Since we last wrote about the best places for a cuppa back in 2014, Shanghai has become the city with the third-highest number of Starbucks in the world, and these new shops serve flat whites and cold brews from an interactive barista bar. We should expect more of these fancy cafés, as the Seattle coffee chain is planning to double its current number of stores in China by 2019 – going from zero to 3,000 in 20 years. China’s coffee consumption is expected to raise 18 percent by 2019; it currently sits at an average of four cups per person a year (compared to the four cups a day in the U.S.), but with a population that’s 1.3-odd billion, there’s a lot of room for growth. Luckily, independent cafés are growing just as fast as Starbucks. Here’s a list of five to try in Shanghai.

Avec Toi

Opened by a former employee at Farine (still one of our all-time favorite bakeries and coffee shops, which we mentioned back in 2014), Avec Toi is just a block and a half away from the chef’s old workplace. When Farine’s line is out the door and down the stairs and its patio table overflows, Avec Toi picks up the slack. The coffee is decent, and the bread is good – even if they don’t import every ingredient from France, which is plainly reflected in the price tag. Bonus: There’s a great hidden balcony for sunny working afternoons, and all baked goods are 20 percent off after 6 p.m.

Lanna

Trying out the proudly made-in-China brand for coffee, Lanna is a coffee supplier based in Yunnan. They source, roast and sell their beans from Kunming, the provincial capital, but also opened up a teeny café in Shanghai that sells bagel sandwiches and pumpkin spice lattes (when in season), in addition to the beans for home brewing they send from China’s Wild West.

Egg

Trends collide in the best possible way at Egg. Just try the delicious coconut cold-brew coffee and you’ll see what we mean. A Melbourne-inspired café opened by an American who used to work in advertising, Egg sums up exactly what makes Shanghai such a great city. Owner Camden Hauge serves up all-day breakfast dishes that are completely unique to her café, from a made-just-for-Egg cereal cookie from Strictly Cookies to a fried rice waffle topped with smoky spam and spicy lao gan ma, the Sriracha of China (which is way better than the sum of its parts).

Grains

If Franck Pecol’s domination of Wukang Lu keeps up, they may have to drop “former” off this area of the French Concession. After the success of Farine just two blocks away, you’d expect a second location to open here, but no – it’s going to Xintiandi. Instead, this café focuses on the coffee, but sticks to the template Pecol uses at all of his French-inspired restaurants: high quality with prices to match – one Chemex coffee will run you RMB 45 (~US$7). They also sell artisanal ice cream with fresh whipped cream from a streetfront window. Get a cone and a cortado, and all will be right in the world.

Ming Qian Coffee

Usually referred to as MQ Coffee, this one’s for the coffee nerds out there – just order a mellow Dutch coffee, served in a beaker. They offer classes on cupping and sell plenty of coffee-related gadgets and gizmos, like the AeroPress line, but the obsessively caffeinated head here to see their Slayer Espresso machine. They also have a roasting room on-site, and the MQ Coffee Institute with a training lab for budding baristas.

Published on January 07, 2016

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