4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: 18 Grams Specialty Coffee, Causeway Bay
My visit to Hong Kong is usually filled with visitation to local teahouses which are also known as cha chaan teng. While local milk tea and coffee in Hong Kong taste pretty good, I am curious at how the Western coffee houses fare in Hong Kong. A lot of online reviews rave on the local cafehopping scene and since there is one quite well-known cafe called 18 Grams Specialty Coffee ("18 Grams") near our hotel, we decided to pop by on Saturday morning. The cafe was full house when we reached around 9.30ish in the morning and hence, we went for a quick breakfast at the opposite Tsui Wah to wait for the morning crowd to dissipate. We only managed to get seats around 10AM.
The reason of why the cafe is so easily full house is because the cafe is quite small, like at-the-corner kind of cafe. I actually kinda like this kind of cozy small cafe and we don't have such cafes in Singapore. I don't know why but it kinda gives you a comfortable chillax feeling in the neighborhood. But I don't really chill at cafe by myself in Singapore despite I'm being unemployed at the moment. Ah it's probably because paying for coffee at the price of at least SGD 5 is kinda too much for someone who does not earn any income at the moment. Oops why did I ramble on my current life situation? Sorry. Hehe.
There are only three staffs behind the counter but I guess that's pretty much enough manpower because after all, 18 Grams specialises in coffee although they do have some breakfast items like toast and muffins. The non-caffeinated drinks are also available at 18 Grams if you can't take caffeine. The price for the coffee ranges from HKD 30 to HKD 50 while the price for other selection like chocolate and tea ranges from HKD 45 to HKD 55.
It seems to be such a waste not to try out their coffee especially after a lot of media such as OpenRice and Oriental Daily gave 18 Grams positive feedback on their coffees. I was quite curious on shakerato and it is apparently a drink prepared using espresso and ice cubes. An iced espresso I suppose?
Despite the fancy name, I don't think my noob stomach and tastebud can take the wonder of shakerato so I stick to my usual drink, hazelnut latte (or mocha, which seems to be on the sweeter side compared to the other type of coffee). My hazelnut drink has the most amazing latte art I've ever seen so far in my coffee drinking history. I wonder if I should take this opportunity of being unemployed to brush my skill in latte art. But then again, taking up new skill needs money and money is really not on my side at this moment. Sigh. #emoagain
Since I am not really a coffee connoisseur, I can't really review how good a cup of coffee is in detail (for example, by examining its acidity, aroma, body, flavor and aftertaste). My noob review on my hazelnut latte will be well, this is a safest (and pretty enjoyable) coffee to drink when you are not really a coffee drinker. It is easier to enjoy hazelnut latte because the hazelnut syrup creates sweet flavour of the otherwise, bitter coffee. And I, for one, can't really enjoy bitter coffee. Why would I pay so much for something taste bitter, really? My life is already bitter enough as it is. Oops, here we go again.
18 Grams Specialty Coffee is located at:
Unit C, G/F, 15 Cannon St.
Causeway Bay
Opening hours:
Daily 8AM - 8PM