Studio Caffeine, Hong Kong

Coffee is giving in to temptations.

Nestled between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon is the always bustling Temple Street. There is always something to see here at all times of day and night, and as we exit the MTR Jordan Station, we are tempted by a fruit market here and a cha chaan teng there.

Nothing tempts us more than coffee though. From the outside, the café appears unremarkable; inside the space is swamped by all manner of coffee brewing equipment, including the siphon or vacuum pot not commonly seen at other shops in town.

Studio Caffeine – even its name announces how seriously they take their coffee – clearly has its pedigree; the shop has produced its fair share of award winners, including the 2017 Hong Kong Brewers Cup Champion, Fong Chi Yin. Instead of roasting their own beans, Studio Caffeine sources single origin beans from celebrated roasters from around the world.

You might be offered beans that have been roasted in Helsinki during one visit, and some that hail from San Francisco the next. Zac Chan, our friendly barista, suggested some washed Rwanda beans that have been roasted by Fjord Coffee in Berlin. He tells us we can choose from three brewing methods – pour-over, ice drip or siphon.

We opt for the latter and are rewarded with a brew that is delicate with a tea-like body and fruity notes of plums and black currants. Chan advises us to try pouring our coffee into each of the two cups in turn; the one with the narrower rim, we observe, concentrates the aroma and allows it to linger longer in our mouths.

It’s the taste of great coffee and of another side of Hong Kong we’ve never experienced before.

去年七月時，我們趁著曼谷的一個長週末，
到香港進行了短短四天的訪友之旅。
在這趟行程里，除了美食外，
我們還上網找了口碑不錯幾家咖啡館。
我發現香港的精品咖啡館一般都集中在港島區，
相比之下九龍一帶會少見些，
雖然如此，我們在九龍的還是泡了兩家咖啡館。

第一家就是位於廟街的Studio Caffeine。
從外頭看去，這裡給我的感覺像一家小餐館，
裡頭的裝潢也很簡單，沒有靚麗太花俏的佈置，
墻上的菜單還有不少熱食的選擇，
看到這，心裡不禁想著咖啡的味道會是如何呢？
當咖啡送上來時，除了一壺咖啡，還附上了兩個不同的杯子，
咖啡師專業且親切的為我們講述了杯子的用途，
還有一張小卡片著名咖啡的產地、口感，
聞了聞咖啡的香氣，嚐了一口，
好吧，我承認我以貌咖啡館了，
這裡的咖啡絕對值得一試，
或許下次還可以試試他們的餐點。