Exploring Shanghai’s Cafe Culture: The Future of Coffee?
I spent 4 days drinking coffee in Shanghai and think I’ve seen the future.
I live in a sleepy village in the north of England. We have a monthly village newsletter that a volunteer posts through our door. In the newsletter, when people promote their event (it may be a tea at the village hall for lonely people or possibly a jumble sale at the school) they print their landline phone number with no area code. It is unimaginable that there may be someone who uses a mobile phone here. So when I travel to a big modern city such as Shanghai, it is as if I am being catapulted into the future.
Not only is it a city of the future, but to my Western eyes, it can be bewildering with my lack of Mandarin skills and the presence of alternative technologies to the ones I am used to. Instead of WhatsApp, I must use WeChat, to pay for everything I use AliPay in place of my regular contactless credit card and in place of Google Maps I had to rely on a little-known alternative called Apple Maps.
When I found myself with a few days to explore the city whilst my partner worked, I tried to get a foothold with something I knew. I decided to visit independent coffee shops. Shanghai is a city of over 8,000 coffee shops (possibly the most in the world) and while global chains are omnipresent, the city’s heart beats in its independent cafes. The rising young middle class of Shanghai are moving away from the tea-based traditions of their parents to embrace an espresso culture founded in the West but with a very Chinese slant.
Research is difficult due to a lack of English reviews of Shanghai coffee shops and even the likes of TikTok are pretty short on content. However, I created a small shortlist and possible locations and headed out to follow my nose.
My coffee quest began at Metal Hands, a lovely little shop (there are a couple of locations) with a surly barista and confusing menu. We dived in, I ordered a Piccolo whilst Abbi ordered a Dirty Pistachio Latte.
A quick note on the term ‘dirty’, this is a term that I wasn’t aware of prior to my visit to independent coffee shops in Shanghai but it is a very popular style there. It’s essentially cold milk (or more likely milk alternative) with an espresso poured in. Normally without ice, it’s just a cold coffee. Whilst I was obviously expecting and enjoying lots of iced coffee, this style of dirty coffee was an absolute find.
It didn’t take long for Abbi to remind me that my plan was to dive into the speciality coffee culture in Shanghai and to find the interesting edges that maybe don’t exist in the UK, so my choice of a piccolo was not really part of the mission. The piccolo was great but you can get a great piccolo nearly everywhere. I was sent back to the counter to up my game. So I ordered the most out-there drink I could find and pointed at a Lychee Egg Iced Latte. That’s as much as I knew, would it actually come with an egg? Turns out that it was a very pleasant lychee latte with a fried egg latte art. My mission had lift-off.
On our 2nd day in Shanghai, we took a trip to Disneyland. I was resigned to having nothing to add to my coffee story from a trip to meet Duffy and Friends (Disney Asia’s stars). However, my day was saved by the presence of Manner Coffee in Disney Town.
Manner is a massive chain in Shanghai with local roots and a focus on quality. So, on our brief break from rides, parades and shopping I ordered a Dirty Macadamia and Abbi ordered a Sparkling Citrus Iced Americano. Both of which were a delight, I’m guessing that the dirty macadamia was made with macadamia milk, it convinced me to experiment with the dirty style on my return to the UK. The sparkling citrus was an orange and lemon soda topped with espresso, on a boiling hot day in the Magic Kingdom it was a beautifully refreshing and balanced drink.
Day 3 and it was time for me to venture out on my own as Abbi had a conference to attend. I opened up my list of potential spots and headed straight to Cafe Chez W on Xiangshan Road. The combination of a gorgeous upstairs space (with a balcony) and a friendly barista who spoke excellent English quickly established this as my favourite spot.
I ordered an Iced Apple Cinnamon Latte which actually wasn’t iced at all, rather just made with cold milk. A delightful balance of cinnamon and apple topped with a stunning dried apple garnish gave me the realisation that these coffee shops approach signature drinks in the same way that good bars approach cocktails.
In the UK most flavoured coffees are not much more than milkshakes designed to hide the coffee with sweet syrups. Speciality coffee shops tend to eschew them and focus purely on high-quality espresso or pour-over coffees. In Shanghai, I was finding an approach to signature drinks that were balanced and that complemented rather than overpowered the coffee. The addition of garnishes just made the cocktail comparison even more obvious, coffee replaces the base spirit but the focus was the same, delicious, balanced and beautifully presented drinks.
Leaving Cafe Chez W, I headed to Yong Kang Road to search for Cafe Del Volcan however on arrival the menu didn’t look quite experimental enough for me and I took my chances at Double 6 Cafe over the road as I was enticed in by their grinder and Sanremo machine setup and their cool, understated styling.
I ordered a Buffalo Milk Dirty which despite being dominated by the milk was still a great drink. Another hit.
You can’t go wrong in this area by the looks of it, not only was there Cafe Del Volcan and Double Six but also Bathe and around the corner Aloha. There’s even a hole in the wall next to Double Six where a bear paw will deliver your pre-ordered coffee. The cafe called Hinichijou is apparently run solely by disabled baristas.
For my final caffeine hit of the day I landed at %Arabica, which is another local chain (now with a branch in Covent Garden!). Stunning shop with cool styling (a Chemex light fitting) and hip merch. I ordered an Iced Spanish Latte. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed, it tasted like a standard iced latte. I had assumed it would include condensed milk or similar but no evidence.
My final day of coffee shop hunting got off to a bit of a false start. I made the mistake of relying on Google Maps which hasn’t been updated in years and the cafes I sought were not where Google said they were. Eventually, I landed on DOE which is an achingly stylish clothing shop with a coffee bar out front.
I ordered one of their specials — a Butter Brew. But it turned out to be an error, it had a weird texture as if it had split and was a bit lumpy. Not good. If I’d been on my game I would have taken it back and I’m sure they would have sorted out their mistake but I didn’t and marked it down to experience.
I met up with Abbi for lunch where I had a very standard (i.e. good) Cortado at RAC II. We then headed out for a bit of shopping on our last afternoon in Shanghai. Sheltering from the rain in Hongqiao Plaza on Nanjing Road, we found a branch of M Stand (another local chain). Abbi ventured to have something advertised as a Martini Coffee In The Air (non-alcoholic) which was a collaboration with the watch brand Breitling. If this sounds weird and unnecessary then that’s also what it tasted like. It was difficult to describe and whilst not undrinkable it certainly wasn’t to be recommended.
I, however, was triumphant as I ordered a Tom Yum Sparkling Americano. This was espresso, tonic water and lemongrass. I’ve long been a fan of espresso and tonic and the addition of lemongrass added another dimension to an already great drink. It’s possible that this was my favourite coffee of the whole trip. A great way to finish.
Coffee is booming in Shanghai and whilst there are plenty of big chains to visit there are so many beautiful independent cafes and interesting quality-focused local chains. The focus on interior design meant that every one that I visited quickly became my favourite.
My main takeaway was the care and attention that goes into signature drinks. This could be the future of speciality coffee here in the West. More signature drinks (probably over ice) with an approach similar to cocktails. Whilst we tend to look down our noses at the creations of the chains which drown the coffee in sweet syrups, we could see a similar boom for coffee shops with signature drinks as we have seen in bars with cocktails. High-quality ingredients complement and celebrate the coffee whilst providing an interesting coffee experience for the next generation of coffee drinkers.
Sure, we are going to continue to want flat whites like bars will still serve you a great craft beer or you can find amazing pour-over offerings in the same way that you can visit a wine bar for beautiful wines. Still, I think Shanghai points to coffee having its very own cocktail moment and I’m very excited about it.
