Why Shanghai Is the World’s Most Compelling Coffee City
From competition-winning cups to “dirty” brews to lattes served in green bell peppers, the buzz is on.
A coffee tasting set at Captain George Flavor Museum in Shanghai includes the Black Forest cake-inspired Night and Day.
Photographer: Matt Kronsberg/BloombergMainland China offers plenty to surprise first-time visitors. Shockingly efficient mass transit. Deeply integrated digital-first communication and payment ecosystems. A way with offal that will convert even non-organ-meat enthusiasts.
But on a recent trip to Shanghai, I experienced an even greater surprise: a world class coffee scene. My jet lag never stood a chance in the face of the caffeine tsunami I stepped into. As of 2024 the city had a whopping 9,115 coffee shops—including more Starbucks locations than any other city—as reported by Dao Insights, a publication by the China-focused digital creative agency Qumin. According to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, “China’s coffee consumption surged almost 150% in the last 10 years and is forecast to reach 6.3 million bags in 2024/25,” with each bag weighing 60 kilograms.