Henry,
Thanks for those! I spend a lot of time in Shanghai and they will come in handy.

OP,
DiBella roasters have opened in Shanghai. Whilst I can vouch for their quality in Australia I haven't been to their Shanghai branch and thus, your report will be the first

http://dibellacoffee.com.au/distribution/di-bella-coffee-china.html

Epic76

I know of two other good roasters in mainland China - Arabica Roasters in Beijing and Yomo Coffee in Shanghai.

Regards, Henry

Henry and all,

Any updates to your suggestions on good espresso in China? Any tips you have for Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'An, and Chengdu would be great!

Thanks in advance!

Greetings from Cafe Zarah in Beijing! The cappuccino here was very good, but the espresso was mediocre (but drinkable and better than anything that I had in Vietnam or the south of France).

There's Fish Eye Cafe in the Village at Sanlutun in Beijing. I haven't had anything recently there but they use Ritual's seasonal espresso beans which they get delivered weekly. Over in 798 there's Cafe Flat White. Again, I haven't tried it but they use a local roaster's beans which I do enjoy (Rickshaw Roaster's). I usually just buy beans and enjoy making my own espresso in the morning.

Wow! Thanks for the FishEye cafe suggestion! It was great to have Ritual Coffee this far from the US and to drink a great shot from a non-Marzocco machine (Reneka?). Sanlitun Village was certainly an interesting place to pass through.

Some update of coffee adventures in Taiwan.

Many shops roast with the Feima/Yang Chia machines. Often the cafes are located in small alleys. Often I could not actually "see" a point of interest standing just yards away from it, despite GPS.

The first day I went to Jeanlook Cafe, literally just downstairs from the apartment we were staying at near the Taipei City Hall. The barista weighed the beans on a scale:



Not too far from Jeanlook, another place called Cafe Sole which is located at a decommissioned tobacco factory. Hopefully fewer people smoke therefore the factory had ceased operation. Notice the cup from one of our favorite green bean suppliers?



I now know why the many high end specialty beans are so expensive. To promote a coffee book, the Panama Geisha is used as promotional gift. I tried the coffee as drip....it was actually quite decent, with the typical floral aroma, just not fresh. What a waste!


Tiamo's retail shop:


Typically I would not associate decent espresso at a hotel. But since it was included with the morning breakfast buffet, why not. It was roasted a bit dark, probably in the southern Italian style, but actually not that different from what I remember from Italy many years ago....


Tea cup at a museum. I thought it could be used for cappuccino.


To get to places, we used mostly public transportation. This is Taiwan's high speed rail. I wish we have such a system. Imagine going from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 90 minutes.


Many cafes roast their own. Here is one that roasts with Feima 801N.


As usual, what is coffee without good food? I know it is not healthy to eat deep fried stuff, but this deep fried shrimp roll was really, really good.


And raw fish....

Do you have their addresses, or else links to their websites?

SCAA has opened a Representative Office in Beijing, and barista and roaster training are under way. The interest in coffee in Asia is intense.

Great thread!

I'm off to Asia for a few months soon I think, does anybody have some recommendations for good coffee shops in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Borneo or Cambodia? Too long to be without good coffee!