Hutong coffee shop a blend of old and new

While steamed bun manufacturer Goubuli is in talks to buy out a US coffee chain to promote Chinese cuisine overseas, Beijing has had its own upsurge in dining imports, with a glut of Western-style shops, bars, cafes and restaurants popping up.

They've always been around in the capital, but in just a few short years, the range, quantity and quality of outlets have shot up.

Ma Kaimin, also known as Phil Ma, is feeding this appetite for new food ventures. He owns Soloist Coffee Co in Qianmen area, running a cafe down a hutong not far from the famous Dashilar shopping street.

While his shop sits squarely in a chunk of old Beijing — the hutong is among many tiny alleyways from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and a short walk from Tiananmen Square — inside, the decor wouldn't look out of place in London or New York.

Mismatched furniture, exposed brickwork and bare filament bulbs found in any number of hip Western bars are in abundance. No effort is made to conceal the pipes and cables powering the many machines and antique advertising posters adorning the walls, alongside a bicycle fixed somewhere near head height.

A specialist dealer

The specialty coffee is a far cry from the ever-popular Nescafe 1+2 sachets and the ubiquitous Starbucks. Here, Ma sets up a stand looking suspiciously like a chemistry set in which he slowly filters the coffee into a glass jug. The default serving is black to ensure the customer tastes the complex flavors of the beans sourced by a specialist dealer.

He politely suggests not to confuse the palate with a snack before tasting, saying the coffee is at its best before falling to room temperature.

He was trained in South Korea and holds professional accreditation from the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), becoming a "licensed Q grader." They roast the green beans in-store. In other words, he takes his caffeine very seriously.

Ma, 35, is also a photographer and draws comparisons between the two passions, explaining that the need for technical know-how goes hand-in-hand with creativity, though he says coffee also makes him feel "connected to nature."

"In photography, you need to practise certain required skills and buy appropriate equipment, but people have different approaches. The coffee is just like that."

"Also, the photographer has to have a good eye, to know the different effects of different light and so on. With coffee, you have to develop a good palate to tell the difference between different beans."