Today we went with a friend from Hong Kong to his old neighborhood, ate some great food, and went for a nice walk/play for the kids along the waterfront promenade.  If you are ever looking for something off the beaten path, the walk along the water from Sai Wan Ho to Tai Koo is great.  Views of another part of Hong Kong you rarely see, fresh air, and a bit of a different pace.

When we made it to Tai Koo, we were ready to get out of the heat and let the little ones run around in some air conditioning.  So, we went in the Tai Koo City Plaza (mall).  We wanted to have something different than a typical coffee, and we came across the Starbucks Reserve store.

Have you ever heard of the Starbucks Reserve stores?  It’s like this super interesting concept that they must be trying out in Asia, where “exclusive” is super important for a brand.  They have smaller runs of coffee harvests that they use in these shops, and it looked like some bean tastings were going on, so it definitely has that exclusive feel.  Anyway, upon sitting down at the bar (like a sushi bar ambiance), the barista helped us by giving us a menu to look over, which contained all sorts of interesting coffees.  Both me and my friend went with a “cold brewed coffee”, which is brewed using cold water over a really long period of time.

They served the coffee on a special plate with a glass of water to cleanse our palate and a piece of chocolate.  I think the only thing that would have made it more cool is if our coffee came in a glass instead of a to-go cup.  But maybe they (rightly) assumed we would need to go away sooner as we had toddlers who were not as fascinated by the good coffee experience as we were.

And how was the coffee?  Super good.  I normally do not drink straight black coffee, but this was delicious, and absolutely without question the smoothest coffee I have ever had.  It did not have any bitterness, with a bit of citrus notes at the end.  It was a bit more expensive than a regular coffee, but the experience was unique and special, and definitely worth it.

If you are looking for something to do that involves coffee, make a visit – their info is here!