Tong Ren Tang Combines Espresso, TCM Herbs at Their Coffee Shop

Original Michael Wester theBeijinger

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China’s 352-year-old TCM clinic 同仁堂 Tóng Rén Táng has taken a page from the Starbucks playbook and launched an upscale coffee shop – and surprise: it’s really good!

The granddaddy of all Chinese medicine shops has a history that stretches back to the 1600s, and many of its locations look like they were last renovated about then.

Even their dolled up storefronts in tourist areas are designed to appeal more to the granny set, with glass cases filled with priceless ginseng roots on velvet pillows and dusty jars filled with dried leaves and flowers (and occasionally a deer penis or two). The air is often redolent of some concoction of herbs that has been boiling all afternoon and smells like my old college buddy’s dorm room after he spilled bongwater on the rug.

A modern TCM vibe permeates Tong Ren Tang's cafe

Suffice it to say when I heard they had opened a coffee shop, I had very low expectations.

But boy, was I wrong. A late afternoon visit found the place packed with fashionable millennials and not a 爷爷 yéyé (grandfather) in search of moxibustion herbs in sight.

They've given it some serious thought and made this into a classy place fitting for the brand's entry into its 36th decade of business. It has the look, feel and high-end equipment on par with any of the fancier cafes in the city, with baristas that know their way around a fancy Italian espresso machine and are trained in latte art.

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Trained baristas are pouring the drinks at Tong Ren Tang

The compressed cafe is tastefully decorated with the standard dried roots, herbs, mushrooms, fruits, and flowers you'd see in a TCM dispensary, but all arranged in a bright, modern feel. An additional seating area spills into the atrium of the building and has all the comfort and stlye of a Starbucks, but with a distinctly Chinese twist.

Coffees are a bit on the expensive end, from RMB 24 to RMB 48, and most are concoctions of an espresso drink with one familiar element of Chinese Traditional Medicine: for instance the Goji Berry Latte (枸杞拿铁苦 gǒuqǐ nátiě kǔ, RMB 32); the Turmeric Oatmeal Latte (姜黄燕麦拿铁 jiānghuáng yànmài nátiě, RMB 38) or the American Ginseng Cold Brew (西洋参冷萃 xīyángshēn lěng cuì, RMB 38).

I tried the Preserved Orange Peel Latte (陈皮拿铁世 chénpí nátiě shì, RMB 32). It was lightly sweetened and the aroma of the peel complemented the mild brew surprisingly elegantly.

The coffee menu is only in Chinese, so use your WeChat image translator if you don't read Chinese

One word of warning: the menu is in Chinese, so if you can't read, bring a friend who can or use your WeChat image translator.

If you're a caffeine fiend, have an open mind and in the mood for a pleasant surprise, this is the place to visit.

There are two locations, one in the northeast corner of the "Darth Vader" building just south of Chaoyang Park and another in Shuangjing.

Tong Ren Tang Zhima Jiankang 同仁堂知嘛健康

Chaoyang Park:
No. 2-1, Unit 10, Bldg 2, Chaoyang Park South Road, Chaoyand District
朝阳区朝阳公园南路10号院2号楼2-1号
9am-10pm