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Thread: Coffee?

  1. #61
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    I live to make OT threads topical here

    Well, okay, actually I live for other things entirely, but making OTs topical does make me happy.

    Macau's kung fu coffee master
    Amid abandoned shipyards an unusual cafe owner is blending Macau's most intriguing coffee
    By Hiufu Wong 15 November, 2013


    Leong Kam Hon, kung fu coffee maker
    “I remember the first night I finished practicing kung fu," says Leong, owner of Macau's small Hon Kee café. "For the first time (in a long time) I slept through the whole night without waking up.” Leong says his kung fu workouts helped him gain the strength to brew Macau's most interesting coffee.

    Life-threatening accident, kung fu training, chance meeting with a mysterious foreign couple, encounter with a golden movie star and a pot of instant coffee -- Leong Kam Hon’s story reads like a crazy Chinese adventure movie.

    “Two bones, muscles, blood vessels -- all gone," says Leong. "But I told my doctor, giving up my arm means giving up my life.”

    Leong, 55, is the Macanese owner of Hon Kee, a small café hidden in an abandoned shipyard in Macau.

    He brings up his arm quickly in conversation, because had he lost it, he would never have gone on to brew the most famous coffee in Macau.

    The coffee, which appears underwhelming when it comes to you, is as surprisingly flavorful as Leong's life.

    From kung fu to coffee

    Kung fu coffeeFirst-time visitors may have difficulty finding the cafe amid abandoned shipyards.In 1986, Leong was working at a local shipyard when an accident with a rusty saw nearly severed his left arm just above the elbow.

    Fearing an infection could put his life at risk, a surgeon advised Leong to have the arm removed completely.

    Leong believed a ship-builder losing an arm would be like a musician losing his hearing. He refused the advice.

    "I told the surgeon I'd rather not live than live without my arm," he says.

    The arm was reattached and Leong was observed for signs of infection or restricted blood flow. His risk paid off -- the operation was a success.

    Following the operation, Leong was transferred to a hospital in mainland China for an experimental nerve transplant.

    “At the time of my operation, they were still developing the technology on lab rats in Guangzhou,” says Leong.

    “The surgery went well but my arm -- which hadn’t been used for months -- had shrunk as thin as a bamboo stick.”

    During the long recovery from the accident and subsequent medical procedures, Leong thought about alternatives to ship building (his arm remained weak long after the surgery), eventually hitting on the idea of opening a cafe that would serve the workers from various shipyards in the port.

    "It wasn't an easy process," says Leong, recounting not just the difficult career transition, but the red tape that opening a business requires.

    The local government rejected his initial application for a business license in 1990.

    "They said it's an industrial area," recalls Leong. "But I had to make a living, so I wrote a letter to the Portuguese mayor of Macau. He granted my request regardless of the (local) official's initial rejection."

    Leong got to work, first building his café from scratch, by himself.

    In an effort to rebuild the strength in his arm, he also built a wooden dummy and began practicing kung fu on it.

    “I remember the first night I finished practicing kung fu, I slept through the whole night without waking up in the middle of the night," he says. "The pain and numbness in my arm prevented me from sleeping well -- that was the first night in a very long time that I managed to sleep through the night.”

    Ever since, Leong has practiced kung fu on the wooden dummy each morning.

    “I’m no kung fu master, but it certainly helped me regain my strength and even have strength for blending my coffee,” he says.

    “Chow Yun-Fat” coffee

    Leong says his self-styled kung fu training helped hone his coffee blending skills.

    Kung fu coffeeThis is no longer "instant" coffee.Leong's product isn't some sophisticated fresh roasted coffee. It actually comes from -- look away, coffee snobs! -- instant coffee powder.

    It's the way Leong blends it, however, that makes it special.

    First he stirs a spoonful of thick coffee mixture a few hundreds rounds at high speed, like a motor, until it thickens. The process takes a few minutes.

    When water is added to the coffee, a thick layer of foam and cream rises to the top, creating an unusually creamy texture and aromatic smell.

    “A foreign couple [Leong doesn't know from which country] taught me this way of coffee-making," he says. "They used to come every year during the Grand Prix, sit here and drink their coffee for the whole day."

    “The last time they were here, they came to me and tried to teach me how to make a coffee.”

    Unable to speak to each other -- the couple spoke English, Leong speaks only Cantonese -- they communicated through sign language.

    That was in the early 2000s. Leong never heard from them again.

    “It was so troublesome to make coffee (their) way," he says. "I used to just boil a whole pot of coffee. I didn’t give them much thought and continued to boil my coffee my own way until the day Chow Yun-Fat came to visit the cafe."

    A local legend, the Hong Kong-born Chow is known internationally for his starring roles in movies such as John Woo’s “Hard Boiled” and Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

    Leong was star struck.

    “I thought, 'what kind of coffee is good enough for a star like Chow?” he says.

    The rest of the story isn't tough to figure out -- Leong blended the coffee the way he'd learned from the foreign couple.

    Chow loved it, Leong says, claiming it tasted better than the coffee he had at his hotel.

    Word spread.

    Travelers, local and overseas media flocked to Hon Kee café for the “Chow Yun-Fat” coffee.

    That was 2004.

    The burst of fame came just in time. A sharp decline in the area shipping business had been hurting his business. As his customer base began losing their jobs, Leong was forced to take on outside work.

    He feared he wouldn't be able to afford to stay in business, but the unexpected noteriety kept the café alive.

    Kung fu coffeeThe pier at Coloane in southern Macau. A few area stores still sell dried seafood. The media attention and fame were short-lived.

    With its inconvenient location, Hon Kee is still off the radar for most travelers, and not widely known among locals.

    Hon Kee café is in Lai Chi Wun Village in Coloane, on the southern side of Macau.

    It’s in the area of one of the last fishing villages left in fast-developing Macau. This fact alone makes it an interesting excursion from the vibrant gaming and tourist scene that dominates most of Macau.

    Getting there: If your cab driver doesn't know the way to Lai Chi Wun Village, you can start at Coloane city center and walk toward the shore. Turn right when you see Ponte Cais De Coloane (the pier in the picture above) and walk until you reach the police station. Then crest a small slope and walk by the shipyards. The entire walk takes about 10 minutes.

    Hon Kee Cafe, Lai Chi Wun Road, Coloane City Center, Macau; +853 2888 2310; open daily except Monday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  2. #62
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    Someone sent me this article.

    If you are under 55 and you drink more than 4 cup of coffee daily, your death rate will be increased

    - 56% if you are male.
    - 100% if you are female.

    The "cup" we are talking about here is "small cup".

    美國有研究指出,平均每天喝4杯或4杯以上咖啡的55歲以下男性,其死亡風險比每天喝4杯以下的同齡男性高 出56%;平均每天喝4杯或4杯以上咖啡的55歲以下女性,其死亡風險甚至比每天喝4杯以下的同齡女性高出 1倍。值得注意的是,此研究所謂的「1杯」咖啡,僅約超商的小杯咖啡.
    http://johnswang.com

    More opinion -> more argument
    Less opinion -> less argument
    No opinion -> no argument

  3. #63
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    whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

    You mean to say that all those years hanging weights off my junk could have been replaced by just drinking more coffee!?!?

    Just kidding. I've never practiced IC. I just write about it.

    Caffeine and Erectile Dysfunction
    The Daily Drink That Could Fight Off Erectile Dysfunction
    Guys who guzzled this beverage reported having stronger *****es. Fill up a cup and you might enjoy the benefits, too
    By Jada Green, June 02, 2015


    Image from Thinkstock

    Your daily cup of Joe keeps you up in more ways than one: Caffeine could reduce your likelihood of having erectile dysfunction (ED), suggests a new study from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

    Researchers found that guys over the age of 20 who consumed the caffeine equivalent of 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day were less likely to report ED issues than men who steered clear of the stimulant.

    The connection was strongest in overweight guys, says study author David Lopez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., but he plans to dive further into how the caffeine/ED link can affect different weight groups.

    Related: 8 Simple Strategies for Stronger Erections

    Caffeine has properties similar to ED drugs like Viagra, says study coauthor Run Wang, M.D. The stimulant triggers a series of effects that cause the arteries in your ***** to relax and your blood flow to increase—both keys to a strong erection.

    Feeling limp lately? Blame your bulging belly, says Men’s Health urology advisor Larry Lipshultz, M.D. Too much excess baggage can harm your vascular function, which messes with your blood flow.

    To flatten your belly—and bolster your boner—check out The Lose Your Spare Tire Program. It’s the easiest and most effective way to drop 20, 30, or even 50 pounds!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  4. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    You mean to say that all those years hanging weights off my junk could have been replaced by just drinking more coffee!?!?

    Just kidding. I've never practiced IC. I just write about it.
    It all makes sense. I think hot peppers like habaneros are also good for this, both ingested and topical, which i discovered by accident.

    so, organic apple cider vinegar everyday. a cup or two of coffee every day. and habanero/ scotch bonnet/ thai chilis every day.

    i also used to make a mix combining garlic, cayenne pepper powder, raw apple cider vinegar, ginger and horseradish root- mix together in jar (with apple cider vinegar as a base) and let ferment for 2-5 months. drink everyday.

    this is an over-all energy boost, also boosts the system up and helps with the blood/ sugar levels in the body for balance/ cleans the system out.

  5. #65
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    Aeropress

    I've been using one of these to brew my coffee in for the past few months. Makes a really good cup! Any of you use one or ever hear of it? Heat the water to around 175f and invert the press and do a short steep for an awesome brew. You get a clean clean cup of the dark nectar!
    Aeropress coffee maker.

  6. #66
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    Never mind my junk

    I take my coffee black, but this ad makes me think I should add a little milk next time.

    Gene Ching
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  7. #67
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    Wing Chun Baristas

    What is it about Wing Chun and coffee? If another comes up, this totally deserves it's own indie thread.

    Leon baristas learn Bruce Lee kung fu Wing Chun to combat stress and speed up service
    FRANCESCA GILLETT 5 hours ago


    Staff well-being: Leon restaurants have trained their staff in martial arts to speed up service. Gareth Richman

    Baristas across London have been trained in the same martial art as Bruce Lee to help speed up their hands so they can serve coffee faster.

    Healthy fast food chain Leon confirmed it has sent its baristas on a six week intensive course in Wing Chun – a type of kung fu mastered by the martial arts superstar.

    The company, which has branches all over London, said they have seen speed of service and quality of their coffee improve after baristers took on the training.

    They are also less stressed, the firm claims.

    Some of the workers had even decided to continue with the martial art technique in their free time because of the benefits they experienced.

    Orla Delargy, who works for the company, said: “We noticed that the baristas, some of them were feeling quite stressed. It’s quite a stressful job.

    “We tested their heart rate and their confidence levels then we did six weeks’ intensive Wing Tsun training.

    "We found the quality had gone up and heart rates had gone down.”

    Ancient martial art Wing Tsun helps to increase spatial awareness and a better relationship between body and mind.

    The trial was started by co-founder of Leon, John Vincent, in March this year. The aim of pilot scheme was to improve performance, reduce wastage and promote staff wellbeing.

    After the initial experiment on six workers, 30 seconds had been knocked off the time it took them to make a coffee.

    Not all baristas in London have yet been trained, Leon said.
    Leon Restaurants
    Gene Ching
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  8. #68
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    Does Starbucks deserve its own indie thread here yet?

    I could easily cobble a Starbucks thread by copying previous posts. There are plenty of them through various threads.

    Meh, that would be work.

    There's an embedded vid if you're that interested...

    China will get a new Starbucks every day for 5 years
    by Jethro Mullen and Mallika Kapur @CNNMoneyInvest
    October 19, 2016: 7:53 AM ET

    Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is unfazed by China's slowing economy.
    Even with China growing at its slowest pace in 25 years, Starbucks is planning to open more than one new store a day for the next five years in the world's second largest economy.
    "I think if you look at the 45 year history of our company ... one of the things that we've done really well is that we've always played the long game," Schultz told CNN in an interview in Shanghai on Wednesday.
    Powered by SmartAsset.com
    By 2021, Starbucks (SBUX) aims to have nearly 5,000 stores across China.
    It's been a long road already for the coffee giant in the world's most populous nation, where it opened its first store 17 years ago.
    "We had to educate and teach many Chinese about what coffee was -- the coffee ritual, what a latte was," Schultz said. "So in the early years, we did not make money."
    His critics on Wall Street and elsewhere said Starbucks "was never going to succeed in China," he recalled.
    But his patience paid off.
    "If you look five years ago, most of our business, believe it or not, was expats and tourists in China," he said. "Today, it's mostly Chinese."
    Schultz expects China to eventually overtake the U.S. as the company's largest market, although he hasn't said exactly when. (It's already No. 2.)
    "One of things I think we've done very well is we've invested significantly ahead of the growth curve -- in people, in systems," he told CNN. "We just finished a fantastic year in China where the results are as strong as they've ever been."
    Such talk is enviable for huge U.S. firms that have failed to get into China -- like Facebook (FB, Tech30) and Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) -- or been pushed out -- like Uber and Google (GOOG).
    Schultz says it helps that Starbucks is selling coffee, and not active in a more sensitive market.
    "We're not in a high tech business, so we're not trying to change behavior in terms of technology," he said.
    Other big American brands that had enjoyed years of success selling food and drink in China are now faring less well.
    KFC, which is owned by Yum Brands (YUM), is spinning off its China business and bringing in outside investors. McDonalds (MCD) is also looking for a partner to take over the franchise of its China stores.
    "They have other challenges ... I can't speak for them," Schultz said, ruling out the possibility of Starbucks following a similar path.
    "Whether we're in a small city or a large city, we think that the way in which we can be successful is if the stores are operated by Starbucks people," he said. "We believe that the future of Starbucks in China is still very early."
    -- Reed Alexander contributed to this report.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #69
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    A starbucks a day...

    I bet Starbucks tea is yuge in China...

    Starbucks is opening more than a store a day in China and only plans to get faster there


    A man walks past an advertisement board of Starbucks in Wuhan, Hubei province, in this October 29, 2013 file photo. A China state television investigative report accusing Starbucks of overcharging local customers for coffee triggered enormous disquiet among journalists at the network and even some soul-searching after it aired.
    Lining up early. (Reuters/Darley Shen)

    WRITTEN BY Josh Horwitz
    OBSESSION China's Transition
    March 28, 2017

    KFC and McDonald’s have spent the better part of the past year getting out of China. The world’s best-known American coffee chain, however, is only getting bigger there.
    Last week during its annual shareholders meeting Starbucks announced that it had reached a minor milestone when it revealed it had opened 2,600 stores in China. That figure is up from a store count of around 2,500 by the end of 2016, and over 2,300 from the start of October, when the company’s most recent financial year ended.
    That means that almost 10% percent of the company’s stores—both company-operated ones and licensed outlets—now reside in the China. In 2009 the country was home to just 2.9% of Starbucks stores around the world.

    https://www.theatlas.com/charts/ByE1QPD2x

    Company data show that during the company’s fiscal 2016, China surpassed Japan (pdf, pg 4) as the company’s number-two market for company-owned stores—the outlets that generate a majority of Starbucks’ revenue. By January 2017, it had 1,212 wholly-owned stores there.

    https://www.theatlas.com/charts/S1bDvvv3g

    The company’s growth comes as China’s rising middle class, which has a taste for the cosmopolitan, sent sales for fresh-brewed coffee served at retail restaurants surging. Research firm Euromonitor International estimates that the market size for coffee served in cafes hit 20 billion yuan (about $2.9 billion USD) in 2016, up from a mere 1.1 billion yuan 10 years earlier.

    https://www.theatlas.com/charts/SJMr0Dv3l

    Starbucks captures a majority of this market in China. Three-fourths of coffee shop sales went to the Seattle-based giant in 2014, with the remainder shared by Costa Coffee, McDonald’s, and Hong Kong chain Pacific Coffee, according to Euromonitor.
    Last year Starbucks announced plans to increase its store count to China to 5,000 by 2021, which will require opening an average of a dozen stores each week to achieve. The company’s bet on expansion bucks a trend as other foreign restaurant chains struggle to maintain a foothold in China. In January McDonald’s announced it successfully sold 80% of its business in mainland China and Hong Kong to franchisees, as it struggled in the face of competition from local fast food chains. Yum! Brands, meanwhile, spun off its China division last autumn as slowing sales at KFC and Pizza Hut in China burdened the company’s share price in New York.
    What has insulated Starbucks from meeting a similar fate? The company’s marker as a status symbol ensures that its brand remains aspirational. As a result, it can charge its famously high prices—which at times dwarfs those in the US. In 2013, various media outlets ran pieces noting how some Starbucks beverages in China were more expensive than they were in the US. State broadcaster CCTV even ran a 20-minute smear piece (link in Chinese) on the price difference, which remains one of the more memorable examples of government-backed media targeting foreign companies (sometimes, but not always, with good reason).
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
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  10. #70
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    600+ Starbucks in Shanghai alone

    Starbucks opens its second Roastery, the biggest Starbucks coffee shop yet, in Shanghai
    Richard Simmonds about an hour ago



    Shanghai, already home to more than 600 Starbucks, is now only the second place to get an extra-special Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

    With a new Starbucks opening up every fifteen hours in China, adding to the more than 3,000 shops already built in the country, one more is hardly newsworthy stuff. But the Reserve Roastery that opened up last month in Shanghai is something special, an architectural mishmash of luxury hotel and whisky distillery floor that covers a ginormous 2,700 square metres (30,000 square feet), and has a two-storey copper cask dominating its centre. As with some of its stores in Japan, Starbucks have embraced aspects of the local culture, incorporating Chinese designs such as the more than 1,000 Chinese character-engraved wooden boards that decorate the copper cask, detailing the history of Starbucks and their coffee.



    The Shanghai Roastery, the second to be built after the first opened in Seattle three years ago, features three wooden coffee bars, including one that’s 27-metres (88-feet) long, a Teavana Bar, and an on-site Italian bakery.

    ▼ A special branch needs a special name. Why have a cup of coffee in a coffee shop on the way somewhere, when you can be “greeted by a multi-sensory coffee experience in an interactive coffee and retail destination”?


    ▼ If coffee isn’t your thing, because you can’t beat a proper cuppa, then the new Roastery also caters to tea-lovers with their Teavana range.


    ▼ Not a laptop in sight, so who is writing all the movie scripts that will never be made?


    The first team of Chinese Starbucks artisan roasters at the Roastery are trained to make unique, small-lot Reserve coffee, roasted on-site from green beans right through to the finished article at the counter where baristas will prepare your ever-so-fancy beverage of choice.



    It isn’t just the coffee-making (apparently they use six different brewing methods) that’s state-of-the-art. The whole site has been designed to immerse customers in an augmented reality environment; by waving their devices around them, customers are able to learn about the coffee roasting process.



    Starbucks are also working with Alibaba’s Tmall online marketplace so that customers are able to order Shanghai Roastery and Reserve coffee or merchandise to their doors, or sign up for special coffee tasting sessions.

    Now, we’ll need to hop on a plane to Shanghai if we want to experience the Roastery ourselves (and perhaps take our own eggs?), or just hope that Japan will be the next place to receive the honour. Which, given the unseemly amount of money we spend at Starbucks, shouldn’t be too much of a push for the company.

    Source, images: Starbucks
    When my master Shi Decheng came to town last month, I took him for some sightseeing for a day and we got ahead of schedule. When we got back to the school where he was going to teach, it was still closed, so we went out for coffee. I didn't know the area and did a quick smartphone search and said, "There's a Starbucks nearby". Decheng and his pupil just laughed. They said there are so many Starbucks in China now that it is the last place they wanted to go. Fortunately, we found a little indie coffee shop near by that was delightful.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  11. #71
    I love coffee but I'm not good in making my own coffee. I just regularly buy Starbucks' ready to drink in cup or bottle.

  12. #72
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    Do we need an indie Starbucks thread soon?

    I'm not sure how I feel about Starbucks being a barometer for global economic power, but we're in the Mirror Universe now, so it seems.

    JUNE 20, 2018 / 5:35 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
    Starbucks sales forecast raises questions about China, U.S. growth
    Reuters Staff
    3 MIN READ

    (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp shares fell 4 percent on Wednesday after a dim sales forecast from the U.S. coffee chain prompted Wall Street analysts to question the sustainability of its growth at home and next biggest market China.


    FILE PHOTO: The Starbucks logo is seen outside its coffee store in front of Zhengyangmen Gate at Qianmen Commercial Street in central Beijing, April 19, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

    Several analysts downgraded their ratings and cut their 12-month targets on Starbucks’ stock, after the company on Tuesday forecast sales growth at established restaurants to rise by just 1 percent in the third quarter, below Wall Street expectations of a 3 percent increase.

    Starbucks also expects same-store sales in China to see no growth in the three months ending June.

    With Wednesday’s decline, Starbucks’ shares were on track to enter negative territory for 2018 - a year in which well regarded Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz stepped down and the company found itself at the center of an embarrassing racial profiling incident.

    Morgan Stanley analyst John Glass, who downgraded the stock to “equal-weight” from “overweight,” expressed surprise at Starbucks’ expectations for China, and said the overall forecast raised questions about the sustainability of Starbucks’ growth back home. Just three quarters ago, same-restaurant sales in China had risen 8 percent, Glass noted.

    Other analysts echoed Glass’ surprise, noting that the Seattle-based company had been upbeat about growth in China just a few weeks ago at its investor day event, saying it was highly focused on that market.

    Wells Fargo’s Bonnie Herzog said the forecast for China was the most discouraging, “putting a damper on some of the optimism we came away with after visiting China last month.”

    On Tuesday, Starbucks also announced plans to close some 150 U.S. cafes and open much fewer locations in fiscal year 2019, a result of intensifying competition that has seen new coffee chains, convenience stores and fast-food chains improve quality and cut prices aggressively.

    Analysts also pointed to lower-than-expected same-restaurant sales in five of the previous six quarters at Starbucks’ Americas business that is dominated by its roughly 8,000 U.S. cafes.

    Some analysts said a sharper focus on digital initiatives - promoting Starbucks’ mobile app and online ordering - could make up for some of the slowdown in the company’s key markets.

    “In reaction to what is now a clearer pattern of slower U.S. sales, more product and digital innovation is in the works, but it’s hard to see how much that impacts sales,” Morgan Stanley’s Glass said.

    Morgan Stanley’s downgrade on Starbucks’ shares brings the total number of “hold” or equivalent ratings on the stock to 15. Still, 16 analysts maintain a “buy” or higher rating.

    The average Wall Street price target on Starbucks shares was $62.08. The stock dipped 3.7 percent to $55.28 before the bell on Wednesday.

    Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar
    Gene Ching
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  13. #73
    My friend from UAE gave me an Arabic coffee and I'm so loving it.

  14. #74
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    Luckin Coffee

    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    I'm not sure how I feel about Starbucks being a barometer for global economic power, but we're in the Mirror Universe now, so it seems.
    Yeah, about that...
    A startup challenging Starbucks in China is now worth $1 billion
    Workers make coffee at a branch of the Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in Beijing, China, in May 2018. Luckin is now valued at $1 billion as it takes on Starbucks.


    No copycat. (EPA-EFE/Roman Pilipey)

    WRITTEN BY
    Josh Horwitz
    July 11, 2018

    Starbucks’ second-largest market after the US is China, where it has over 3,300 stores and operates with virtually no serious competition.

    A Beijing-based startup could change that. Luckin Coffee has opened 525 outlets across China’s major cities less than nine months after its launch (link in Chinese). Today the fast-growing company confirmed it’s closed a $200 million funding round giving it a $1 billion valuation. Investors include Centurium Capital, a private equity fund founded by the former China head of Warburg Pincus, and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

    In domestic Chinese media, Luckin has aggressively courted comparisons to the world’s best-known coffee chain. In May, it even wrote an open letter accusing Starbucks of “monopolistic behavior” (Starbucks called the move a “publicity stunt”). But Luckin isn’t a Starbucks copycat—rather, it meshes trends in China’s tech industry with the coffee-shop model mastered by its rival.

    First, Luckin Coffee revolves around the smartphone. When customers walk into one of its blue-and-white shops, they’re immediately asked to download the Luckin app to order coffee (assuming they haven’t done so already). They can pay using WeChat payments or Luckin’s own “coffee wallet”—but not cash. This fits into China’s so-called “new retail” trend, in which tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent partner with supermarkets and convenience stores on mobile payments, analytics, and inventory management.

    Luckin has also aggressively promoted its delivery services—of its 525 outlets, 231 are kitchens dedicated exclusively to filling orders placed in offices, homes, or elsewhere. This mimics China’s boom in e-commerce and food delivery, which has thrived on the back of low-wage couriers.

    When it comes to marketing, Luckin has more in common with a Chinese gadget company than with its Seattle-based coffee rival. Whereas Starbucks typically shuns traditional advertisements, Luckin has plastered China’s cities with billboards featuring popular actors Chang Chen and Tang Wei holding blue-and-white coffee cups. Chinese smartphone makers Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi employ similar tactics, using celebrities to pose with products.

    Finally, Luckin’s beverages are relatively cheap. In Beijing, a large Americano costs 21 yuan ($3.15), a matcha latte 21 yuan, and a Hawaiian pineapple wrap 9 yuan. That’s roughly 20%-30% lower than comparable items from Starbucks in China (which is more expensive than Starbucks in the US).

    Despite the company’s early emphasis on delivery, it insists that bricks-and-mortar retail is the future—a spokesperson tells Quartz the company expects delivery kitchens will make up just 15% of its locations in the future.

    But with such low prices and rising expansion costs, can the company justify its valuation and take on the world’s coffee retail giant?

    Jeff Towson, who teaches investment at Peking University in Beijing, says that Luckin Coffee is “easily worth $1 billion if it can execute on the business—but that’s a big if.” A large part of Starbucks’ success globally has to do with real estate—many of its stores are placed in expensive, high-traffic locations that rivals can’t afford. Most Luckin outlets are not in such spots, Towson notes. The company uses the app to draw people to less-bustling locations that are cheaper to rent. “It may be that that real estate power can be overcome if you’ve got a really sticky hold on people’s smartphones,” he adds.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #75
    Have you tried Nescafe Dolce Gusto?

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