Daily life
There are people all over the world who have a passion for coffee and seem to be able to live on it. For many, coffee is not just a daily drink that keeps them awake at night. Some people want something special and seek out cafes with unique personalities and tastes. In Tianjin, it is not just the chain cafes like Starbucks and Costa that have a stranglehold on the market. You can always find new cafes opening and new products being developed on almost a daily basis.
The New Starbucks Reserve
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| AFFAGATO by Starbucks Reserve |
Even the Starbucks that you can't be more familiar with have been demonstrating new moves in Tianjin. You may have noticed the opening of a Starbucks Reserve® in the Joy City Nankai. It is said to have overwhelmed the other two Starbucks Reserve coffee houses in Tianjin in size, coffee selections and collections.
Regarding the coffee types, the nitro cold brew is new to Tianjin this year. Starbucks is not the only coffee house that supplies nitro cold brew coffee but their machine has four taps and is definitely second to none. For the fans who are passionate about the new coffee, the amazing machine with its shining gold coat won't make them queue too long.
In this Starbucks, you can choose many types of brew. What is the most pleasant to the eyes is the siphon brew. The intense reaction of the coffee powder, water and flame in the glass ball is stunning. It is also the only Starbucks in Tianjin that has siphon brewed coffee.
There are four special coffees exclusive to this one, including the Starbucks special ice cream AFFOGATO. Any one of these features makes this Starbucks a must-go place and you can brag about it to all your friends on your social media.
Details:
Add: No.77-78 1F, North Area, Joy City Nankai, Nanmenwai Dajie, Nankai District
南开区南门外大街南开大悦城北区1层77-78
Tel: 022-58100268
Hive 104 Club
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| Latte by Hive 104 Club |
The Wudadao area is always a wonderful place to wander around and feel the history. When you need a break, you can always come across some unique cafes on the way. Hive 104 Club is newly opened in an old villa on Munan Dao and the location was once home to a former mayor of Tianjin. Hive 104 has a very pleasant courtyard and it always looks like a party is just about going to happen. The café is only one of the functions of the Club, which integrates dining, a boutique shop, whisky club, watch shop, haute couture and a hair salon.
Hive 104 café is actually renovated from the garage of the villa and the walls have all been replaced with glasses. It might be the place where you want to hop in immediately when it comes into sight on a chilly day. The café has preserved the retro vibe of the villa with its wooden floor and ceiling. The barista is proud to introduce the cool Slayer coffee machine and it is the only café that uses this machine in the whole of North China. The coffee made by this machine turned out to be smooth and creamy. Regular coffees like Espresso, Americano, Latte, Flat White, Mocha, and etc are always in good supply. They also make pour over coffee using blended beans.
You can have your coffee here in the café or go upstairs to the attic, which is a small book bar and a bit quieter. One of the tricks of the place is the café turns into a bar at night and you can have some really good whisky or some other spirits that will warm and cheer you up. We can also expect some innovative coffee types that will add some alcohol to be available in the near future.
Details:
Add: 104, Munan Dao, Heping District 和平区睦南道104号
Tel: 15611000000
Momo's Café
On the same side of Munan Road, there is a lovely little café that is very likely to be ignored when passing by. It is close to the intersection of Munan Road and Xinhua Road. The whole place is only about 20 square metres and neat and compact. Half of the space is covered in a glass ceiling so there's always plenty of natural light coming in.
Many of the customers that come to the small café are alone and it is very likely that they're the regulars. The owner Hou Bo said, when I checked the coffee menu, that the regulars never order from the menu, they know his secret menu.
That's really tricky because you'll never know what's on the hidden menu until you are a regular. I wanted to order the nitro cold brew coffee on the menu as I heard it is one of Momo's signature brews. Unfortunately, they didn't have it available on that day so he made me a coffee with Tonic. It was freezing cold outside but I was so obsessed with this sparkling icy coffee drink. I guessed it must be from the mysterious hidden menu. So if you're into some intimate atmosphere and innovative coffee, this is the place to go!
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| The combination of espresso and tonic |
Details:
Add: 35 Munan Dao, Heping District 和平区睦南道35号
Tel: 022-23312519
Resonance Coffee
Resonance is a mini café of only 13 square metres and is located at the intersection of Yingkou Dao and Hebei Lu. As the owner Yidan said, she and the co-owner racked their brains for a design that made sure that every inch of the space is wisely used. The two owners were both coffee lovers and used to work in one of the franchise coffee houses. Opening their own café, they designed it to present what they admire most in coffee to the customers.
Though specializing in pour-over coffees, Resonance has also experimented with other various innovative coffees. Yidan has a lot of friends who love coffee or are engaged in the coffee industry and they always visit this little café. Being with them, Yidan has had a lot of inspiration to create unique coffees. One of their major hits for the winter is Daligao Latte. Daligao is a kind of sweet and a local snack that was one of the favorites of every Tianjiner in their childhood. Sugar and yeast is stewed in a pot until the liquid sugar swells. It is ready when it's cooled down. It tastes like caramel and is very crispy.
The sweet is smashed and put at the bottom of the cup. As the last step, the smashed sweet is spread on the surface of the drink as a topping. It is a quite different type of latte as you can see the simmering bubbles generated from the sugar in it and it has the color of caramel.
It tastes sweet at first and then, as the coffee cools down a little bit, it delivers a flavor like a sea salt caramel latte. Yidan said many customers came specifically for this.
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| Daligao topping on the latte |
Details:
Add: 184 Hebei Lu, Heping District (near the crossing with Yinkou Dao)
地址：和平区河北路184号 （与营口道交口）
Tel: 18622586211
