Moving Coffee
Edmond Keung
Founder and Roaster of Moving Coffee
I wasn't originally a big coffee drinker. Back in my university days in Vancouver, Starbucks was the most popular go-to coffee shop, but it just wasn't tasty to me. It did, however, get me curious as to why it was so popular amongst the masses so, in my senior year majoring in food market analysis, I decided to pick coffee as the commodity I'd write about for one of my academic papers. Through this research, it sparked my interest in the industry and the beverage, and it hasn't stopped since.
I started to spend a bit of time going around to various coffee shops in the Vancouver which made me realize that something as simple as an espresso could be so drastically different from place to place and barista to barista. Afer grduation, I moved back to Hong Kong to explore what I wanted to do with my career and what options I had in the coffee industry besides opening up a cafe. I ended up taking a Q-Grader certification course in Hong Kong and became one of the first six Q-Graders in the country. Going through the certification process was a stepping stone in confirming that I really wanted to be in the coffee business for the long run. Before moving back to Vancouver, I jumped around to several roles in the coffee industry as a freelancer from helping start-up cafes and providing barista training to consulting on coffee for hotels throughout Asia.
What made you decide to move back to Vancouver?
My wife and I established Moving Coffee back in 2012 in Hong Kong, and at that time, we didn't have any physical shops – we just showed up at farmers markets around the city. This gave us a feeling of whether our concept would work, and we ultimately felt Vancouver was a better fit for the direction where we wanted to take Moving Coffee.
What's the meaning behind Moving Coffee?
It came about as my mission to move specialty coffee forward in whatever I did. There's also the more literal side where I was always moving around from one location to the next when I first started.
Espresso or Filter brewing?
If I really had to pick, I think it'd be filter pour overs, but it's like a 51/49 split - both give you such different sensations.
What roaster are you using?
A Proaster electric 500g sample roaster and a Diedrich IR-12.
Which do you enjoy more: sourcing, roasting, brewing?
If I were to divide it up by 100 points, I'd give 40 to sourcing, 30 to roasting and 30 to extracting. Sourcing allows you to be involved right at the start of the process and that to me is really exciting.
How would you describe your roasting style?
I learned from a really diverse group of coffee professionals, and I try not to box my roasting around any particular style. Instead, to look at each green bean individually to understand what the roasting methodology or level would unlock the coffee the best.
What is your brew recipe?
1:16 ratio, 2:30 total brew time, 92-degree Celsius water.
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