Sting and his Wuliangshan coffee beans

When we caught Sting, he was still basking in the sun in the small garden behind the house. He asked us if we wanted some coffee. Of course, we came just for the free coffee.

Sting took us to visit his beans. There was a map next to it with a place called Wuliang Mountain circled. He said that these were the beans grown on Wuliang Mountain. It was like knowing a person's hometown, and we suddenly felt that these beans became very familiar.

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Sting made coffee for us and asked embarrassedly whether we might be unaccustomed to such ordinary utensils.

Well, what a simple coffee set. After staying in the city for a long time, I am used to seeing and using a lot of beautiful sets. Coffee tastes better when it is served in beautiful sets. But in this yard where people grow vegetables, hang clothes, mend shoes and play shuttlecock, it seems that none of this matters.

We chatted casually, and Sting said that the first cup is relatively strong, and generally you can add some brown sugar and milk, and the latter ones are not so strong, so you don’t need to add anything. Then he said that you can also put brown sugar and ginger, and then pour coffee into it. The ginger should be peeled. It is still very good to drink it this way in winter. You can also use very thinly cut lemon slices to match the coffee to taste the sour taste of lemon and coffee. Oh, it turns out that coffee can be drunk this way! We chatted leisurely and drank the freshly ground small coffee, just like the beautiful weather in Yunnan.

Well, we drank a lot of cappuccino and latte. However, for the first time, in a simple courtyard, using such simple utensils, listening to a craftsman who has been cooking for 20 years and growing coffee beans for 7 years talking about the collision between different ingredients, the coffee beans here are like dancing, with more ductility and possibilities.

Yes, I brought back the skills that Sting taught me. In the future, there will be Wuliangshan coffee, lemon coffee, and brown sugar ginger coffee in Luye Creative Space. There are more possibilities, and I will continue to catch Sting and continue to try out of curiosity.

A Spoon of Light｜vol. o2 Wuliangshan Coffee (Yunnan Small-Grain Coffee)

Address: Dali, Yunnan... In a glowing house

Characters｜Hippie Chef Coffee Farmer

Reprinted from the official account: illusion August 15, 2015

When I first met Sting, I felt he was so cool. I was first attracted by his warm hippie-ganger aura, and then I was conquered by the various delicious foods he cooked.

From a cooking master to a coffee farmer, Sting has settled in Dali for four years. From liking coffee at first, he later drove south with a group of friends including Jiaju to look for the most authentic coffee beans. After constant visits and tastings, he finally tasted the most satisfying taste in the village north of Wuliang Mountain.

Wuliang Mountain is located in the transition zone between the mid-subtropical and south-subtropical regions in the west of Jingdong County, Pu'er City, at an altitude of 3,306 meters. It has a small temperature difference throughout the year, abundant rainfall, complex and diverse natural environmental conditions, and a unique three-dimensional climate that is very suitable for growing Arabica coffee beans. We work with several local farmers with high altitudes and excellent quality. We do not use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but only apply farmyard manure to allow coffee trees to grow healthily in the most natural state. The first batch of coffee berries begins to bear in October every year, and the last batch is produced in March of the following year. In order to ensure the stable quality and taste of the coffee, everyone handles every process personally from the moment the coffee berries are picked, which is different from other coffee brands that directly purchase finished beans processed by the farmers themselves.

Fresh coffee cherries are picked and dried for at least 40 days. After being dried by the sun and wind day after day, the husks can be peeled off and the coffee beans can be harvested. The coffee beans have to go through several processes such as screening, bean sorting, and roasting before we can drink them.

Many hands make light work. Sting, Jiaju and their friends have made their own brand of Yunnan coffee beans, which are divided into three types according to the degree of roasting: 10, 20, and 30. They also make their own flavors, using two types of packaging suitable for stores and homes. The LOGO and pattern seal are designed and engraved by Xiaomi (bald head), and everyone does the packaging by hand. Everything is natural, simple and elegant.

Today, Wuliangshan coffee beans are supplied to several stores in Dali Ancient Town and across the Erhai Lake, and have entered some coffee shops in other cities, and are very popular among many coffee lovers. This whole process contains not only the gifts of nature's sunshine, rain, wind, rain, thunder and lightning, but also the hard work of farmers and the support of friends, which must be the sweetest bitterness in the world.

In the past two years, Sting gets up every morning to water the vegetable garden and tidy up the vegetable patch. After taking care of the crops, he starts roasting coffee beans, screening the beans, and packaging them. He then goes for a ride on his motorcycle and delivers coffee beans to his friends.

He said that now he loves the life of a farmer more and more than cooking, because the job of a farmer is so fun. The garden grows all kinds of organic vegetables for salad, such as cherry tomatoes, fennel, sour papaya, pomegranate, etc., and has begun to supply vegetable salad to a few stores in the ancient city. Whenever friends come to visit, Sting and Jiaju will first invite friends to visit the vegetable garden, eat freshly picked fruits, look at the various crops full of vitality, and talk about farming, livelihood, clothing, food and nature.

Nature will always favor those who work hard and rely on the weather for their livelihood.

Thanks to the "hermits".

Tu Si

Wen Mengqi

Driver Su Yang

Excerpt from the official account: We are happy on the road Lai Min February 13, 2021

Happiness on the road 12

"Afterwards, she (Wang Dan) took me to visit the ancient city of Dali, eat all the snacks in the ancient city, see the unique screen wall and courtyard in the village, and took me to braid small braids with Dali characteristics. She also took me to meet another former city dweller who retired to Dali - Sting, a coffee master from Hong Kong who had worked as a Japanese cuisine chef for more than ten years. The cool uncle Sting has long hair and wears black-framed glasses. At his place, I saw the skinned coffee beans for the first time, which were grown by them in Wuliang Mountain. Sting is a very chic man. The most enviable thing about him is that he is unrestrained. He does whatever he wants. He likes this kind of life and he lives like this. This is actually A kind of freedom, and it is this freedom that has made him so chic from the inside out. I asked him, can you teach me how to make coffee? He immediately said, okay, I will teach you how to make a particularly delicious coffee. He taught me step by step how to grind coffee beans into powder, how to boil water, and how to brew. He said that simple hand-brewed coffee is delicious, but the technique is very important. I also helped him pack the coffee beans into bags. During the bagging process, I couldn't help but secretly eat one. Sting was very surprised and asked me if I didn't think it was bitter? I said, it's okay, I can taste the fragrance. He generously gave me a big bag of coffee beans. I was so happy that I kept saying thank you to him. When I left, Uncle Sting said to me, "The world is so big, you have to go and see it, don't care what others say." I nodded. This sentence really touched my heart. Lao Ding and I are going to see how big the world is. "