For the majority of Pu’er people, Mony Coffee is a slightly unfamiliar name. Tim, a cool guy from America, is the person in charge of Mony Coffee. The Chinese translation of coffee brand mainly operated by Mony Coffee is Harmony. Tim uses specialty coffee beans whose production process fully complies with the standard technology for specialty coffee. Generally, coffee produced here is for export, and Pu’er people who have tasted Harmony Coffee will say “One more.”

● Not for money, but for sharing specialty with people only.

Tim is a passionate and talkative man, who can speak fluent Chinese. But before 2008, he even did not know the location of Pu’er. Tim learnt operation in America and he should have engaged in trade in big cities like New York. But he and his wife came to Yunnan with a dream in 2008 because of the attraction there.

The first station in Yunnan chosen by Tim was Yuxi. He had to learn Chinese well because he needed to communicate with the local people. Then he and his wife learnt to speak fluent Chinese at Yuxi Normal College.

Tim loved coffee. In 2010, he joined Mony Coffee. His primary responsibility is to promote coffee. In the beginning, Tim could annually sell 30-40 kg. specialty coffee, and now he managed to sell 5-10 ton coffee in one year, which was inseparable from his great efforts. After coming to Pu’er, he found the local climate was suitable for growing coffee, and the coffee grown there was of high quality. He also found there was a huge difference between the Pu’er coffee culture and the foreign coffee culture. Pu’er people were fond of adding fresh milk and granulated sugar to coffee, while foreigners were keen on coffee with the most original and taste and flavor. Because there was the exceptional advantage in growing coffee, he planned to build a production base of specialty coffee in Yunnan.

Tim told the reporter: “In the beginning, I sought fresh beans in Pu’er that were suitable for making specialty coffee just for meeting my own needs and for doing something I like.” But after communicating with the simple and attentive Pu’er coffee planters, Tim had the idea of making specialty coffee bigger and more professional. So he went to villages to help the local minority construct water conservancy facilities as well as to provide them with planting technology for specialty coffee.

When making specialty coffee, Tim needed to make contact with various people, from which he could share stories with them. Tim liked to share stories with people who came from different places and spoke different languages when tasting coffee with them. And in his view, this was the best life style.

Mony Coffee has extended to the overseas market. Each year, some enterprises and individuals are intended to become the new consumers of Mony Coffee.

Tim told the reporter that the Harmony Coffee under Mony Coffee had a similar pronunciation with the English word “harmony”, with a meaning of “living together peacefully”. This was just like his initial thought, and he treated coffee as a way of sharing, and a way to pass on friendly emotion. He did not aim to make money, but to passionately do things he liked. Through sharing things that he thought were good, Tim could gain a sense of pride.

● Where there is the finest coffee, there is the home.

In 2014, Tim relocated the company to Pu’er from Kunming.

“In the past, I promoted coffee in Kunming. But Kunming is too far from the planting base. In addition to the advantage of growing fine coffee, Pu’er is a comfortable place having favorable environment and nice people.” Tim gave high praise of Pu’er, “In addition to promoting the technology in the planting base, I like the minority folk-custom in Pu’er. The scenery there is beautiful. I prefer talking with Pu’er people on coffee, and sharing stories about coffee.”

“The environment in Pu’er is beautiful and suitable for growing coffee. But only environment is not enough. The attentiveness for growing coffee of Pu’er people is the most impressive thing. My partner is a native of Pu’er Hani nationality. In 1980s, he grew coffee in Lancang. From the very beginning, he kept using environmentally friendly organic fertilizer, and paid great attention to the ecological environment and the quality of specialty coffee.”

Tim is preparing for leading the team to experience the coffee estate in the planting base. When being asked for the future plan, he said: “I love Pu’er coffee. Where there is the finest coffee, there is the home.”

● Cultural fusion, the common taste for Pu’er Coffee and Pu’er Tea

When the reporter talked with Tim on the “collision” between the coffee and the tea, Tim answered with “the common spiritual pursuit under different carriers.”

“Foreigners don’t have so much etiquette in drinking coffee as Chinese tea ceremony. We can’t define it using the simple product, whether it’s the coffee for foreigners, or the tea for Chinese people. Although the flavor is widely divergent for coffee and tea, they have the common ‘sharing culture’ and life philosophy. When taking a leisurely life, you can have a cup of coffee or tea, to continually enjoy the rich, fine and persistent flavor and emotion. I believe there is a story that is shared with others behind a cup of coffee or a cup of tea.”

Mony Coffee is a new coffee brand. Tim expressed he hoped to integrate the foreign coffee culture with the Pu’er tea culture, and develop drinking coffee into a new fashionable life style.