Try Coffee in a Water Tower at Berry Beans’ Newest Location

advertisement
Berry Beans bring their bona fide coffee to new heights, literally and figuratively, in Tongzhou, where they’ve set up their newest shop inside two spots. One is a brick shop painted red which serves up Italian-style coffees and snacks, and the other, a separate section inside an old water tower.
This branch of Berry Beans has been popping up on our Dianping feed for a few weeks now, and each time we saw it, we were a bit torn. On the one hand, it's a coffee shop inside of a water tower, how random is that? On the other hand, though, it's all the way out in Tongzhou, which is a little far if you don't live there.

It's certainly an eye catching venue, to say the least

Still, the urge to have a cup of joe at a completely unexpected location won out, and we were soon on Line 6 headed to Tongzhou Beiguan. From there, a brief trip on bus 342, a bit of a stroll, and we had arrived at a cultural park this massive leviathan watches over.
Enter through a green wooden door to find within the tower’s tanned concrete walls coffee making equipment of all shapes and sizes, from kettles to shakers to espresso machines lining a counter in front of which sit a few wooden stools.

The tower is easy to spot at the back of the cultural park it calls home

To the left behind the counter, a refrigerator housing cold brewed coffees of all kinds of beans. To the right, the devices used to make said cold brewed coffee, the ground beans, water, and coffee are constantly switched out to maintain a constant state of brewing, the barista informs us while tampering with one of the devices.
Now, of course, to the coffee. Upon entering we're asked our preferred coffee – plain black of course – and after sitting, the barista suggests an option called 冰滴自由 bīngdī zìyóu (RMB 78) where instead of choosing which coffee you like, it’s done in a tasting format.

RMB 78 gets your seven cold brewed coffees to taste plus one of your choosing to be mixed to your liking

Seven different varieties of coffee, with beans from Ethiopia, Colombia, Kenya, Indonesia, and even a few special Berry Beans blends, served in a dram, make this like a whiskey tasting but with a liquor that’ll get you tea drunk instead of drunk drunk.

advertisement

Moving from one bean to the next, it’s enthralling. The tastes range from chocolate and sweet on the palate to notes of red wine with a dry finish. Each one is more eye-opening than the next, as the barista guides us along in the tasting.

Mugs, beans, and cold brew devices line one wall of the space

We settle on the last one, a Sumatra Gayo Mandelhang from Indonesia. The tobacco tinged finish is intriguing, with hints of bitterness, but not too much. We get it to go in a little Berry Beans cup with ice, and we're on our merry way.
On busy days, it’s best to call in advance to book a spot before tastings, which take place over the span of a 30 minute period. Even though it’s all the way out by Tongzhou Beiguan and a bit of change for the coffee, it’s well worth the travel to taste some quality cold brew inside an unexpected space.

In the end, we got some Gayo Mandelhang to go

Berry Beans (Xinhua Xijie Branch)

Inside Zhongtu Cultural and Creative Park, South Gate, 15 Xinhua Xijie
通州区新华西街15号中图文创园区南门
Hours: Mon-Fri, 11.30am-7.30pm; Sat-Sun, 10.30am-7.30pm
Contact: 19910158685

READ MORE

Images: Vincent R. Vinci

advertisement

Top Stories This Week

Beijingers Are Buzzing About