EXPEDITION COFFEE ROASTS. THE RIGHT BUZZ IN THE RIGHT PLACES
FROM 2025 ALL OUR EXPEDITIONS WILL HAVE UNIQUE BEAN ROASTS, EITHER FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS OWN WICKEDEST ESPRESSO IN THE WORLD! BEANS, OR SOMETHING DONE TO THE TEAMS OWN REQUEST.
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COFFEE AND ALTITUDE GO TOGETHER. WE GOT OVER THE CONCERN ABOUT CAFFEINE BEING A PED LIKE BOTTLED OXYGEN AND STEROIDS A LONG TIME AGO*, AND WON’T SET FOOT ON A MOUNTAIN WITHOUT COFFEE SOMEWHERE IN THE SYSTEM. INSTANT, ESPRESSO, DRIP, MOKA; IN THE ALREADY-EXAGGERATED REALITY OF EXPEDITION CLIMBING COFFEE IS THE CONSTANT THAT HELPS EVADE THE BLACK DOG OF ORDEAL AND EXHAUSTION.
WHERE ONCE WE DID COFFEE TO GO TO ALTITUDE, NOW WE GO TO ALTITUDE TO DO COFFEE. THEORIES EXIST ABOUT PRESSURE, BOILING TEMPERATURES, HEART RATES, URINATION AND OXYGEN UPTAKE, AND WHATEVER THE EQUATION IS, LIFE IS BETTER WITH IT. MAYBE IT’S THE HYPOXIA SPEAKING, BUT A COUPLE OF DOPPIOS FROM FRESHLY ROASTED BEANS AT 5000m WHILST STARING UPWARDS STILL FURTHER TO MINYA KONKA AT 7556m IS JUST AS MUCH THE FUTURE AS ALUULA PACKS, PERMITS TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE KARAKORAM AND SUB-1KG TENTS.
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TIBET THESE DAYS IS A CENTER FOR COFFEE IN CHINA, CATERING TO THE LEGION OF TRAVELLERS CROSSING HIGH PASSES AND THROUGH TOWNS AT HIGH ALTITUDE. NOTORIOUS FOR THEIR SALTED BUTTER TEA THAT IS HIGH IN CAFFEINE, TIBETANS HAVE EMBRACED COFFEE CULTURE TO THE EXTEND OF ROVING COFFEE VANS THAT PLY THE PLATEAU DOING ESPRESSO SHOTS WELL TOWARDS 5000m.
FOR YEARS NOW WE HAVE BEEN GOING TO A CAFE IN KANGDING, THE GATEWAY TO THE HIGH PLATEAU, CALLED HIYA, EVENTUALLY BECOMING FRIENDS WITH THE GUY WHO OVERSEAS THE ROASTING. PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY BOHEMIAN FOR A ROUGH TRADE TOWN LIKE KANGDING, HE TAKES ROASTING VERY SERIOUSLY AND APPRECIATES FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITION’S REGULAR INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT.
BEANS ARE ROASTED IN KANGDING, ON SITE, AT AROUND 3000m, FROM A SELECTION FROM AROUND THE WORLD. THIS IS NOT SOME HOKEY ATTEMPT AT COPYING WESTERN CULTURE, BUT IS A REAL ROASTERY IN A UNIQUELY TIBETAN ESTABLISHMENT, WITH THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND PRIDE IN RESULTS THAT RIVALS ANYTHING IN MELBOURNE, NEW YORK OR ROME.
HIYA COFFEE IS RUN FROM CHENGDU, BUT HAS ITS ROOTS IN SMALL CAFES UP IN THE EASTERN TIBETAN AREAS OF SICHUAN. THESE ARE REAL LOCAL PLACES, NOT AIMED AT TOURISTS – THERE ARE NONE – AND THEY RUN A BIG DOSE OF TIBETAN CULTURE ALONG WITH THE COFFEE. STAFF ARE TIBETAN, TIBETAN ART AND PHILOSOPHY ADORN THE WALLS, THIS IS WHERE TIBETAN STUDENTS AND BUSINESS PEOPLE HANG OUT – ANYONE WANTING TO SEE THE STATE OF MODERN TIBETAN CULTURE SHOULD SEE HIYA RATHER THAN JUST THE STEREOTYPES OUT ON THE PLATEAU.
THIS YET IS ANOTHER WAY FOR US TO ENGAGE AND SUPPORT LOCAL TIBETAN ENTERPRISE, BY ENGAGING AT MODERN TIBETAN CULTURE NOT A ROMANTIC NOTION OF A PAST THAT LOOKED COOL BUT WAS POVERTY. YES, WE STILL SPEND WEEKS IN TIBET AT A TRADITIONAL LEVEL, BUT TODAYS TIBET ISN’T JUST YAKS AND MONASTERIES, IT’S ALSO A UNIQUE VERSION OF ELECTRIC CARS, CASHLESS TRANSACTIONS, HIGH SPEED TRANSPORT AND ENTREPRENEURIALISM, AND AS LONG TERM VISITORS TO TIBET WE INTERACT AT EVERY LEVEL.
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THE POINT OF ALL THIS IS FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS NOW DOES EXPEDITION BEANS, BOTH AS OUR OWN ROAST AND AS ONES SPECIFIC TO A TRIP. YOU WANT A KARAKORAM NORTH SIDE OR AN AKSAI QIN OR A GASHERBRUM EAST ROAST, WE WILL DO IT, BASED OFF WHAT THE TEAM LIKES AND THE STYLE OF COFFEE THEY LIVE OFF.
PRAGMATICALLY, EXPEDITIONS NEED COFFEE BEANS, WHICH LIKE ANYWHERE ELSE ARE BEST CONSUMED AS SOON AFTER BEING ROASTED AS POSSIBLE. AS OFF-THE-SHELF BEANS IN TIBET OR EVEN CHENGDU CAN HAVE DUBIOUS ROAST DATES, AND ANYTHING BROUGHT FROM HOME WILL BE GETTING ON ALREADY BY THE TIME WE LEAVE THE ROAD, WE FIXED THE PROBLEM AT THE SHARP END. NOW WE CAN LITERALLY PICK UP BEANS ROASTED THAT DAY AS WE LEAVE TOWN.
IS THIS THE FINAL DESCENT INTO THE ABYSS OF HIPSTERISM, FIRST-WORLD PROBLEMS AND THE INANE? WE DON’T THINK SO. IT COULD BE IF WE WERE TALKING SOMEWHERE ALREADY IN THE GRIPS OF URBAN CHIC LIKE EVEREST, BUT THE CULTURAL JUXTAPOSITION IN AN OFT-MISUNDERSTOOD PLACE LIKE TIBET, WHERE WE GET TO SHOOT ESPRESSOS WITH KHAMPA COWBOYS ACROSS THE ROAD FROM YAK MARKETS, IS MODERN EXPEDITION CLIMBING AT ITS BEST.
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