Despite the Kitsch, Blossom Hill Blooms With Strong Coffee Options
Beijing’s steady march to fancy coffee ubiquity has finally made a stop to the east side of Shuangjing with the newly opened Blossom Hill.
It’s funny that such a specialty café doesn’t already exist on this strip. Although Beijing expats gripe about how saturated the dining and drink scenes in Sanlitun, the CBD, Liangmaqiao and the hutongs are, Shuangjing is no slouch when it comes to interesting F&B options. For proof, one need only try the recently opened Hopson One mall, the slick brands at Space 3, the quirky and creative offerings in the Pingod art compound, or the taste of home favorites on the Tianzhi Jiaozi. It’s at the latter – which has long been an expat draw thanks to foreign flavored spots like Lily’s American Diner, the Brick dive bar, and Grinders – where we happened upon month-old cafe Blossom Hill.
Unlike the more generic, living room vibe of many of the cafes in the Pingod complex, Blossom has a slicker minimalist ambiance, more in keeping with the coffee shops that have sprung up across Chaoyang in the past few years. The same goes for its menu, which has a sturdy array of specialty bean options like Ethiopian Yigacheffe and Kenyan (both RMB 48), along with some unique options that I’d never tried before like Colombian Louise (RMB 62) Colombian Rum flavored (RMB 88) and Cost Rican Baja (RMB 62). This is a major step up from most of the other cutesy but vapid cafes we’ve tried in Shuangjing, especially around Pingod, that don’t have such a strong foreign bean selection.
When it comes to the more standard coffee, double espressos are priced at RMB 28, Americanos are RMB 30, and lattes and flat whites are RMB 35. There are also a few little admirable flourishes to be found, like the option to upgrade to soy milk.
That all amounts to a well priced, well-rounded menu with some unique selling points. One major flaw, however, is the muddled décor on the second floor.
The neon sign, cloud light fixtures, stuffed Muppet toy sitting atop a chartreuse painted shopping cart, and pop art on the walls make for a hilariously kitsch vibe that would be off-putting if it wasn’t so boldly extreme. It's definitely not to our taste, but if you avoid that eyesore and stay downstairs, with a piping hot and deliciously bitter imported brew, or a foamy and affordable latte, then it easy to enjoy what Blossom Hill has to offer.
Blossom Hill
Daily 10am-10pm. Unit 2-19, Bldg 2, Tianzhi Jiaozi, 31 Guangqu Lu (between Lily’s American Diner and Cheers wine shop)
Chaoyang District
朝阳区双井桥东北角广渠路31号院天之骄子2号楼底商2-19
We Ordered a Beer Latte via Starbucks' New Delivery System Because WTFN
Photos courtesy of Blossom Hill, Kyle Mullin
