 2022/23”, sharing coffee brewing techniques, displaying coffee tools, and even brewing coffee on the spot. What new perspective has been explored while acquiring in-depth coffee knowledge? How did she transform her love of coffee to the realisation of coffee dreams?
Q: What inspired you to explore coffee at the very beginning?
I am a Macau native. In 2019, I did not have physical lessons and returned to my homeland. In my spare time, I wanted to learn something and enrolled in a coffee-brewing course unexpectedly. Before attending the course, I did not have much knowledge about coffee as I used to drink coffee with sugar and milk and did not know how to taste the original flavour of coffee. During the lessons, my instructor always let us taste a broad variety of coffee and guided us on how to differentiate between fruity and nutty flavours. I got to know some basic knowledge about coffee and discovered that coffee is somewhat a kind of “chemistry” with theories which can be verified by formulas. Since then, I have been interested in coffee and yearned for further exploration in this aspect after finishing the course.
Fina shared her knowledge about coffee and brewing techniques with Chung Chi students in May 2023 through the “Coffee Workshops x Pop-up Store”.
Q: How did you acquire in-depth knowledge about coffee afterwards?
Later, I enrolled in a latte art course and understood that one can only become skilful in latte art by ongoing practising for a long time. Besides, I had on-the-job training by being an intern in a coffee shop during the summer vacation of my year-two study. At first, I was only assigned to handle daily chores, like clipping bread and tidying up the shop. After a while, the shop manager let me have a try on brewing coffee and I ended up gaining solid experience. During the gap period in the first semester of my year-four study, I worked for two coffee shops, a bar, and a coffee retail shop selling coffee beans and coffee tools. Apart from brewing and bartending, I also learned coffee branding and retailing. Thereafter, I enrolled in related courses and have attained professional qualifications in coffee sensation, extraction, and roasting coffee beans, among others.
Apart from coffee-brewing and bartending, Fina also learned about coffee branding and retailing when she was an intern in coffee shops and a bar.
Q: Could you share the events in the “Dreaming through Chung Chi Scheme”?
I would like to establish a sustainable coffee society by participating in the “Dreaming through Chung Chi Scheme”, enabling Chung Chi students to acquire coffee knowledge and join international competitions on behalf of the College or even the University to promote the coffee culture. At the initial stage, I organised coffee workshops and a pop-up store. For the workshops, I disseminated coffee theories, as well as knowledge and skills about tasting and brewing coffee, such as various coffee extraction techniques including immersion, syphon, and French press, among others. The pop-up store enabled students who could not join the workshops to get exposed to some coffee tools, and I even brewed coffee for them on the spot. Through the above activities, I am glad to meet a lot of coffee lovers and encourage more students to explore and promote the coffee culture. As I was about to graduate when joining the scheme, I hope to recruit more members to the coffee society so that they will not only know how to brew and taste coffee, but also continue to share their coffee knowledge with others. I would get involved in it as an alumna. In the near future, I expect to start a business in coffee products and branding by putting my knowledge to good use.
