2019 Year in Review: The Best New Coffee Shops and Cafés

Getting to the end of a year in Beijing tends to leave you with more questions than answers, and when you're not searching in vain for that long-gone jianbing seller, you're dealing with quiet closures, noisy neighbors, and if you're really lucky, surprise laduzi. One thing's for sure: there's never a dull day in China's capital, and we hope for nothing less from 2020. For now, however, let's take a look back at the year that was 2019.

Last year, delivery chains like Luckin and Coffee Box began to redefine the coffee market in China, but in Beijing, good old fashioned sit-down cafés have proved resilient. In response to the success of local chains like Metal Hands, independent shops and international brands alike have popped up, many of them striving to create surprising concoctions while also carrying specialty brews for the coffee purists. A number of pricy try-hards also popped up in the city's hutongs, as well as plenty that are worth checking out when you need to fuel a study session or when catching up with friends. Here is our pick of the bunch.

Big Small Coffee expands to Qianmen and Dongcheng

Starting off the new year right, coffee and beer purveyor Big Small only waited one month to open yet another shop in Dongcheng after expanding into Qianmen in January. Though the new location was just off of the trendy Beiluogu Xiang, some questioned whether a coffee shop at the bottom of a hutong apartment complex could prove successful. Sure enough, however, the new spot quickly became a neighborhood favorite, charming visitors with a regularly updated art gallery, outdoor seating overlooking the ping pong table, and, in good weather, a farmers market held around back. Big Small isn’t much of a lunching spot, but specialty butters on toasted rolls make for a nice breakfast, and Chaohai Beer hits the spot in the evenings.

M Coffee and Alessia hit 77 Park

It has been a good year caffeine-addicted artists. In April, 77 Culture & Creative Park welcomed M-Coffee into one of its aged brick buildings. The artsy folk in the neighborhood were drawn in by the carefully designed interior and their seasonal options, as well as the rarer coffees like Ugandan espresso. Meanwhile, French bakery Alessia La Boulangerie Française also cornered a tiny spot in the park next door to the George V Art Center, and in addition to the delectable pastries imported from the original bakery, this location offers sweet soufflés with a side of ice cream.

%Arabica brings its Japanese brand to Beijing 

Building off of immense success in Kyoto, %Arabica has now christened 20 outlets in China, with more to come. The coffee brand landed in Beijing with a splash in the Sanlitun’s Taikooli North, selling their brews out of the circular windows of a cute, compact trailer. Later, when the new M Woods Longfusi gallery opened its doors, %Arabica nabbed prime real estate on the gallery's ground foor. A third (non-trailer) shop is expected to open in Sanlitun next year.

Berry Beans tries its hand at wacky flavors

Summer 2019 saw the birth of a local coffee brand that decided to push the edges of creativity, both with their drink and with the interior of their three-floor shop. Berry Beans’ Dongzhimen location has made every effort to be an interesting spot to have a cuppa, and their iced coffees are one of Beijing’s must-tries with flavors like honey and watermelon. In the fall, they opened up another spot in the Sanlitun hole in the wall that was once Chunli Coffee, where they sell their cold brews to go in little, reusable glass bottles.

Cabo Coffee wakes up Bar Street with coffee and a side of flowers

Helping up-all-night partiers to sober up, Cabo Coffee opened its doors on Sanlitun bar street, sharing a space with a flower shop. The result is a small but beautifully decorated and fragrant café with mid-priced drinks – RMB 30 will buy you a Vietnamese coffee, and tack on an extra RMB 5 for coconut coffee or a dirty chai latte.

Duo Whiskey and Coffee wows with bizarre and beautiful design

Down in the CBD, this beautifully surreal shop/café/whiskey bar opened up this summer. By day, the books decorate the coffee bar, but by night, a secret door opens up to a stylish whiskey bar. No matter which kind of brown stuff you go for, this may be one of the most unique openings of the year.

Elephant Grounds brings healthy and not-so-healthy options to the table

Another café brought exciting breakfast options to Sanlitun’s Takooli. Elephant Grounds’ nature aesthetic goes nicely with their healthy berry and oat bowls, or opt for something a little heartier with their American grilled cheese sandwiches. More dairy is available at the shop’s ice cream bar. In terms of coffee, boundaries are not pressed at Elephant Grounds, but all of the most common options are on the menu, including a nitro brew and pour-over coffees.

Café Duet sneaks a cheeky shot into your coffee

On Chunxiu Lu, a quiet shop opened its doors this fall with an impressive autumnal menu that tempts customers to try a little booze with their coffee. However, Café Duet is generally not a place for getting drunk. The drinks are only slightly spiked and its quiet atmosphere is more conducive to relaxed work or study over back-slapping camaraderie. A winter menu has since replaced the pumpkin and osmanthus flowers, and now customers can try concoctions like the yuzu spirits with Japanese whiskey, Ethiopian drip coffee, and a bit of guava.

The Bake Shop tops off The Orchid

Settling into a brick-and-mortar location on the rooftop of the building connected to the Orchid Hotel, The Bake Shop has started selling more than just their famous bread and bagels. Their drinks are not the cheapest in town, but choices like the whipped tonic espresso sparkling pomelo cold brew are intriguing enough to draw customers up the spiral staircase and into their train car-like room. Hungry? The sandwiches and avocado toast are made with the aforementioned famed bread, and breakfast strata cake will fill you right up as well.

READ: 2019 Year in Review: The Best Chinese Albums of the Year

Images: Joey Knotts, Kyle Mulling, Tautvile Daugelaite