Shanghai Blue Bottle Coffee Grand Opening! Queued 7 Hours for a Cup? Blue Bottle Coffee Price Menu

The highly anticipated first Blue Bottle Coffee in mainland China officially opened to the public today! Many enthusiastic fans who have been eagerly waiting have likely already rushed to visit!

Early this morning, the author saw several friends sharing their visits to Blue Bottle Coffee on social media. In one video shared around 8:30 AM, there was an extremely long line outside the store (which officially opened at 8 AM). The friend who recorded the video mentioned: "The line is quite long! Estimated waiting time might be 3 hours..."

- Reportedly, the number of people in the picture represents only 1/4 of the actual queue...

It's clear that everyone is genuinely curious and excited about Blue Bottle Coffee! Over the years, both coffee professionals and designers have closely followed Blue Bottle Coffee, whether for their coffee quality or store design. One reason is Blue Bottle Coffee's success through pour-over coffee, and another is their preference for opening stores in historic buildings.

Menu and Coffee Offerings

Compared to the extensive menus of other chain coffee shops, Blue Bottle Coffee's menu is relatively simple yet offers many coffee beverages not typically found at chain stores, such as Gibraltar, Drip Coffee Au Lait, and New Orleans Iced Coffee. Non-coffee options are limited to just two sparkling water beverages, oolong matcha, and hot chocolate.

Regarding the quality of pour-over coffee, the author hasn't tried the offerings at Shanghai's Blue Bottle Coffee yet, but has tasted those in Hong Kong and Japan, and found the flavor and quality to be quite good. From the baristas' preparation process, it's evident that Blue Bottle Coffee focuses more on pure brewing methods, without complex techniques or elaborate approaches. There's no rush to serve customers, and the baristas remain completely focused, creating a quiet atmosphere where everyone patiently waits for coffee extraction.

Historic Building Transformation

Blue Bottle Coffee prefers to transform historic buildings into their stores. Firstly, old buildings themselves are rich in history and stories. Converting them directly into coffee shops allows coffee to better integrate with local culture. Secondly, adaptive reuse of old buildings is also a form of architectural preservation and heritage continuation.

This time, Blue Bottle Coffee selected a two-story Western-style building located on the banks of Suzhou Creek in Jing'an District, Shanghai. The building was originally constructed in 1926 and formerly served as high-quality staff dormitories for the Yutong Flour Mill, making it one of Shanghai's first immovable cultural relics. The building features a brick-and-timber structure with exposed red brick exterior walls and partially utilizes materials like reinforced concrete, presenting an architectural style that blends Chinese and Western elements.

The design team preserved the original doors and windows inside the building. A glass sliding door was added behind the wooden entrance door, giving every visitor a feeling of traveling from history to modernity as they enter the store.

Interior Design: Two Distinct Styles

The first floor features a modern style, primarily using stainless steel, glass, and concrete as main materials, with white as the primary color scheme. Behind the first-floor counter are several large light-transmitting windows, with smaller windows distributed above and around them. The stainless steel counter, dining tables, and coffee display table create reflective effects, making the entire store exceptionally bright and transparent during daytime. One side features white wall cabinets displaying the brand's merchandise.

The second floor features a vintage style, with natural wood tones as the main color scheme. The second-floor counter was crafted from old door and window frames recycled locally in Shanghai, with the imperfect marks on the old wood completely preserved. Above the counter sits the world's only 60-year-old FAEMA espresso machine. The seating in the customer area is uniquely varied - leather, fabric, rattan... The mismatched furniture creates the atmosphere of an old Shanghai home.

Opening Day Chaos

Alright! That concludes our virtual tour! Did those who started queuing at 8:30 AM get to taste Blue Bottle Coffee? Yes! They got in around 3:30 PM and enjoyed their coffee after waiting for 7 hours...

Some visitors reported that scalpers have already started offering proxy purchasing services. Blue Bottle Coffee's Americano, priced at 32 RMB, was being sold for over 120 RMB by these intermediaries...

Others reported that the most surprising sight wasn't just the exorbitant proxy prices, but people queuing for Blue Bottle Coffee while ordering Starbucks delivery...

Sigh... Blue Bottle Coffee isn't just opening for one day, nor will they raise prices after just one day! You can also buy coffee beans and merchandise from their official stores! There's really no need to join the crowd... Especially since the pandemic situation isn't completely stable yet, if possible, please avoid gathering in large groups!!!

Image source: Blue Bottle Coffee, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Internet

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