cafe | Sugared & Spiced

2016/11/062018/07/12

[Tokyo 東京] Onibus Coffee

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Onibus Coffee

Add: 2-14-1 Kamimeguro, Meguro, Tokyo / 東京都目黒区上目黒 2-14-1
Tel: +81-3-6412-8683
Hours: 9am-6pm
Website: www.onibuscoffee.com
Price: coffee around 500 yen
Visited: Oct 2016

This time in Tokyo, I visited Nakameguro for the first time. This neighborhood might seem a bit too quiet for those looking for the typical hustle and bustle of Tokyo, but if you, like I, enjoy wandering along small alleyways to discover the everyday life of the locals, you might really like this residential area.

這次來東京，第一次去了中目黑。喜歡熱鬧氣氛，想要盡情購物的人也許會覺得中目黑有些平淡，但如果你和我一樣是喜歡在安靜小巷中逛逛，感受東京當地生活氣氛的話，應該會很喜歡這邊。

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And my reason for visiting Nakameguro was Onibus, a coffee shop and roaster sandwiched between a small park and train tracks. Its founder Sakao Atsushi, an architect-turned-barista, has been attracting coffee lovers from all over the world since he opened his first shop in Okusawa a few years ago, and he named the shop “Onibus” (which means public bus in Portuguese) for exactly this reason – to connect people via coffee.

會來到中目黑，是爲了 Onibus 這家咖啡店。老板坂尾篤史不僅在東京咖啡界是個名人，也紅到了國外－我到訪的當天就有從世界各地來喝咖啡的人，包括幾個從加州來的咖啡師。店名 Onibus 在葡萄牙語中是公車的意思，代表著坂尾先生想通過咖啡將人和人聯系起來的概念。

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The shop offers espresso-based coffee brewed on a La Marzocco Linea PB, as well as drip coffee done with Hario V60s. For drip coffee, four choices of coffee beans are available: Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, and Guatemala. I went with the first.

店裡提供義式咖啡和手沖，義式用 La Marzocco Linea PB 做，手沖則是用Hario V60s。我點了手沖，在下面四種豆子中選了 Ethiopia。

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2016/10/122019/06/29

[Beijing 北京] Fnji Furniture 梵几客廳

beijing

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Fnji Furniture 梵几客廳

Add: No. 41 Guozijian Street, Beijing
Tel: 010-5367 2899
Hours: 11am-5:30pm (closed on Mon)
Website: www.fnji.com
Price: drinks 40 RMB+, desserts 35 RMB+
Visited: Sep 2016

Bejing-based Fnji (pronoused “Fanji”) is a furniture brand founded by Chinese industrial designer Gu Qigao in 2000. His pieces, all handmade from wood, make use of the Chinese mortise and tenon joint structure, with designs that bridge between modern and traditional aesthetics. His aspiration? To make furnitures that “age alongside its owners, gaining more character over time as it is passed from one generation to the next”. I visited his showroom in Guozijian and fell head over heels for this beautiful space – it also doesn’t hurt that they have an stylish cafe and a serene courtyard nestled in the back…

梵幾是中國設計師古奇高創立的獨立家具品牌。他們在北京國子監的 “客廳” 融合了中國傳統院落與現代風格，空間分成了雜貨、家具和咖啡三個區域，每一區都是大寫的美。

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The boutique showcases designs from both China and Japan, as well as works from Gu himself. The style is simple, stylish, decidedly Asian but with a modern western vibe. No photos are allowed in the showroom so you can either visit yourself and check out their designs online. For now, let’s move over to the cafe. It was very busy when I visited on a Sunday afternoon, and I was fortunate to find the last empty seats in the courtyard.

展廳裡擺放了品牌兩種風格的家具－極簡主義，以及線條更爲豐富的新中式風格－還有自創的 “生野安室” 雜貨品牌。不過展廳內不能拍照，那就來看看咖啡區吧。我在周日下午人最多的時候造訪，室內座位已全部客滿，還好很幸運的坐到了庭院裡唯一還空著的位子。

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2016/10/112019/06/29

[Beijing 北京] Metal Hands

beijing

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Metal Hands

Add: No. 61 Wudaoying Hutong, Beijing
Tel: 15510533895
Hours: 9am-9pm
Price: coffee 26 RMB+
Visited: Sep 2016

Another cafe worth recommending in Beijing is Metal Hands. Just opened this July, this little coffee shop is settled in the busy Wudaoying Hutong, not far from Barista Coffee Roasters. Mr. Ding, the owner of the cafe, has apparently been in the China coffee scene for over 10 years, and is one of the first to dedicate his time to latte art (though he wasn’t in the shop on the day of my visit).

Metal Hands位于五道營，今年7月才開幕。聽說這裏的丁老板在咖啡圈已十幾年，是國內比較早開始玩拿鐵拉花的前輩，而且還是個格外低調的帥哥（不過我沒遇上本人）。

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Metal Hands is not big. The elongated space includes a bar on the right, some seats on the left, and an inner corner with skylight. Concrete walls, wooden furniture, and fresh flowers for decoration. It’s not spacious by any means, but quite comfortable nonetheless.

Metal Hands 的店面不大，狹長的空間右邊是咖啡吧台，左邊是一排靠牆的位子，最裡面有頂著天窗、陽光充足的雙人卡座。乾淨的水泥牆、木色調桌椅、還有點綴的鮮花－絕對說不上寬敞，卻倒也舒適。

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2016/10/102019/06/29

[Beijing 北京] Voyage Coffee

beijing

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Voyage Coffee

Add: 80 Beiluoguxiang, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Tel: 18611322067
Hours: 9am-9pm
Price: coffee 24+ RMB
Visited: Sep 2016

Voyage Coffee is a little dream. Tucked away in the alley of Beiluoguxiang, this small coffee shop had everything I was looking for on a quiet Sunday morning – the smell of freshly grounded coffee, excellent latte, delicious tiramisu, friendly staff, and Mozart’s piano music in the air.

Voyage Coffee 這間咖啡館原本是在798藝術區裏的一個工作室，位于北鑼鼓巷內的店似乎是今年才開的，我在早晨造訪時，空氣裡除了有現磨咖啡豆的迷人香味，還有莫扎特鋼琴曲優美的旋律，令人瞬間心情明亮。

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The cafe was renovated from an old building. The original wood structure and red brick walls have been kept, and a giant skylight has been installed to allow in plenty of light. At the center is a bar dedicated to pour overs, allowing guests who are interested to sit there and converse with baristas.

設計上保留了老建築的紅磚和木梁結構，大片的天窗讓空間裡陽光充足。Voyage Coffee 堅持自家烘培，在店裏也有個手沖咖啡吧，方便客人與咖啡師交流。

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2016/09/252019/06/29

[Hong Kong 香港] The Cupping Room

hong kong

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The Cupping Room (Wanchai)

Add: 32 Shantou Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2371 2338
Hours: [weekdays] 8am-5pm [weekends] 9am-6pm
Price: 30-60 HKD/coffee
Visited: Aug 2016

We happened to pass by The Cupping Room after leaving Omotesando Koffee, and decided to try a cup from this famed cafe as well. Kapo the owner has been winning awards at Hong Kong Barista Championships for 3 years in a row, and has also represented Hong Kong at the World Barista Championships, winning #2 in 2014. His first cafe is in Sheungwan, though apparently he spends more of his time at this Wanchai location.

離開 Omotesando Koffee 後正好路過大名鼎鼎的The Cupping Room，決定再來一杯。老板Kapo曾連續三年在香港咖啡師大賽獲獎，並且于2014年代表香港參加 “世界咖啡大師賽” 獲得第二名，是香港咖啡界的名人。他的首家店開在上環，不過據說他本人經常在灣仔店站台，雖然我到訪的這天沒有看到他。

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Cute tiles.

小花地磚好可愛。

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2016/09/162019/06/29

[Hong Kong 香港] Elephant Grounds

hong kong

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Elephant Grounds (Wanchai)

Add: 8 Wing Fung St. Wan Chai
Tel: +852 2778 2700
Hours: 8am-10pm
Website: www.elephantgrounds.com
Price: [coffee] 30-68 HKD
Visited: Aug 2016

Occupying this much coveted corner location on Wing Fung Street is Elephant Grounds, a coffee roaster local to Hong Kong. The open store front and warm wooden tones are immediately welcoming, and the interior is equally pleasant with handcrafted furniture by Start from Zero and a custom-made moss wall installation by local plant artist Quest Terrarium. Coffee, anyone?

某天在上環 gough street 逛街時，發現了藏在買手店 Woaw Store 背後 Elephant Grounds。同行的朋友告訴我這家咖啡很不錯，而且冰淇淋三明治非常有名。當天沒時間坐下來，不過幾天後又在灣仔遇見了它。

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There is even a bowl of water for pets at the front, how thoughtful.

灣仔的分店比上環的大了許多，位于星街附近一個熱鬧的街角。開放的門面和溫暖的木頭色都非常吸引人，門口還放了給狗狗們的喝水碗。

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2016/09/162019/06/29

[Hong Kong 香港] Omotesando Koffee

hong kong

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Omotesando Koffee

Add: 24-25,G/F.,Lee Tung St ,Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2601 3323
Hours: [weekday] 8am-8pm [weekend] 9am-9pm
Website: www.ooo-koffee.com/hongkong.html
Price: [coffee] 40~60 HKD [sweets] 18+ HKD
Visited: Aug 2016

Omotesando Koffee started out as a pop-up shop in Tokyo’s Omotesando district, situated in a tiny, traditional Japanese home. It became famed for its espressos and cube-shaped designs – logo, work station, and even pastries are cube-shaped – that it eventually stayed for 5 years, until the building became too old to sustain the shop. Cafe owner Eiichi Kunimoto then moved it to Toranomon Koffee in Tokyo’s Toranomon Hills, before he expanded to a second Omotesando Koffee in Hong Kong.

香港的第一杯咖啡，在Omotesando Koffee。這家咖啡館的本店設立于東京表參道，據說本來只是家快閃店，沒想到大受歡迎，一開就是5年。本店因爲建築老舊的原因歇業後，主理人國友榮一開了姐妹店 Toranomon Koffee，以及香港灣仔的這家分店。

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The charming surroundings of an old Japanese residential building cannot be replicated in Hong Kong’s Lee Tung Avenue, but just about everything else has been carried over, including Omotesando Koffee’s signature cube design as you can see below.

Omotesando Koffee最明顯的特點就是 “盒子” 主題的設計，從標志、店裝、到甜點，全部都是方塊狀。國友榮一的解釋是：“日本傳統茶道中，泡茶及品嚐的過程都會在一個簡潔場所進行，衝咖啡亦如是，Omotesando Koffee 所提倡的「盒子」概念令我們專注於咖啡。”

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Beans are sourced from the same roaster in Tokyo, and Japanese staff members have been stationed in Hong Kong to ensure the same quality of coffee is served. Omotesando features two house blends, one is a mix of Ethiopian, Brazilian and Indonesian beans with a balanced flavor, and the second is a fruitier blend of Guatemalan and Panama beans.

Omotesando Koffee一部份日本店員常駐香港，提供與東京本店一致的味道，選用咖啡豆也是與日本同樣由小川咖啡室烘焙而成。根據店員的說法，這裏主打兩款house blend，第一款選用埃塞俄比亞、巴西以及印尼的咖啡豆，味道較平衡；第二款則選用危地馬拉及巴拿馬的咖啡豆，味道較鮮明，果香味比較重。

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2016/08/292018/07/12

[Kyoto] さらさ西陣 Sarasa Nishijin

kyoto

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さらさ西陣 Sarasa Nishijin

Add: 11-1 Higashi Fujinomori-cho, Murasakino, Kita-ku
Tel: 075-432-5075
Hours: 12-11pm (closed on the last Wed of the month)
Price: 1,000-2,000 yen/person
Visited: Aug 2016

It was way too hot to walk around outside after our lunch at Kanei, so we decided to delay our visit to Daitokuji Temple and went into the cafe next door to cool down a bit more. I later found out that this cafe named Sarasa has 6 locations across Kyoto, and this particular one we went to in Nishijin is famous for its location inside an 80+ years old public bathhouse.

吃完蕎麥麵後下午兩點多，實在熱的讓人無法在外面走動，決定鑽入隔壁一家看起來很有趣的咖啡店避暑（咦？說好的大德寺呢？）。後來才發現這個 “さらさSarasa” 似乎小有名氣，在京都有六家分店，而我們去的這家西陣店是由一棟80多年曆時的錢湯（公共澡堂）改造而成。

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The logo, designed to resemble steam coming up from a hot spring.

門牌的字體也特意設計成像溫泉裏冒出來的煙。

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Walls of the public bathhouse have been preserved, the patterned tiles rendering the space a little bit dizzying. Even the hair and make-up of the cafe staff is matching with the whole eclectic vibe.

澡堂的牆被完整的保留了下來，整個空間的色彩缤紛無比，連店員的發型和妝容都相當匹配。

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2016/08/262019/06/29

[Kyoto 京都] % Arabica

kyoto

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% Arabica Kyoto

Add: (Higashiyama) 87-5 Hoshinocho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
(Arashiyama)3-47 Sagatenryuji Susukinobanacho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
Hours: 8am-6pm
Price: 350 yen+/coffee
Website: www.arabica.coffee
Visited on: Aug 2016

In September 2014, a coffee shop named “% Arabica” opened right near the beautiful Yasaka Pagoda in Kyoto, inside an old Japanese house of over 50 years old. The facade is low-key, but the stylish vibe oozing out from large window panes immediately attracts the passerby.

2014年9月，在古色古香的京都八坂塔旁一棟50多年的日式房子裏，開了一家名叫 “% Arabica” 的咖啡館。外觀低調，然而透過大片玻璃窗滲透出來讓人無法忽視的時髦感，輕而易舉地將路人都吸引了過去。

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The entrance of the shop is a concrete replicate of the cobblestone pattern of Yasaka Street, which makes it seem like the outside pavement continues right into the shop, creating an illusion of a side street off the alleyway.

我在京都住的地方正好在離% Arabica步行五分鍾之處，趁一大早還沒什麽人，找了過去。門口玻璃的通透感，以及店內延用與街道上相似的地磚，都讓人有種鑽入小巷子的錯覺。

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The space is elongated, with a bar on the left, coffee bean storage on the right, and a roasting area deep inside. The transparent cellar displays coffee beans meticulously selected from all over the world, and conveniently, by installing the storage required to maintain temperature and humidity for the best quality coffee beans, it was also provided the necessary support for this old house. A perfect combination of the old and new.

入門後的狹長空間左邊是吧台，右邊是咖啡豆儲存櫃，最裡頭還有烘豆室。透明的咖啡儲存櫃的展示著從世界各地精選而來的豆子，而且很實用的是，在搭建這個嶄新儲存櫃的同時，也給原本木制老房子添了必要的結構支持，是完美的新舊結合。

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This Slayer espresso machine, customized especially for % Arabica, is just too beautiful. I want to learn how to make coffee just so I can use this machine. Tell me you don’t feel the same.

% Arabica這台特別定制的Slayer咖啡機，實在太太太帥了。好想爲了它學會如何煮咖啡（誤）。

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2016/05/192019/06/29

[Shanghai 上海] Cafe 385

shanghai

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Cafe 385

Add: Huashan Road (please contact below wechat for details)
Wechat: andrew_wu_china
Hours: reservation only
Price: hand drip coffee 50-65 RMB
Visited: May 2016

The other day at Moon Coffee I casually asked their barista A-Tang where he goes for coffee in Shanghai. After some thoughts, he told me about this “coffee bar inside an apartment building”, and without quite explaining what it is, he gave me the barista contact. Always curious about these hidden places, I made a reservation right away for a visit.

之前在月球和阿堂閒聊時，隨口問了身爲咖啡師的他平時會去哪裏喝咖啡。慢條斯理地想了想後，他告訴我有一家 “公寓裏的咖啡館”，具體是個什麽樣的地方他也沒說清楚，總之把店主的聯系方式給了我。這種隱藏起來的地方我最有興趣了，約好時間，就這麽去了。

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The space is located on the 2nd floor of an apartment building on Huashan Road, and only upon entering did I find out its name – “Cafe 385”. It’s a charming place with soft natural light, antique-looking furniture, and chairs that fit just right.

這個空間位于華山路上一間老公寓的二樓，直到進門後我才知道它叫做 Cafe 385。起居室裏陽光柔和、空氣安靜、家具擺飾看起來熟悉、椅子也正好合身。咖啡吧後面站的就是這裏的主人 Andrew，大家都叫他小安。

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Behind the coffee bar is Andrew from Taiwan, who is still very fresh to Shanghai. Before this coffee venture, he was working in Sony Taiwan doing photography tutorials and sales training for DSLRs. As for coffee, he started drinking it at the age of 17, and since then has met quite a few coffee experts and afficionados. He came to China for the first time last March to attend a coffee expo, fell in love with the Former French Concession area, and decided to stay for a while.

小安，30來歲的台灣人，做咖啡師之前其實是個攝影師，在台灣 Sony 工作了好一段時間，主要負責單眼相機和一些其他産品的銷售訓練和攝影教學。十七歲開始喝咖啡以來陸陸續續地結識不少咖啡人與咖啡愛好者，去年三月來上海參加咖啡展會時愛上了舊法租界，決定在這裏待上一陣子。

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