A quietly ambitious mission to grow coffee in Hong Kong | CNN

A coffee roaster hums like an idling train in the attic of LCC Roastery, churning out freshly cooked beans at the artisan coffee seller on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. Owner Ringo Lam is proud of the broad selection of beans on offer: a jar labeled “Ethiopia” promises a mix of “jasmine, floral, tropical fruit, pineapple” flavors. Another, from Colombia, offers hints of “butter, caramel, dark chocolate.” That jar holds Lam and his fellow coffee lovers’ daring dream to pioneer what many didn’t know was possible: growing coffee in the shadow of a metropolis. The 55-year-old former tech entrepreneur has been working closely with farmers on Lantau –– an island known for its greenery and laidback lifestyle, a 30-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong’s bustling city center –– in a quest to cultivate the city’s very own beans. Asia produces some of the world’s finest coffee, mostly in the southeastern part of the continent where a tropical climate blesses countries like Vietnam and Indonesia with a conducive environment. In East Asia, love for the drink has grown exponentially in the past decade. But less favorable conditions –– namely, annual periods of extrem