Capital Caff: Spring Musings With a Cookie Cup of Latte
Don't talk to me until I've read Capital Caff: Your guide to the latest in coffee happenings around Beijing.
Raise your hand if you feel chastised by Beijing winters! Granted I’m a sweet daughter of the Mediterranean, but I swear winter here does a number on me. Every year I think it will be a mild winter; every year I’m proven horrifically wrong. My skin turns into sandpaper, my hands go numb and, quite honestly, my noggin’ shrivels. I love Beijing, but boy do I despise winter.
You best believe I made the most of balmier temperatures this weekend by doing what I know how to do best: bringing you all the latest café trends in town. It’s a win-win situation where you stay tuned about cool stuff and I revive under the sun. Come with me, dear reader, we’re going to stroll the winter blues away.
You say trend, I say cookie cup latte. Yes, you read that right. It’s hard to keep up with Beijing’s constant drinkapalooza, but the latest thing is this menu item that straddles the beverage and dessert realms. Someone got creative out there and poured the quintessential fuel of humankind into a…cookie cup. A baked dough vessel, if you will. A 曲奇咖啡杯 qū qí kāfēi bēi (aka cookie cup coffee), if you want to browse selling points in Dianping.
For both research and itinerary purposes, I’m going to focus on two venues offering this treat: He Kitchen & Co. and That's Coffee.
When it comes to cookie cup lattes, He Kitchen & Co. has three flavors of choice: black sesame, butter, and red velvet. I happen to love all things red velvet, so that’s what I ordered.
Not to be a killjoy, but the He Kitchen & Co. red velvet cookie cup latte is…just okay. I never thought I’d say this, but size matters, and this cup isn’t particularly big. The latte was decent, albeit not the ultimate brew, and the cookie itself, although nicely coated in chocolate, was nothing to write home about. But you probably imagined this already, and it still makes for a fun pairing.
Also, He Kitchen & Co. is quite the cool place to sit and people-watch. I do wonder whether the black sesame cookie cup would interact in more unique ways with the flavors of the coffee. Maybe another time!
Time for the second contestant! Really, That’s Coffee took the golden cookie cup home. Priced significantly cheaper than He Kitchen & Co.’s at RMB 35 a (bigger!) pop, if only single-flavored, this was the decadence I was looking for. The coffee was served hotter, with a more intense and fragrant flavor.
The cookie cup felt way more solid and moreish, and yes —it also came coated in chocolate. My one tip is to avoid the plastic cup if you get it to-go as I did. The cookie cup seemed to hold the beverage just fine, so no spills.
Now, do you really want to know the best part of my cookie cup latte quest? The promenade.
I don’t know about you, but this glorious Sunday I was coatless outside for the first time. It felt nothing short of restorative. A couple of lovebirds were getting their wedding pics by the walls of Lama Temple, whose beautiful golden roofs acted as a foil to the pastel palette of the sky.
Wudaoying Hutong teemed with passers-by and eye-catching details —a stall of traditional trinkets, the first few rooftops opening, the leaves swaying with the breeze. At the junction of Lama Temple Street with Fangjia Hutong, middle-aged men indulged in a game of mahjong. Lazy cats dozed in trendy bookstores. Sunset fell on Beijing ever so gently, as if to ease us all into a new week.
Take this as your reminder to enjoy the incipient season. Spring may not be a miraculous spell, but it may just help raise your spirit and bring you some joy. If recent years have taught us a lesson worth keeping, it is that joy is precious. Don’t waste a (cookie) crumb of it.
READ: Capital Caff: Enjoy a Cup of Vintage Charm at Old World Coffee
Images: Ana Padilla Fornieles
