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)正在冲调咖啡的伊朗籍咖啡师西纳（乐文婉 摄）

1月25日，武汉迎来“封城”第三天，街道上几乎看不到行人。7 位年轻的咖啡师却悄悄回到店里做起了咖啡。

20 天来，他们所在的武汉Wakanda 轻饮咖啡店每天冲出约500 杯咖啡，并附上亲手写下的祝福，免费送到抗疫一线的医护人员手中。

他们说，准备不计成本，一直要坚持送到疫情结束那一天。

他们说：“这世上可能确实没有超级英雄，不过是有一分热，发一分光，萤火汇聚成星河。”

这是一杯咖啡的坚守，更是一群普通人的赤胆和侠义。

逆行，因为忧心医院里的“咖啡重度消费者”

1月21日，随着春节临近，武汉Wakanda 轻饮咖啡放假歇业，本地咖啡师小豪买了机票去成都旅游。

1月23日，武汉暂时关闭离汉通道、停运公共交通，全市经营性文化娱乐场所暂停营业，这让Wakanda 轻饮咖啡老板田亚珍对一群“顾客”忧心不已。

在距离Wakanda 轻饮咖啡光谷店不足400 米的湖北省中医院，不少医护人员都是每天来买一杯咖啡的常客。

医护人员压力大，有咖啡需求，田亚珍群发消息说，自己要返回光谷店给医院的抗疫医生送咖啡，征集伙伴们参与。出乎意料的是，6名在武汉的咖啡师全部报名，就连小豪也说要马上飞回来。

由于直达武汉的航班被取消，小豪只得先乘高铁到潜江，再跋涉200 公里回到武汉。

武汉“封城”的第三日，7 人准时回到了光谷店，戴上口罩、手套，先把全身喷遍了酒精，再用84 消毒液清理了店铺，最后用食品级消毒剂对设备进行了消杀。

2月2日，团队里的伊朗籍咖啡师西纳接到伊朗驻华大使馆通知，将有专机接伊朗公民回国。尽管伙伴们一致劝他先回到安全的地方，等疫情结束再回来一起做咖啡，但西纳拒绝了。

2月4日，伊朗专机降落在武汉天河机场，大使馆再次邀请西纳离开，但他没回消息，他想和伙伴们一起为白衣天使冲咖啡。

“让前线医护人员喝上热的、专业的咖啡”

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) 预备往附近医院赠送咖啡（受访者供图）

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)咖啡厅员工在预备送出的咖啡前合影留念（受访者供图）

为了满足更多医护人员的需要，咖啡师们决定分为两班：上午4 人，出300 杯，12 点前送到湖北省中医院；下午3 人，出200 杯，5 点前送到湖北省中医院花园山院区。平均每一分半钟，就要出品3杯咖啡。

平时打奶的温度是60摄氏度，但担心运送过程中咖啡变冷，他们将温度调整为80 摄氏度。

即便是非常时期，即便要追求效率，即便是免费供应，也不能损失口感。“让前线医护人员喝到一杯热的、专业的咖啡，是我们的目标。”田亚珍说。

在每一个咖啡杯上，咖啡师们都亲手写下了祝福：“武汉加油”“向您致敬”“有您真好”……

有医护人员在点评网站上写到：“封城”后，所有外卖都拒绝医院订单，是你们挺身而出，坚持无偿给我们送咖啡，而且每一杯都手写了祝福语，给我们带来超级多感动。

1月26日至2月14日，他们累计为一线医护人员免费提供了7850 杯咖啡。

“有一分热，发一分光，萤火汇聚成星河”

前两次送咖啡时，“全副武装”的医院志愿者都远远站着，等咖啡师们把咖啡从车上放下，退到两米开外后，他们才走近把咖啡放到小推车上。

“隔着护目镜，我们彼此致意，但不发一言。”田亚珍回忆说。

1月27日上午，咖啡师们第三次给医院送咖啡。

“这一次来的有两位医生和三名志愿者。完成约定流程后，他们突然齐刷刷地向我们鞠躬，那一刻我瞬间泪目。”田亚珍说。