Cupping Room Roastery, Hong Kong

Coffee is more than simply what’s in your cup.

You know this, of course, even as you walk up the steep incline, the path to the roastery. Some of the best coffee in Sheung Wan, maybe the entire island. Right now you just wish you were fitter and not breathing quite as hard. But the view – the old houses and the green canopy – is worth it.

So is the coffee once you’ve reached the top, where the Cupping Room Roastery awaits you. Founded all the way back in 2011 by Kapo Chiu in sun-bleached Stanley on Hong Kong Island, the specialty coffee chain has several cafés now but this feels like the most serene… and the most earnest, in part due to how seriously they take their Probat UG15 Retro roaster.

And with good reason, for their coffee is quite wonderful and diverse, ever changing according to whatever beans are seasonal. Right now it feels like the season to rest our weary feet and finally ponder what’s in our cup. Sometimes it’s just that simple.

初嚐Cupping Room的豆子其實是在曼谷一家咖啡館裡頭。
記得那是一杯（忘了來自哪裡的）藝妓，
前段新鮮的藍莓香氣，到後來隱約的覆盆子，
無論口感還是味道都讓我大為驚艷，
是今年喝到最好的咖啡之一。
這趟香港之行的咖啡館名單裡，自然少不了這家咖啡。
開業於2011年的Cupping Room至今有好幾家分館，
我們到訪的是他們在上環的Roastery，比起同在上環的分店，
這里要多走幾步路，爬些樓梯，
再經過一塊綠地后，就能看到咖啡館了。
也許是下午茶時分，裡頭的客人不少，
逛完街提了大包小包戰利品正在閒聊的太太們，
筆電上饅頭苦幹的工作人士，還有我們這兩位無所事事遊客，
在這看似擁擠，卻又自在不相擾的環境里，
品嚐著心儀的咖啡，何嘗不是一件樂事？
當然，離開前，也不忘買幾包豆子當手信，
希望收到的朋友在品嘗咖啡時，
和我們一樣有著美的好心情。