This up and coming corner of the Island refuses to be left in the shade by its coffee competitors further east and over the harbour.

Café Little
Simple, bare-bones, no-frills espresso. That’s the kind of brew served in this compact outfit around a corner of Wing Lok Street. Run by two sisters with a passion for coffee, this little café offers beans that know no geographical boundaries, ranging from balanced Costa Rican and Brazilian blends to more earthy African roasts from Ethiopia and Kenya. With the menu specialising in espressos and Americanos, it’s no surprise this undiscovered coffee haven needs the best machinery, which is why they imported an antique manual espresso maker from Italy – the only one you’ll find in Hong Kong, according to co-owner Doris Cheu. “We want you to taste our coffee,” she says – which is why they don’t allow flavoured syrup to touch the premises. And you can forget about skim milk too. That’s practically a sin here. Shop E, 27 Hillier St, Sheung Wan, 9139 7762.

Manager’s special: Costa Rican – a high-quality roast espresso. $30

Graze
You’ll have to travel to three continents to snag a cup identical to this coffee shop’s house blend. Beans from Ethiopia, Indonesia and South America are combined to create what Graze calls its “propriety blend”, the house espresso used in all drinks. Mixing the high quality and balance from the South American beans (Columbian, Costa Rican and Brazilian) with the aged-coffee taste of the Indonesian and the strong, earthy flavours in the Ethiopian, the result is balanced and strong, with a fair share of high notes and complexity. The blend is made in Kwun Tong by Just Java director and espresso enthusiast Paul Pratt, and the owners of Graze often venture there to make sure the coffee maintains its flavour. Pratt, in turn, visits the cosy coffee shop to hold seminars and train baristas on new java gadgets. After all, half the trick to making good coffee is mastering the machinery. G/F, Chao’s Bldg, 143-145 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan, 2850 7766; www.graze.hk.

Manager’s special: Double espresso – the price is right and so is the flavour. $15.

Soft Aroma Café
Whether it’s the wall of notes and Polaroids from past customers, the stacks of magazines as you enter, or the hand-written menu scribbled in chalk, there’s something that screams ‘home’ about this cosy coffee house. Though the casual-comfy vibe makes you want to stick around, it’s the coffee that keeps you in your seat. Blending together the thick taste of Indonesian beans with the earthier zest of Ethiopian, the final flavour of this house espresso is balanced with a sweet aftertaste. “This is the only blend that creates the sweetness we wanted in our espresso,” says the manager Rango Chan. The café also serves its share of bizarre beverages, from the toffee nuts cornflakes latte (with real cornflakes on top) to the iced café cucumber (no slices, its blended into the latte.) And if you’ve got a soft spot for philanthropy, it’s good to know hot drinks come in mugs designed by handicapped citizens, with all proceeds going to the Salvation Army. 105 Wing Lok St, Sheung Wan, 2541 0666.

Manager’s special: Caramel Aroma – a sumptuous caramel-accented latte. $30.

Find more top coffee spots by district:
Central
Sheung Wan
Causeway Bay & Wan Chai
Tsim Sha Tsui

Profiles:
The Obsessive: Spencer Douglass
The Educator: Sanjay Ponnapa
The Indie Owner: Felix Wong
The Mechanic: Paul Pratt