In Wuhan, Heroes Deserve a Decent Cup of Coffee

Text by Yue Wenwan, Wang Zuokui, Xu Zeyu & Yao Yuan

On a quiet, deserted street in Wuhan, a cafe is filled with the mixed smells of coffee beans, disinfectant and medical alcohol.

While most businesses remain shuttered in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, the cafe named Wakanda is running at full tilt. Seven baristas there race against the clock to concoct about 500 cups of coffee every day and send them to three hospitals free of charge.

“Doctors and nurses are the true heroes who risk their lives to fight the virus. We’re just trying to help them in our way—with some good coffee,” said Tian Yazhen, owner of the cafe.

The cafe was closed on January 21 ahead of the Spring Festival Holiday. But when the city later declared an unprecedented lockdown to contain the spread of the virus to other parts of China and beyond, Tian began to worry about their faithful clients—doctors and nurses at a nearby hospital.

Sina Karami, an Iranian barista, is making coffee (Photo by Yue Wenwan)正在沖調(diào)咖啡的伊朗籍咖啡師西納（樂文婉 攝）

1月25日，武漢迎來“封城”第三天，街道上幾乎看不到行人。7 位年輕的咖啡師卻悄悄回到店里做起了咖啡。

20 天來，他們所在的武漢Wakanda 輕飲咖啡店每天沖出約500 杯咖啡，并附上親手寫下的祝福，免費(fèi)送到抗疫一線的醫(yī)護(hù)人員手中。

他們說，準(zhǔn)備不計(jì)成本，一直要堅(jiān)持送到疫情結(jié)束那一天。

他們說：“這世上可能確實(shí)沒有超級(jí)英雄，不過是有一分熱，發(fā)一分光，螢火匯聚成星河。”

這是一杯咖啡的堅(jiān)守，更是一群普通人的赤膽和俠義。

逆行，因?yàn)閼n心醫(yī)院里的“咖啡重度消費(fèi)者”

1月21日，隨著春節(jié)臨近，武漢Wakanda 輕飲咖啡放假歇業(yè)，本地咖啡師小豪買了機(jī)票去成都旅游。

1月23日，武漢暫時(shí)關(guān)閉離漢通道、停運(yùn)公共交通，全市經(jīng)營(yíng)性文化娛樂場(chǎng)所暫停營(yíng)業(yè)，這讓W(xué)akanda 輕飲咖啡老板田亞珍對(duì)一群“顧客”憂心不已。

在距離Wakanda 輕飲咖啡光谷店不足400 米的湖北省中醫(yī)院，不少醫(yī)護(hù)人員都是每天來買一杯咖啡的常客。

醫(yī)護(hù)人員壓力大，有咖啡需求，田亞珍群發(fā)消息說，自己要返回光谷店給醫(yī)院的抗疫醫(yī)生送咖啡，征集伙伴們參與。出乎意料的是，6名在武漢的咖啡師全部報(bào)名，就連小豪也說要馬上飛回來。

由于直達(dá)武漢的航班被取消，小豪只得先乘高鐵到潛江，再跋涉200 公里回到武漢。

武漢“封城”的第三日，7 人準(zhǔn)時(shí)回到了光谷店，戴上口罩、手套，先把全身噴遍了酒精，再用84 消毒液清理了店鋪，最后用食品級(jí)消毒劑對(duì)設(shè)備進(jìn)行了消殺。

2月2日，團(tuán)隊(duì)里的伊朗籍咖啡師西納接到伊朗駐華大使館通知，將有專機(jī)接伊朗公民回國。盡管伙伴們一致勸他先回到安全的地方，等疫情結(jié)束再回來一起做咖啡，但西納拒絕了。

2月4日，伊朗專機(jī)降落在武漢天河機(jī)場(chǎng)，大使館再次邀請(qǐng)西納離開，但他沒回消息，他想和伙伴們一起為白衣天使沖咖啡。

“讓前線醫(yī)護(hù)人員喝上熱的、專業(yè)的咖啡”

Wuhan has reported 35,991 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, over half of the country’s total. More than 90,000 medics, including about 20,000 mobilized from across the country, are diligently working in the city to battle with the contagious respiratory disease.

Coffees packed up and to be delivered to nearby hospitals (Photo courtesy of the interviewee) 預(yù)備往附近醫(yī)院贈(zèng)送咖啡（受訪者供圖）

Apart from the tight supply of protective gear like masks, many medical workers had to be isolated from their families, taking turns to rest in offices, hotel rooms or rented condos.

Tian issued a call to the shop’s 21 employees to resume their coffee supply. To her surprise, all six baristas who had stayed in Wuhan agreed to her proposal, including one Iranian national Sina Karami, who later turned down an offer to return to his home country on a chartered flight.

Another barista Xiao Hao, a Wuhan local who was then on a holiday in Sichuan Province, returned despite his family’s opposition. Due to the cancellation of flights and trains to Wuhan, he managed to board a train to a nearby city and asked his family to drive him home.

On January 26, the third day after the seal-off, business quietly resumed at the cafe.

A typical day at the cafe starts with thorough disinfection. With protective masks and gloves, the baristas sprayed each other with medical alcohol and then disinfected equipment with foodgrade sanitizer.

Extra efforts are also made in brewing. To prevent cooling during transportation, they perform milk foaming at 80 degrees centigrade, higher than the ideal temperature of 60. They also stick to Ristretto extraction, which gives coffee a better fragrance and taste but consumes more coffee beans.

After the cafe’s story caught online attention, donations of coffee beans, milk and masks flowed in from their suppliers and public-spirited netizens. Many donated money through take-out apps, which Tian said would be used for setting a “Latte fund” for medics after the epidemic.

“In this special time, it’s our mission to give the frontline medics some hot, professionallymade coffee,” Tian said.

On every paper cup, they write words like “Wuhan, be strong!” and “Thank you!”

As the novel coronavirus is mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets, people are required to wear masks and keep certain distance with others. To avoid unnecessary risks, the coffee delivery is usually brief, with no conversation.

“The hospital’s volunteers stood in the distance and came to fetch the coffee only when we unloaded the coffee from the car and retreated two meters away,” Tian recalled. “We never said a word.” But one day after delivery, two doctors and three volunteers made a deep bow toward them.

In a rare exchange of greeting and gratitude under all the protective gear, the baristas bowed back.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Staff of Wakanda Cafe and their coffees to be delivered to medics for free (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)咖啡廳員工在預(yù)備送出的咖啡前合影留念（受訪者供圖）

為了滿足更多醫(yī)護(hù)人員的需要，咖啡師們決定分為兩班：上午4 人，出300 杯，12 點(diǎn)前送到湖北省中醫(yī)院；下午3 人，出200 杯，5 點(diǎn)前送到湖北省中醫(yī)院花園山院區(qū)。平均每一分半鐘，就要出品3杯咖啡。

平時(shí)打奶的溫度是60攝氏度，但擔(dān)心運(yùn)送過程中咖啡變冷，他們將溫度調(diào)整為80 攝氏度。

即便是非常時(shí)期，即便要追求效率，即便是免費(fèi)供應(yīng)，也不能損失口感。“讓前線醫(yī)護(hù)人員喝到一杯熱的、專業(yè)的咖啡，是我們的目標(biāo)?！碧飦喺湔f。

在每一個(gè)咖啡杯上，咖啡師們都親手寫下了祝福：“武漢加油”“向您致敬”“有您真好”……

有醫(yī)護(hù)人員在點(diǎn)評(píng)網(wǎng)站上寫到：“封城”后，所有外賣都拒絕醫(yī)院訂單，是你們挺身而出，堅(jiān)持無償給我們送咖啡，而且每一杯都手寫了祝福語，給我們帶來超級(jí)多感動(dòng)。

1月26日至2月14日，他們累計(jì)為一線醫(yī)護(hù)人員免費(fèi)提供了7850 杯咖啡。

“有一分熱，發(fā)一分光，螢火匯聚成星河”

前兩次送咖啡時(shí)，“全副武裝”的醫(yī)院志愿者都遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)站著，等咖啡師們把咖啡從車上放下，退到兩米開外后，他們才走近把咖啡放到小推車上。

“隔著護(hù)目鏡，我們彼此致意，但不發(fā)一言?！碧飦喺浠貞浾f。

1月27日上午，咖啡師們第三次給醫(yī)院送咖啡。

“這一次來的有兩位醫(yī)生和三名志愿者。完成約定流程后，他們突然齊刷刷地向我們鞠躬，那一刻我瞬間淚目?！碧飦喺湔f。