Our mate in the news

"He's not Uncle Russ, but Nepalese owner knows his coffee", says today's SCMP.

Y.B.Rai ("YB") is featured in today's Food & Wine magazine in the South China Morning Post.  I've known YB for many years, since coming to Discovery Bay fourteen years ago.  He owns the Uncle Russ coffee chain in Hong Kong, which makes the best coffee in town.  I've also played golf with him: he's the chairman of the DB Golf society and plays a mean game.
I well remember when the fist Uncle Russ opened in 1990 along Canton Road where I was living at the time: I was then the Executive General Manager of Austrade, and had just moved into a fantastic apartment in Harbour City, with views right over Central, and the bustling centre of Kowloon right outside my doorstep.
There was no good coffee in Hong Kong at all, till Russ opened up right round the corner, in Peking Road. It was just a tiny hole in the wall and I took to it immediately, especially when it became clear that Russ -- and I was served by the original Uncle Russ -- was serious about coffee and the coffee was miles away the best in town.  They still produce the best and YB has stuck to that tradition.  Indeed, as clear from this article, he's moved a long way up the learning curve, and is now one of the most experienced and knowledgeable coffee experts in Hong Kong.
In the early 2000's I was interested to open our own coffee shop in Central or along Nathan Road in Kowloon.  We made an offer on a space up the escalator in Central, but we were outbid. Along the way, YB was very helpful, with the figures and equipment, seeing us not so much as potential competitors, but as fellow coffee aficionados who would expand the appreciation of coffee in Hong Kong.  In that, he's right and visionary.
Coffee remains a good business.  It's got good metrics: the cost of goods sold (coffee and cups) is low and easily controllable, and the revenue easily predictable and steady.  I told YB once, that if he wanted to sell his business, we'd be interested... he just smiled...
The article on him is below the fold.

Y.B. Rai

Elle Kwan (foodandwine@scmp.com) Updated on Jun 23, 2011

Y.B. Rai's roasting-to-riches story began when he started working with Uncle Russ Coffee as a barista almost 20 years ago. He took on the debt-laden company from the real Uncle Russ just before Starbucks came to town in 2000 and has developed the original "grab and go" coffee shop concept of Russell and Bill Frederickson into a successful wholesale and retail roasting business, coffee machine supplier and barista training company. After 20 years, do you still love coffee? I'm still learning a lot. I just went to Singapore for the World Barista Championships, and I'm planning to go to Italy, Colombia and Germany also. What's your favourite brew? I drink espresso macchiato. I will also do a wet cappuccino, which is between a latte and a cappuccino. I normally start my day with a double shot macchiato for energy. You took Uncle Russ on with losses just before Starbucks came to Hong Kong. Has Starbucks been good or bad for smaller coffee operators? It is very good because as big brands expand, they educate. It's a competitive market, but as a whole, it's good for everybody. How is it possible to tell if a coffee has been made well? That's a very technical question. For a really great espresso, you need great fresh coffee beans. You need to grind properly. If you grind too coarsely, the water will drip too fast. If you see the espresso dripping too fast or very slowly, you will know this coffee house will not make good coffee. If you see espresso dripping like honey, lovely, you will know the coffee house will make a good coffee. If you are talking about making cappuccino or latte, the steaming is very, very important too, to give it a nice smooth foam so that the coffee will have a good taste. Why are some beans darker than others? The longer you roast, the darker you roast, the more bitter the coffee taste will be. If you roast less time, a mild roast, the taste might be a little bit more full-bodied, but with a lemony, acidic flavour. You were born and educated in Nepal. Were you around a strong coffee culture growing up? To be honest, the coffee culture in Nepal is just growing, but there wasn't much before. Now in Nepal, coffee plantations are growing. I want to be involved in the plantations and I'm looking at the moment to buy one. The plantations are organic. Is that also why you are planning to introduce Fair Trade coffee? [Nods] That's just because the farmers really work hard. They really suffer; they don't get paid enough to survive. The middlemen or wholesalers pay the farmers very little, and they keep the big margin. Fair Trade pays directly to the farmers. Basically, we want to help the farmers improve their lifestyle. They are the ones who really work hard and they should have the right to live better lives. Why are coffee houses charging more for a cup these days? There is a scarcity of coffee this year. There is less production and huge demand. I am hoping in the future it won't continue this way. My analysis is that it won't. Where else can you get good coffee? I found very good coffee in Singapore also. The coffee culture is very good in the individual coffee shops; they roast in-house. In Hong Kong, we don't roast coffee in-house because rental space is too small for the big roasting equipment.