Oops Coffee - Xi'an, China

Stepping off the artsy Shuyuanmen Street, there’s a narrow passageway, and in there, an unassuming entrance to a café. One might think it’s hardly a viable spot for a specialty café.

An entrance positioned so strangely, you can’t see it until you come up very close.

Well, one couldn’t have been more wrong. Once you step inside, the impression is that you’re entering a historical mansion.

View from the first step inside.

In China, it’s not common for the staff to speak English. Luckily, there was a customer who helped us choose pour-over (Chinese: 手冲) options.

Order here, on the left.

In the afternoon, the place gets quite busy.

We ordered one washed Ethiopia and one natural Rwanda. The place was so packed that we needed to wait for a free table, and the total waiting time for our coffees was about 30 minutes. But after they had arrived and we finally tasted them, we figured the wait was worth every minute. Both absolutely delicious, brewed masterfully.

Coffee is served in stylish glassware, so that you can admire the colors.

I went back to the baristas to give them a compliment. Before I had a chance to say anything, one of them saw me approaching and asked first: “What about coffee?” I started to explain how I admired the sweetness and the fruity notes, but then their facial expression became confused, most likely because of the language barrier. So instead I just smiled and showed two thumbs up, and they grinned in response.

Baristas at work. Notice Mahlkönig on the left, the king of grinders, in Asia too.

The place is clearly very popular among the locals. There were families with children, couples on a date (who were frequently taking photos together in the stylish interior), and groups of friends chatting. There are even sitting spots on the rooftop, where you can enjoy a scenic sunset.

Looking at the rooftops, you can clearly recognize a Chinese old town.

Surely, this gem would have been near-impossible to find if it weren’t for the billboard near the main road.

The billboard on the left. The background color choice is remarkable. It’s clearly visible from afar, and yet it blends in with the surroundings very well.