Boycott 85°C?

Not sure if serious or not, 哈哈. I’m more of a Nodudes kinda guy, but Dodudes might fit others’ tastes :grinning:

Hasn’t everybody?

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All they did was acknowledge the 92 Consensus.

IT seems like independence advocates are pissed at China but not the coffee shop.

Personally, I find that when the water’s that hot, the coffee turns out too bitter.

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The trouble with leaving politics alone is politics won’t leave you alone. Trying to be apolitical is like trying to be centrist. It just isn’t a sustainable position.

The Greeks had a word for someone who refused to get involved in political discussions.

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To be fair, most 85C in Taiwan are full of chain-smoking blue truck types, hobos, and really loud amas, and situated in that type of area to boot.

Still surprises me that it’s all the rage in the US.

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I wasn’t suggesting CEOs should be apolitical. I was suggesting they remind world leaders and their serfs that business is not inherently political. That coffee shops, grocers, and DIY stores are not the source of the country’s problems (although they might go some way to alleviating them). That unless a business really is having an adverse social impact, they should be left alone. A business that worries about politics is taking its eye off the ball - its products.

The problem is twofold:

1 - China think they’re all that because, for 40 years, business leaders have been bowing and scraping, and not one of them has told them yeah, we’re not really interested in the aggravation; if you want what we make, you figure it out yourselves.

Of course doing that means they lose the business. But in the long run it doesn’t really matter. There are any number of very successful businesses that have either been kicked out of China or haven’t attempted to expand there (Google and Facebook spring to mind). The Chinese market, large as it is, is not that important in real terms, at least not within the borders of China. Because trade is international, China will still come to you if they want your stuff badly enough.

2 - Ignorant, entitled people are dangerous, and a lot of Chinese people are very ignorant and very entitled. As are lots of Europeans and Americans, for that matter, but at least we recognise the danger and there’s a certain amount of pushback. There is none in China. They need to be offended now and then, for the same reason that over-sensitive university students need to be offended.

Yeah, I know; dead. Things haven’t changed much, but unfortunately if you stick your head above the parapet by running a large company, you’re inevitably getting involved.

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I suppose you can understand their interest in the Chinese market then.

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In the big cities, they seem to have cornered the “Asian tourists and students who like to have nasty Asian pastries with their coffee” market.

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They don’t need reminding, they already know. They don’t care.

But they will make you care. If it’s not political, they will make it political. The only good news is that smart people can beat them at their own game.

Everything in modern life either is political, or will be. If you want to be left alone by politics, you have to win the political battle decisively. The way out of politicization is through. Straight through to the other side.

The doctrinaire minarchist Libertarians only half understand this. The anarcho-capitalists refuse to accept it. The covfefists embrace this reality and ride it to victory.

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That’s a real word now? :slight_smile:

I don’t think this is quite true though. I suspect there’s more to Trump policy than meets the eye; that whatever he says in public is for public consumption only. There are undoubtedly backchannels to the Chinese government that convey a slightly more modulated message.

I’m watching the trade war with interest. There are industries on both sides which are heavily subsidized and should not be. I’m wondering if Trump’s intent here is to wean American industries (agriculture in particular) off the government teat.

Yeah. Cama and Louisa get my coffee dollars. I like Cama the best, but they don’t have a cool place to have a meeting. I guess that’s why my latte is 65NT instead of 135NT.

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their seating is pretty funny. usually around 1 table with kids chairs. comfy!

It’s like: “hey guys, what he’ll tweet or say today, well, he doesn’t mean that, it’s just for the public (his backers) and to mislead the others”. Smart move!

I found the 85 latte I had last week very bland, even blander than 7 coffee. Don’t like Louisa for some reason. Go to Cama occasionally, but for some reason their brew has more caffeine in it, which clearly messes with my sleeping patterns. Will wake up at around 3 and can’t get back to sleep until 4. Having said that, let’s great a Cama right now. :slight_smile:

Siphon and drip coffee has more caffeine than espresso. French press is probably the highest.

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:ponder:

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It’s what happens to your language functions when the caffeine level gets too low.

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Caffeine level rising as of right now. I meant “grab”.

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It has to do with the roasting.