2025 Trip to Beijing: Coffee

A strong brew would've fixed my jetlag-induced doldrum but it was hard to find

once I landed in PEK. The dark liquid United Airlines served mid-air in 4oz paper

cups seemed to pack more caffeine than anything in the shops. The Coffetel I

stayed at made no fresh coffee. A Starbucks store here was still good for sitting

down to have a chat or a couple of hours of reading but its stiff pricing turned

the penny-pinching masses away. As a result, they cut drip coffee to save cost, I

was told by the friendly young lady serving my grande, and the watered-down

esspresso shots, aka the Americano, simply could not hit the spot like a Pike

Place Roast.

 

I didn't get lucky at Luckin, one of Starbucks's Chinese rivals. The latte tasted

like over-sugared pastuerized milk spiced with a dash of instant for flavor. A

store typically had a couple of small high-top bar tables and backless stools

lined up by the wall opposite to the counter with barely space inbetween for

people to file through. Most customers ordered and paid online and came in only

to grab their cheap drinks and go. Chatting felt out of place with the young

baristas behind the wide counter resembling earlier assembly-line workers. In

short, a bee hive leaving no chance to music or mental repose.

 

Two weeks later, I took off for SFO clinging to hope, however, after spotting late

in my trip Tim Horton's and Peet's Coffee in WangJing, a high-tech hub between the

city and PEK, and with a prayer: "Lord, we have sinned, but please save us from

the sissy cloy efficient dairy swill and bring back the good old addicting bitter

nectar, even at 30RMB a pop."