Hong Kong Special Edition
December Issue 2022
The Coffee Archives
The holiday time brings cheerful festivities, hearty dinners, and family gatherings. Although this is all lovely, for many introverts out there it is an overwhelming period of a constant bombardment of interrogating questions, giving explanations for your life choices, and moral life lessons from a distant aunt on why you shouldn’t have got that gap year tattoo. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience…
Sometimes it is necessary to have an escape and find a quiet spot to sip a warm cup of coffee and read a book, even if it is only for a mere five minutes.
Christmas movies enhance the holiday spirit and picture happy families around a perfectly roasted turkey. In my opinion that is not what Christmas is, and in fact shouldn’t be. It wouldn’t be a classic Christmas day without a full-blown argument between aunts, couples, and siblings on how to cook the turkey correctly or who makes the best stuffing. For people looking in, it may seem like a Christmas special of Coronation Street that displays an untimely death, but it wouldn’t be Christmas to me without this. Considering my grandparents quite possibly worked for the secret service; with a new revelation that my grandma got arrested in Greece while my grandfather busted her out, this isn’t as farfetched as it seems and I normally take a front row seat and watch the carnage unfold.
The best part after the crazy Christmas dinner is the calm evening. Everyone huddles around with tea and coffee, and we play board games before snoozing into a carb coma.
The holiday period is all about tradition, and every family does it different which is what makes it special. And this year I am celebrating the holidays in Hong Kong, and I am excited to introduce new traditions, try new food, and importantly try new coffee shops.
Caffeine Hit of the Month
Rather than the usual one shop stop review, I will be sharing which coffee shops I tried in Hong Kong starting with Milani in V City, Tuen Mun. My regular order of an oat cappuccino has changed to an iced latte due to the heat- which is a scorching 24 degrees, which tops Cardiff’s sub-zero -3. I walk around in shorts and a tee, which receives looks of shock from the locals who have puffer coats and wooly hats, with one shop assistant kindly asking; “Are you a tourist?”
They take pride in their coffee here, and there are always many beans to choose from. And this first coffee was the perfect refreshment, which I would recommend if you were on the go. The main chain coffee shop here is called Pacific Coffee and is similar to Milani. With the only comparison to note is that they’re like Starbucks but better. As shown by the extravagant cakes below.
The coffee shop that has won top spot on this trip is KOKO Coffee. Based in one of the only dog friendly shopping malls in Hong Kong, it has a warehouse industrial feel and surrounded by many independent creative shops. With three stories this shopping mall has lovely eco-friendly low waste stalls, dog accessories, and handmade clothing. On the interior of KOKO Coffee they flow with the industrial theme, with minimalist concrete seating areas. The cakes themselves were incredible. Large brioche buns, pistachio pastries, and bagels with a variety of fillings. I went for the classic oat cappuccino, followed by a double shot of espresso to prove I wasn’t there to mess about, which I soon regretted as I later laid awake until 1.00 am. The art itself was the most perfect heart I’ve seen which didn’t disappear after one sip. My only discrepancy was the price. Hong Kong is pretty expensive, but with the UK’s current cost-of-living crisis we are not far behind. Not only did the coffee taste wonderful, the daily roasted beans were from Sumatra, but the entertainment was even better. If you are a dog lover this is the place for you. Chunky corgis, miniature poodles, tiny teacup pomeranians, and runway worthy red golden retrievers, it was canine heaven. Especially when the nearby vending machines were only stashed full of dog ice-cream, and treats.
Coffee criteria:
Taste: 5/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
Price: 3/5
Latte art: 3/5
Overall experience: 4/5
Dose and Drip
This month it is all about a coffee’s perfect accompaniment. Cake.
Firstly, I am going to take a moment of silence for all the cakes I did not get to try. From mini lemon meringue pies, to tiramisu delights I am only left to imagine. Ok. Moving on.
The first cake I did try was a vanilla crepe layered cake. Thin layers of pancake with a light vanilla frosting could only be described as… disappointing. Yes, I know, I agree what heartache, but they look better then they taste mostly because of the sugar content. What I have noticed, which has been extremely obvious for my tastebuds, is this lack of sugar. It makes sense how people are so fit here, with portion sizes being smaller, and consuming less sugar it can only benefit our bodies. My twitching eye, which is a new symptom of my sugar withdrawal, begs to differ.
The next cake on my hit list was a matcha muffin. The vivid green colour caused my mother to curl her lip in disgust and went on to say: “If you are going to have a cake have a proper cake not something healthy.” Considering she grew up in the era of Kate Moss skinny, and only stomachs a few almonds a day, I withdrew from commenting on her opinion and took a mouthful. Matcha has many beneficial properties and some even substitute their morning coffee for a *shudders* matcha latte, as it gives a prolonged, gentle caffeine hit. I can well and truly say after I swallowed the first mouthful, I will not be part of the ‘L.A health-kick’ matcha clan. My mother smirked as she watched me struggle down the rest of the muffin.
However, even though it seems like I didn’t have any luck with my cake choices, there have been some outstanding creations. One to note was in the form of an egg custard tart/croissant hybrid which I polished off on Christmas morning. I must admit I do enjoy less sugar, and I can’t deny it has changed my sweet tooth drastically out here and has made me reflect how much I craved it.
As 2022 draws to a close I have been thinking of changes to make in the new year but substituting my coffee in the morning is not a sacrifice I am willing to make, and I hope you keep the sacred morning brew in your routine as it is one of life’s simple pleasures, no matter what the coffee haters say.
