我們與虎記商行的宏都拉斯之旅
虎記商行的Alex Han將和我們一起前往宏都拉斯！
以下是這一切是如何發生的故事。我們去拜訪了Alex，讓他品嚐了我們的Bad Boys咖啡豆。當他喝下第一口時，他說：「好好喝啊，我要了！」結果你知道嗎？他決定加入我們前往宏都拉斯，親自認識Bad Boys咖啡豆的生產者！
你有五分鐘時間嗎？我們來告訴你，我們是怎麼遇見Alex並建立起美好的友誼和商業關係的。
七年前，當我開始經營Zircle Coffee時，我去了台北的許多咖啡店推銷宏都拉斯的咖啡。但是很不幸的是，很多咖啡店老闆和烘焙師都認為宏都拉斯只能生產商業咖啡，而不是特殊的咖啡。儘管人們對我很友善，但我很難達成任何商業交易。
在我拜訪台北咖啡店的時候，我遇到了一位咖啡店老闆，他向我介紹了烘焙師Alex。幾天後，Alex立刻訂購了我們的腳踏車莊園咖啡10公斤，甚至不需要試品。這件事讓我感到驚訝，但也很興奮！
當時我還是一個人包辦所有事情，包括送貨。有一天，我去了他在中正區的咖啡店送貨，我們進行了一場很棒的聊天。我和他分享了關於宏都拉斯咖啡的一切以及我正在做的事情。我仍然記得那次會議的幾件事情——第一，他是非常直接的人，第二，他告訴我“如果貓不想玩，就別逗他”，最後他的咖啡店播放了流行的墨西哥樂隊Mana的音樂。
隔年，我跟 Alex 提到我正在尋找一個市場調研人員，他竟然認識一個適合的人選——Allison，但這並不是故事的結束。如果你曾經跟我們做過生意，你可能聽過我們說“Carlos正在宏都拉斯做咖啡品質管理”。事實上，我和 Carlos 是因為共同熱愛足球而成為朋友的。有一天，我邀請他到虎記商行咖啡廳喝咖啡談生意。他問我關於我的生意，我向他展示了一袋宏都拉斯咖啡放在 Alex 的烘焙機旁邊，我說：“我正在賣這個。五分鐘後，Carlos加入了我們的團隊。
我和Alex的友誼和商業合作是非常特別的，我相信這不僅僅是運氣的原因。也許命運也有一定的作用？誰知道呢。不管怎樣，我很感激能成為他信任的咖啡供應商之一。每年我們會參與Alex年度的規劃，他都會告訴我們他想要的咖啡豆，我們會非常努力地找到那些完美的咖啡豆。
Alex和Allison打算前往宏都拉斯，參觀我們7年前第一次賣給他的Cual Bicleta咖啡。很高興他能夠見到我們在宏都拉斯合作的Bad Boys農民。
他們有共同之處——都是內心有著叛逆精神的人。
Alex Han from Tiger's Coffee is flying with us to Honduras!
So, here's the story of how it all happened. We went to visit Alex a couple of weeks ago to let him try our Bad Boys blend. As soon as he took the first sip, he said "It's so good, I want it!" And guess what? He decided to join us on our trip to Honduras to meet the Bad Boys coffee producers himself!
Want to know more? Do you have five minutes?
Ok, let's go! We'll tell you how we met Alex and built a great friendship and business relationship.
7 years ago, when I started Zircle Coffee, I went to many coffee shops in Taipei to promote our Honduran coffees. But it wasn't easy. Lots of coffee shop owners and roasters thought Honduras only produced commercial coffee, not specialty coffee. So, even though people were nice to me, it was hard to make any business deals.
During my coffee shop visits in Taipei, I met a coffee shop owner who introduced me to Alex, who happened to be a roaster. After a few days, Alex called me and ordered 10 KG of our Cual Bicleta coffee right away, without even asking for samples. It was surprising, but also exciting!
During those days, I used to do everything including the deliveries. One day, I went to his coffee shop at Zhongzheng and we had a great chat. I shared with him all about Honduran coffees and what I was doing. I still remember a few things from that meeting - he was very straightforward, he told me "don't play with the cat if he doesn’t want to," and his coffee shop was playing music from a popular Mexican band, Mana.
The following year, I mentioned to Alex that I was looking to hire someone to do market research, and he knew the perfect person for the job - Allison, well, that’s not the end. If you've done business with us, you might have heard us say "Carlos is in Honduras doing coffee quality management." Well, Carlos and I became friends because we both love football. One day, I invited him to Tiger's Coffee to talk business over coffee. He asked me about my business, and I showed him a bag of Honduran coffee next to Alex’s coffee roasting machine, and I said “ I am selling that”. Just five minutes later, we made a deal and Carlos joined our team.
My friendship and business partnership with Alex is special, and I believe it's more than just luck. Maybe destiny played a part? Who knows. Anyway, I feel grateful to be one of his trusted coffee suppliers. Every year, Alex tells me precisely what he's looking for in a coffee, and we work hard to find those perfect beans for him.
Alex is going to Honduras with Allison to visit Cual Bicleta, which was the first coffee he bought from us 7 years ago. It's great to have him meet the Bad Boys farmers we work with in Honduras.