BREWING THE PERFECT CUPA  

Many coffee shop owners would obviously describe themselves as connoisseurs of the drink that millions of people worldwide consider their lifeline; describing Dixon Ip as a coffee connoisseur would be selling him short though.

A HKUST MSc graduate in computer science, Dixon is the co-founder and Chief Coffee Officer of sensory ZERO; one of the most successful independent coffee shops in Hong Kong, they have expanded to six branches at the time of writing. The yang to the yin of Alvin Hui, Dixon brings almost two decades of corporate experience to bear on sensory ZERO's business operations—he was the CIO of GE's Japan & South East Asia regions before he called time on his pre-coffee business career.

"By the end of my stint in Shanghai (as GE China's CIO), I was yearning for a new challenge but the brewing point was one of my business trips to Tokyo spotting an antique coffee maker," Dixon says. Why did he set his new ambitions in coffee? "My dad worked in the Hong Kong film industry and brought home all sorts of fascinating trinkets. One of them was a coffee percolator, which mesmerized me. As a kid, I thought coffee was much too bitter, but watching the percolator and smelling the coffee kickstarted my lifelong love for it," beams Dixon.  

Dixon's interest in how things work, and improving processes is apparent in what he does for sensory ZERO. While assisting Prof. Vincent Y. Shen (the founding head of HKUST Computer Science department) in teaching a Level 4 course of IT Entrepreneurship, Dixon had the privilege to coach more than 250 talented students on start-up strategy. This invaluable experience led to the design and development of many IT applications for the coffee industry via collaboration with graduates from the program. Dixon brings the science to combine with the art from Alvin to launch their foray into the world of café ownership. Looking for a small area to display their concepts, the pair rented part of Lane Crawford’s lifestyle & home store in Wong Chuk Hang. A few years later, they took over the entire floor space, becoming sensory ZERO's first retail coffee shop and their headquarters in Hong Kong

Since then, Dixon's continued ascent takes him well beyond your average café boss. He is an international representative and judge of the World Coffee Events, he supervises national championships for 5-6 countries a year and judges in many world level competitions including the World Barista, Brewing, Coffee Roasting, Coffee in Good Spirits and Latte Art. Dixon is also the only Hong Kong CQI Q Grader instructor & examiner, a global coffee taster certificate program from the Coffee Quality Institute. 

When asked whether sensory ZERO plans on entering the China market, Dixon replies he wants his specialty coffee brand to enter the mainland as a global brand. As such, Dixon plans to expand sensory ZERO to vibrant cities such as Tokyo, London and New York once the COVID-19-imposed traveling restrictions are lifted. 

Coffee connoisseur? More coffee maestro. And that still might be selling Dixon short.