Pasadena shop Mandarin Coffee is shedding a light on Asian flavors and beans sourced from Yunnan, introducing customers to the coffee-producing region.
Beyond a curved bay window painted with flowers, Sherry Gao is pouring coffee made from single-origin beans, infusing honey with tea leaves and hoping that her Mandarin Coffee Stand — all but hidden in a charming Pasadena arcade — will introduce you to your new favorite coffee and turn your preconceptions about Chinese beans upside down. Much of the Western world imports its specialty coffee from Africa and South America.
And I think that's untrue.” Much of the region’s coffee output is exported for and through major corporations, while domestic demand for China-grown coffee has risen so dramatically that Gao says it’s now hard to outbid the market of China-based coffee shops, which are willing to pay a premium. “You just simply can't compete with internal buyers,” she said. “They will pay any price for that coffee because it's very trendy right now in China.