Café Exploration in Guangzhou's Old Town: A Visit to BONUS COFFEE

What? It's Raining? The Rain Is Heavy? Doesn't Matter! I Must Drink This Cup of Coffee!

What? It's raining? The rain is heavy? I don't care. I just have to drink this cup of coffee. In short, no matter what, I am determined to drink it. That's it. I won't say more. No matter what, I must drink it.

It was half a year ago, while wandering through the old district of Yuexiu in Guangzhou, that a sudden impulse made me turn into an alley. I wanted to see whether any buildings still carried the flavor of old Guangzhou, and that was when I discovered this cafe hidden around the corner.

I still remember being struck by the interior the first time I walked in. There were only bar counter seats and a long bench for customers to set down their belongings. The overall decoration was minimalist, but because the space was small and filled with items, the bright lights shining on the wooden bar counter created a warm atmosphere. The owner had also stored her personal treasures collected from various places around the shop, each with its own story, which made the whole space feel cozy. With few customers inside and quiet surroundings, it was very suitable for studying.

The first thing I tasted at this cafe was not coffee but a dessert, and that dessert is what made me remember the place. Unlike most desserts on the market, BONUS's desserts are not overwhelmingly sweet, which suits someone like me who doesn't particularly like sugar and has strict requirements.

A Return Visit After Six Months

In the blink of an eye six months passed, and only recently did I have the chance to properly visit the shop again. The decoration remained simple and cozy, and the owner was still young and beautiful.

On such a hot day, the first thing to order is definitely an iced Americano. It is convenient and quick, and it expresses this cafe's attitude toward coffee most directly.

BONUS's espresso has the acidity of African coffee, the richness of American coffee, and a hint of smoky flavor. Only after asking did I learn that the espresso blend here, besides the acidity from African beans, also includes Guatemalan beans that bring a touch of smokiness to the blend.

Desserts and Specialty Coffee

When visiting BONUS, besides coffee, the most indispensable thing is a dessert. I still remember the cheesecake that made me fall in love with this cafe six months ago. However, when I looked at the menu again this time, my gateway dessert was nowhere to be found, which was quite disappointing. I had no choice but to order a raspberry sorbet with a dark chocolate lava center.

On closer inquiry I discovered that the menu had actually changed many times. The dessert menu changes every three to four days, and the ingredients are fresh, all made to order. That is part of what attracts me.

The hot dark chocolate lava cake had just the right amount of sweetness. When it was about to become too sweet, a spoonful of cool raspberry sorbet provided acidity and coldness, which was very refreshing. Overall the two were paired perfectly.

After finishing the dessert I ordered a cup of Golden Mandheling. The young female owner brought out a ZERO JAPAN double-hole fan-shaped dripper, explaining while brewing that it was to highlight the sweetness of Golden Mandheling and make it smoother on the palate. She then specially took out a KONO dripper that hadn't been used for a long time to brew another cup for comparison. It was truly as she described.

The Owner's Story

When the owner had time to sit down and chat, I discovered that before opening BONUS COFFEE in 2017, her interest in roasting had led her to Shanghai to study for a period with a professionally trained roaster. Later, because of her interest in coffee and because the wave of specialty coffee had not yet risen in Guangzhou and there was nowhere to learn, she went to Qinghai to study coffee knowledge.

Practical Information

Finally, a reminder. I once tried to go early to have a cup of coffee, but BONUS COFFEE's business hours might differ from what is shown on maps and Dazhong Dianping. To avoid finding a closed door, going in the afternoon is a good idea. A dessert, a coffee, and a book, enjoying a quiet afternoon, is truly a wonderful thing.

Business Hours: 10:30 AM - 6:00 PM

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If, like the Golden Mandheling in this story, you are chasing sweetness in a cup, FrontStreet Coffee has a few beans built around exactly that. Starting with Mandheling itself, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling takes a deep roast with very low acidity and a full, lingering body, and offers abundant herbal and dark chocolate aromas with a faint earthy note, layered and rich, ideal for anyone who likes a heavy, low-acid coffee.

For a deeper, honeyed sweetness, FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry comes from a high-altitude Costa Rican single origin and uses a black honey process, the honey style closest to a natural process because it retains the most mucilage and ferments the deepest, giving the highest sweetness. Roasted light-medium, it shows sweet floral notes, grape, sweet orange, and chocolate liqueur flavors. If you prefer something with a brighter, fruitier character, FrontStreet Coffee's Xizhua offers complex sweetness like grape, apricot, passion fruit, and fruit candy, with light chocolate and spice, a fruit-wine finish, and a refreshing iced Americano that tastes like grape juice.

And for a blend where sweetness is the whole point, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy combines Costa Rican honey processed coffee with Ethiopian beans, bringing rose, strawberry gummy, and raisin aromas with balanced grape and citrus sweet-sour notes and an almond-scented finish. It works for pour-over and cold brew as well as on an espresso machine, where the shot has good crema and a creamy texture with a strawberry-candy sweet-sour balance, easy in an Americano or a latte.