A drink that was meant for wakefulness is now a social necessity that creates a new sense of belonging. Are you as pro-caffeinating as the Hong Kongers?
Have you ever met a soul that doesn’t like coffee, or the idea of having a coffee? Probably not. In fact, Hong Kong is crazy about coffee as you can see in the endless openings of new coffee shops, Instagrammable posts of cafe latte and the “coffee shop as the place to be” mentality. When you walk around the streets of Hong Kong, from the bustling Central business district to residential neighborhoods, there seem to be new coffee shops opening every week (if not every day).
Thousands of photos of the coffee aficionados’ whereabouts, special popup stores and beautifully curated dishes alongside the coffee cups have been flooding the social media space since recent years, but it was the pandemic that has accelerated the boom of the coffee drinking culture. What are the reasons and the characteristics of Hong Kong’s unique coffee culture? I’m sharing my observations below.
1. Coffee shop as a place to study and work
Studying for your final exam at a coffee shop isn’t new to Hong Kongers. Due to the limited living space at home and potential noise distraction (your neighbor upstairs seems to like renovating their apartment at the wrong hours), coffee shops have been a popular choice for youngsters to review their homework and study for their next tests.
Doing office work at a coffee shop, though, was a relatively new concept to the mass population of the city. However, since the pandemic hit Hong Kong in early 2020, lots of people in the workforce have been offered the options to work from home and this fueled the rise of using coffee shops as a place to work. This option is no longer only exclusive to freelancers, self employed individuals and those who work in the tech industry. Now, a lot of people who have an office job will be able to work from home (or work from a coffee shop).
2. Coffee as a tool for socializing
The traditional top social activities of Hong Kongers seem to shift from “shopping, movie watching and having dinners” to hanging around at coffee joints. According to Research and Markets’ report in July 2020, coffee performs a very important social function and plays a vital role in building social relationships. Since coffee consumption transcends geographic and cultural boundaries, it’s widely considered as a social lubricant helping people bond, communicate, build relationships and enjoy.
Tired of shopping? Go get a coffee with your girlfriend. Need a break from work? Go get a coffee with your co-workers. Looking for an energy boost before a workout? Go get a coffee with your yoga buddy. Who knows? You might even find your love of your life at a coffee shop.
3. Being in a new coffee shop makes you a trendsetter
This is an interesting one, and a very real one. Can you resist getting a beautiful cup of mocha latte with exquisitely crafted latte art without taking a photo to post on your Instagram? “The phone drinks first” becomes the code of conduct the moment you enter the coffee shop that everybody’s talking about.
The concept of “clocking in” a popular coffee shop has become the automated move of city dwellers, or “打卡” (daa2 kat1) in Cantonese. When you manage to check out the coffee shop and post a photo on your social channels, that’s when you clock in your victory. I mean, do you really care about drinking that cup of coffee anyways?
*打卡 (clocking in) traditionally means the act of punching in a card for recording the time of one’s arrival of work. Now, it refers to posting photos of hot places on social media to indicate your belonging to being one of the trendsetters who have been to somewhere cool).
4. People are looking for higher quality and artisan coffee
The taste of coffee is no longer a quick caffeine boost of dopamine to improve wakefulness at work or fitness performance, it’s an enjoyment of leisure as well.
Most boutique coffee shops have their high-quality house blend or pure coffee to differentiate themselves from other competitors. Those that are serious about coffee have their baristas sharing with customers their coffee beans’ aroma, body texture, acidity and aftertaste. Some of them, like Project C, even display different kinds of coffee beans and let customers smell them before making a purchase decision; while some would have a printed card and brochures explaining the origin of the coffee. All of these show how deeply passionate the baristas and customers are to coffee as an interest of study beyond just drinking.
A recent research by Euromonitor shows that fresh ground coffee has benefited from the continuous evolution of the coffee-drinking culture to become the fastest-growing category during the pandemic as more and more consumers were looking for higher-quality coffee products with a better taste and aroma.
Coffee brewing classes and latte art workshops are getting more and more prevalent and even become one of the most popular pass time activities of locals now.
5. As sophistication of coffee rises, and so the food
Artisan coffee houses or those that are opened by renowned restaurants groups are offering scrumptious food or organic dishes for coffee lovers that look for something beyond the drink.
I remembered entering the newly opened NOC Roastery in Sai Ying Pun back then where you could order delicious dishes (that aren’t just an avocado toast) ranging from lentil bowl to scrambled crab meat toast. I was amazed by how a coffee house with great coffee can also provide food that is as good as those overpriced brunch places. And this only gets more and more common that a good coffee shop should be able to make good food as well especially when you want to expand it.
One would never miss the torched salmon donburi and acai bowl from Elephant Grounds; the lobster benedict from NINETYs; or the eggs sando from Between Coffee, the recently opened coffee joint at Tai Kwun.
6. The unbreakable coffee and bread duo
What’s the best to go with a cup of coffee? Bread!
I usually love my morning coffee with a croissant, or my afternoon coffee with some buttery cookies. This is when the bakery comes in to fill in that gap.
More and more roastery-bakery partnerships are formed as a natural extension of the coffee culture (or the sourdough culture). The Levain bakery partnered with Coco Espresso to sell their sourdough breads and pastry (although now this is no longer the case); while the famous bakery, Bakehouse, is using coffee beans from the Urban Coffee Roastery to serve coffee to their dine-in and takeaway customers.
You can easily find bread lovers enjoying sourdough egg tarts from Bakehouse while sipping coffee outside NOC or Crew, the two coffee shops near the renowned boulangerie in Wan Chai.
7. Coffee and its lifestyle promises
The coffee drinking culture has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. It’s a lifestyle promise. A promise of who you can become and the identity that you can relate to if you’re part of this beautiful world of coffee drinkers.
You can become a pioneer (being the first to check out new places), a socialite (being the one who knows everyone at the coffee shop, and their dogs), a connoisseur (who enjoys coffee seriously) and a follower (who likes to explore new things with inspirations from others).
When most of us were in quarantine at home during the early stage of the pandemic outbreak, the Dolgona coffee became a social media craze on platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. If you’re one of those who tried to make one, you were definitely one of the trendsetters!
Shopping for fresh-ground specialty coffee in store or online has become a norm for working professionals, millennials and Gen Z. The byproducts of coffee beans have even extended to anything from coffee mugs, tote bags, grinder, pour over drip set to books. There seems to be a talking point about those limited edition coffee tumblrs by Arabica with that famous “%” logo printed on it, and depending on your luck, you might need to wait for another 3 months before they get restocked.
Also, popup markets in collaboration with renowned local and international coffee houses are gaining popularity. Blue Bottle is one of those international coffee houses that attracted a long line of queues during their first few weeks of opening.
Social media presence has also spurred the rise of barista as a celebrity or influencer. Now, you won’t be surprised to see a good-looking young lad with a title called “head barista” appearing in those carefully curated Instagram posts sharing his experience on brewing a perfect cup of coffee or how he won a coffee competition.
Barista is definitely one of the uprising career choices for some young people.
No wonder the specialty coffee market is expected to grow by US$80.78 billion in 2020 with a 11.3% YoY growth, a study by Technavio in June 2020 showed.
What are your observations of Hong Kong’s coffee culture? Share yours with me by commenting on this article!
If you’re curious about Hong Kong’s food and drink culture, you can read about my take on the Hong Kong food culture. Follow me on Instagram as well if you want to know my whereabouts.
