We never thought we’d say this, but it’s getting harder to keep Guangzhou’s specialty coffee shops straight. Between Laihui, Pressroom, Apf. Kafe, The Scientist, Wantok, Lock Chuck, Grace Coffee Roasters, Green Room, Nido and now Hay, you can sip caffeinated bean juice from nearly every region in the world that produces the stuff – well, except for maybe China. So far only Starbucks carries a Yunnan blend.
Like its predecessors, Hay’s invested thousands in a smart interior and nifty logo. But cool decor can only sell coffee for so long, and the staff at Hay tell us the founder hopes to expand and “stay open for more than three years,” which means the quality of the coffee – and service – should keep patrons coming back.
Right away, we’re impressed with the baristas. One has an intermediate certification from The Speciality Coffee Association of Europe and another took first place at the 2015 China Barista Championship Guangzhou Division.
Perhaps more importantly, this was the first time we were told “waiting a long time for your coffee doesn’t necessarily mean it will taste better.” In other words, these baristas get that nobody likes to wait too long for a simple flat white (RMB30).
So how’s the coffee? Smooth and sweet – the easiest to drink without milk and sugar that we’ve tried in Guangzhou to date. Part of that has to do with Hay’s choice of beans, which, when ground, release sweet extracts of citrus and pear (Yirgacheffe, RMB36), blackberry and honey (Kenya, RMB36) or ginger flower (90+ Drima Zoda, RMB48).
Another important factor is that Hay roasts its own beans locally instead of importing the finished product, allowing it to modify the flavor as needed.
So if you’re still having trouble differentiating between all of these adorable and increasingly knowledgeable coffee shops, remember Hay as the one with a roomy interior, lightning-fast service and the geisha ‘fantasy bean’ – also known as the ‘golden standard for coffee beans’ – shipped all the way from Panama’s highlands (RMB72/cup).
Price: RMB35
Who’s going: Cantonese artists, aspiring baristas
Good for: Panama geisha coffee, friendly service
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