Unboxing Specialty Coffee: GREYBOX Hopes to Educate a New Generation of Consumers in the Art of Coffee

Beijing is on the crest of a wave of great coffee and GREYBOX COFFEE is riding the top of that wave. GREYBOX has three locations in Beijing: in the Kerry Centre, China Central Place, and Season's Place. The location in the Kerry Centre is a sleek shrine to coffee, designed to be a meeting place for both coffee connoisseurs and those who want to expand their knowledge. 

A subsidiary of luxury group roseonly, GREYBOX aims to do for coffee what roseonly did for luxury, introducing a generation of Chinese consumers to another simple luxury that they can add to their lives. Through passion and dedication to the art of third-wave coffee, from bean selection to roasting to brewing, GREYBOX aims to offer curious Chinese consumers their “first cup of specialty coffee” at an accessible price point. Their Apple Store-like minimalist interior with its extra-long metal bar is more like a workshop or a laboratory than a cutesy coffee shop, fully playing into their passion for discovery and innovation.

GREYBOX COFFEE's dedication to caffeinated perfection was amply demonstrated recently when they started working with 2016 World Brewers Cup champion Tetsu Kasuya. Tetsu will regularly visit all of GREYBOX's stores around China, where he shares his passion and carefully honed techniques with GREYBOX's baristas. 

Originally hailing from Japan, Tetsu took home the title thanks to his self-designed brewing method, known as the 4:6 method. This meticulous pour-over brewing method uses exacting proportions of coffee and water (15 times the weight of beans to water, to be exact). The water is poured over coarsely ground coffee beans in strictly measured portions, the first 40 percent of which is used to control the flavor of the beans and the second 60 percent used to control the strength. This method allows the barista to explore and extract the true flavor of each variety of coffee, which is a bonus for Chinese consumers exploring single origin coffee for the first time. In fact, one of Tetsu’s main aims is to encourage fledgling coffee drinkers to experiment with and taste different coffee beans and discover their own personal preferences, just like he did after he left his job as an IT consultant and started working with coffee full time.

GREYBOX's talented team of baristas work their magic on a selection of exceptional single origin coffees. GREYBOX's only selects beans that have scored more than 80 to out of 100 on the grading scale created by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Beans of this quality account for less than 10 percent of annual global coffee production. GREYBOX's current roster includes beans from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yunnan, and even renowned Geisha coffee from Panama, a favorite of champion baristas around the world. All the beans are freshly roasted and used within 48 hours of roasting to preserve their unique flavor and character. The coffee beans take pride of place on the counter alongside accessible tasting notes.

In addition to brewed single origin coffees, GREYBOX offers a full range of espresso-based coffees, which have attracted a loyal following among visitors to GREYBOX for their precision preparation. For example, GREYBOX’s baristas carefully selected a brand of milk that pairs perfectly with the coffee beans used for their espresso – even though it must be imported fresh from Australia every seven days. 

GREYBOX COFFEE is a must-visit destination for Beijing’s coffee lovers. Look for them to expand to more locations in Beijing and across China in fall 2017.

For more information, visit GREYBOX COFFEE's official website or find them on Weibo (GREYBOXCOFFEE) and WeChat (GREYBOX).

Photos: GREYBOX COFFEE