Beijing Boyce

Photo courtesy of Jonah Kessel (jonahkessel.com)

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Last week’s post by Sarah Peel about her top five places to get coffee in Beijing inspired others to recommend spots. Here are a few, including the Twitter IDs of those making the recommendations.

“Best coffee in Beijing. Cafe Excuse @ Drum Tower. Go there before  Gulou is ‘redeveloped.’ Get to know the owners and staff.” – @gadyepstein

“I recommend the coffee (and homemade ginger ale) at Alba. Great place to work, and very nice people.” – @bokane, seconded by @lhiver

“Meet @ftcoffee. They ship. It’s cheap, it’s delicious, it’s from Yunnan. You can thank me later.” @mark_e_evans

“Jamaica Blue. Good quality coffee and they remember my previous order — syrup and no milk — but confirm to make sure I want it that way again.” – @ksquare77

I’m not an aficionado, and generally seek spots to work while drinking my java, but I’ll give a shout to the American coffee–no sugar, no cream–at The Bookworm. It has a slight bitterness, comes in a pretty big mug, and offers decent value at RMB20. Speaking of value, it is hard to beat the bottomless cup for RMB22 at Union Bar & Grille (RMB10 if you are adding it to the set menu at lunch).

The second post in the Beijing Photo Five series of pics that I want to share and don’t fit elsewhere. See also: Dita von Teese, Pee Monkey tribute*, stairway to nowhere.

Gin-tastic: An Alfonso Special at George's bar.

Can't see the taster for the wine: New Zealand vs France event.

Electric sashimi: A plate in a Park Hyatt function room.

Tasting in progress: 2010 Grape Wall Challenge at Maison Boulud.

Egg-cellent: Lunch at Maison Boulud during Grape Wall Challenge.

Forbes published a story titled Asia’s Most Expensive Cup Of Coffee that claims, based on data from a Mercer survey, that our fair city has the highest price for java (my highlights):

China’s massive capital city tops our list of where you’ll find the 20 most expensive cups of coffee in Asia. According to data from consultancy Mercer’s annual cost-of-living study, a cup of coffee plus tip from a reputable global brand can run a java-drinker $7.17 in Beijing, population 14 million. Other cities where a cup of joe costs more than five bucks include Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, and four more mainland Chinese cities: Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Shenzhen.

I read this while sipping a “bottomless” cup of coffee in the cozy confines of Union Bar & Grille in Beijing. Price: RMB20. In fact, I can name a dozen places within a five-minute walk–and where I am in Sanlitun is not by any means the cheapest area of the city–where I can get a coffee for less than RMB30. And where the staff would be surprised by any attempt to leave a “tip“, especially at a “reputable global brand” such as Starbucks.

Could I find a cup for RMB50 if I wanted to? Sure. But that’s not the point, at least given how Forbes describes Mercer’s research methodology:

If, for example, there is no Starbucks in a certain location–like Karachi, Pakistan–researchers will take into account the price of a cup of coffee at an upscale hotel, [Mercer's Marie-Laurence] Sepede says.

Beijing does have Starbucks outlets, plenty of them, and the average coffee is nowhere near RMB50. And even if it didn’t have Starbucks, how would an “upscale hotel“–where a coffee can cost more than RMB50–be an effective substitute? I dunno…

Ironically, I’m just about to put a post by coffee lover Sarah Peel about the five top spots to get a coffee in Beijing. In 10, 9, 8..