To be fair, one of the only places in the entire world you can find decent drip coffee is in certain locales of North America, such as San Francisco, New York City, Vancouver, and local coffee shops that are not chains in many other areas...

I think it's pretty amazing that the Bookworm (and now other places) serve such great coffee compared to the crap I drank my first time in Beijing that is still called "coffee" by some locals (nescafe with the creamer and sugar in the pack!). My only beef with the BW is the price has gone up since I arrived last year - from 20 to 25 kuai - and I'm not sure why. It's the same thing I can get almost anywhere else in town for 20 kuai or less... actually at Cafe Zarah it's 18 kuai and the beans are much fresher and the atmosphere for working just as nice (if a bit small). Ah well, it's still a nice place to sit around and read some days.

dp

The OP's point was *drip* coffee, which happens to be primarily a North American thing... personally I'd take an Italian espresso anyday over drip coffee, but drip coffee does indeed have its own distinct taste.

AMEN, THANK YOU, that's right. No one is disputing the Italians do pretty much rule the espresso world, but drip is totally different. And when Starbucks gives you an Americano instead of actual drip coffee it is NOT the same, thank you very much. I hate it when they do that, especially when they don't tell you they're going to do it. Then when I sip it and complain they say "Oh, we don't have any regular coffee right now. It's the same."