Reflections on Hong Kong - Part 2

A coffee culture to speak of, for shizzle!

Hong Kong's grassroots manoeuvres (described here) do not stop at locally-grown and produced food. Other areas bubbling with possibility include private kitchens (akin to supper clubs in England) and music (Clockenflap yay!).

Yet the most surprising development in the past year has been the rise of the independent artisanal coffee shop.

Please allow me this moment to express the depth of my astonishment: Good coffee in Hong Kong! Good coffee in Hong Kong! Good coffee in Hong Kong!

When my family first moved to Hong Kong from New Zealand in 2006, our largest sacrifice after clean air and owning a backyard was Aotearoa's unbeatable cafe culture. The land of the flat white.

Up until around 2011 – as with much of the world outside the Antipodes bar Italy – Hong Kong had not a clue what a good coffee ought to look and taste like. Coffee was accorded second-class status and no revolt seemed imminent. This proved to be soul destroying for both Mum and I. For better or worse, quality coffee was and remains our sole vice and soul virtue. I would always laugh at Mum's foolhardy hopes at magically running into a quality cup of coffee despite the overwhelming odds. Buoyed by such hope, she would 'risk' (her word) ordering what was written on the menu as a “cappuccino” ('flat white' hadn't yet entered the local lexicon) just because the cafe we were at looked like it knew what it was doing with its expensive Italian espresso machine (“We serve Illy!”). When she duly received her unloved cup of dirt water, sloppily dunked with a condensed cloud of milk the consistency of marshmellow, she would swear “never again”. Until the next time. Thanks to her eternal optimism, she became like a Pavlov's dog that never learned from the shock of another bad coffee. I would shake my head at this sorry state of affairs, spend my energy complaining about it while refusing to perpetuate it with my money. Of course, if I had the nous, guts and cash, I would have gone ahead and opened my own cafe.

However, fast forward to 2013 and we arrive at the Year of the Gourmet Coffee. Thanks again to HK Magazine, I identified nearly two handfuls of cafes - many of them less than a year old - that appeared inspired by the coffee culture I so crave. Their baristas not only know their flat whites from their cappuccinos; a subset of these cafes actually qualify as so-called 'third wave' coffee specialists. 

Where the typical visitor to Hong Kong spends most of his/her time eating their way around the city, Maartens and I spent most of our free time tirelessly hunting down our next caffeine fix (averaging two cafes a day). And where best to start? Why Sheung Wan of course. But unfortunately our initial efforts flagged. A cafe with a name like 'Antipodean' was bound to be shut over Christmas and New Year. Hong Kong's 24/7 work ethic need not apply here! Its closure was disappointing not only because of what its name promised (reinforced by a Maori-inspired motif emblazoned on its street-facing wall). It also advertised coffee supplied by All Press, a New Zealand coffee roaster whose eponymous cafe in London's trendy Shoreditch has become something of a phenomenon. Seriously yummy.

Our next stop – Lof 10 – had also 'gone fishing'. I was dismayed chiefly because the cafe was so hard to find. I had done a day's worth of cardio by climbing several hundred steps from the bottom of (literally) Ladder Street to reach a sleepy terrace with no cafe in sight. It turned out that Lof 10 is actually hidden beneath the terrace under a massive tree growing out of the wall. Can you picture this? You gotta love Hong Kong!

Despite a slow start, we eventually found our favourite haunt for the rest of our stay. Cupping Room, just off Queen's Road Central, is a suitably trendy space with 'factory-like' settings, intended to give off a 'Melbourne' vibe. Giving the cafe an extra special place in our hearts, its star barista (forget his name now) was crowned Champion of Hong Kong baristas two years running and features in the top 30 worldwide. I therefore felt compelled to break my month-long coffee fast, live with the unpleasant side effects of lactose intolerance, and order a mean flat white with full fat milk! (A soya flat white, even by one of the world's top baristas, just wouldn't cut it. And almond milk remains farfetched.) Suffice to say that the experience was so good that visiting the Cupping Room became a daily ritual. And Mum's happy too.

Yet we did not rest on our laurels. Our coffee expedition continued with the trialling of several 'hand drip' single origin coffees. This is really a fancy way of describing what is essentially filter coffee done properly. Our first stop was Common Ground on Shing Wong Street (another hopelessly steep street running up the Mid-Levels). Of all the cafes we visited, I'd say CG has the coolest space. It reminds me of a conservatory with its floor-to-ceiling fenestration opening out onto the cobbled steps of Shing Wong Street. CG also doubles as a retail space and workshop for the proprietors' (twin brothers) lifestyle design product line Protest Design as well as other Hong Kong and Asian fashion accessories.

Several days later, we discovered Hazel and Hershey on Peel Street in Soho. Its facade is somewhat tacky (baby blue?) it nevertheless boasts its very own coffee roaster, as well as the most impressive array of coffee making equipment for sale. It was also interesting to see staff members diligently sorting out the beans. In fact, so distracting were all these bells and whistles, I forget now which single origin cuppa joe I ordered or, indeed, how it went down.

But there was a Favourite in filter coffee finery. That honour goes across the ditch to Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Tiny and located in the labryinth-like back streets off Nathan Road (Kowloon's main artery and permanent neon sign fest), Tamper Coffee speaks absolute volumes with its assortment of smooth and complex blends, courtesy of London's Square Mile coffee roasters.

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While the focus of these cafes is on making coffee sexy, it is reassuring that they also uphold the all-important culture that surrounds the drink. The likes of the Cupping Room, Lof 10 (from what I've read) and Amical Cafe (in the heart of Wan Chai's uber-trendy Star Street Precinct) offer coffee aficionados a whole lifestyle proposition. This amounts to the luxury of lounging about for several hours while nursing a cuppa (or three), lost in a good read or, if need be, work for the mobile generation. The feeling one gets from these places is what you'd expect from a family-run operation, where service is personalised and the staff behind the countertop are truly passionate about their craft. In other words, these businesses are artisanal in nature.

Despite the impressive concentration of new cafes in the city, its artisanal coffee culture is still very much on the periphery. However, if the love is ever spread to the masses, it may be led by Hong Kong's ostensibly slickest enterprise Coffee Academics. At the Wan Chai branch we visited, you get a remarkably spacious setting that edges away from homely almost toward the sort of formulaic American corporate style that I detest. Thankfully, its look is respectfully smartened up in the brand's signature black and gold (cha-ching!). Jazz and the churning of the resident state-of-the-art espresso machine fill the airwaves while patrons are further engaged by a selection of magazines. Finally, just so we know the folks at CA mean serious business, the cafe walls are decked out with images of coffee art (presumably achieved on premises), information about its various coffee beans and other interesting tidbits for coffee geeks and people who missed out on the magazines.

One can easily imagine a successful outfit like Coffee Academics repeated throughout the city if not the entire region (so far it has opened two branches in Hong Kong). Of course there is more to CA than style – or I wouldn't be writing about it. The key differentiating factor setting it apart from Starbucks etc. is the rich coffee smell that greets you when you walk through the door. The proof may be in the coffee, but first impressions count for a lot. How the cafe smells is as much a part of the marketing as is the barista with his/her head down working some of that coffee art. In contrast, as soon as I walk into a Starbucks anywhere, I'm immediately repelled by the smell of burnt coffee and disinfectant.

So despite its corporate slickness, Coffee Academics does not disappoint on substance. It even offers barista training courses – hence its name 'Academics' I suppose. This can't be a bad thing if it means a whole slew of new cafe owners to come. If there's one thing in which excess trumps moderation, it's a decent concentration of quality cafes in one location :-)

The peckish are also spoilt for choice by CA's extensive food menu of 'homemade' savoury and sweet treats. I helped myself to a chocolate flourless cake that tasted just like a fluffy light brownie. Not a shabby choice next to my rich cappuccino, which was made the way it is in Italy! (yes, I've been there.) But supposing you are like me who really ought to lay off the lactose, such exotic tea combinations as 'white tea with coconut' are a pleasant revelation. Mmm!

If there is a lesson buried in the coffee froth it is that when the Chinese get a handle on a foreign product or trend, they will give the pioneers a run for their money. In a city that runs on money, this makes for a sweet irony.

Oh alright then...

No lie. Thank you Cupping Room