Coffee, the humble bean that wakes many of us in the morning, has given rise to a cafe culture that is a part of daily life and has many functions. It's second office where you can access e-mail and work; a calm, sunny place to meet colleagues or friends; a place to be alone, relax, reflect and watch the world go by. Let's not forget it is also a place to appreciate coffee and the craft of its making.

Compared with other busier places in the city, Gubei offers many distinctive, coffee houses where you can appreciate a tranquil space for thought.

Gubei attracts expats from all over the world to its international residential community, and this explains the cultural offerings and ambience in many cafes. The cafe world is naturally diverse.

Because of the large Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese population, their cafes are not difficult to spot.

A typical Japanese cafe is minimalist and comfortable. Green plants are placed in the corners. The barista prefers drip brewing and using a single type of bean. There are no lattes, milk foams, cinnamon and chocolate. Just pure coffee. The Japanese barista says good coffee should clearly present the character of the bean. Renowned and distinctive coffee beans such as Jamaica Blue Mountain and Sumatran Mandheling are on offer. Drip brewing, which is preferred by many professionals, produces a coffee that tastes light.

A typical Taiwan-style cafe delivers not only coffee, but also art and culture with its tastefully selected furnishings of fine craftsmanship, dim lighting and many books and magazines about art and design. Magazines are updated regularly.

The coffee here is more elaborate, including single, blends, cappuccinos and lattes. When making lattes, many baristas are creative, using the foam to draw a leaf or heart shape on the top. Taiwan-style cafes offer two menus, one for coffee and the other for snacks. They offer classical Taiwan dishes such as beef noodles and fried rice, and are actually cafe-restaurants.

American cafes tend to be casual and the coffee is often served in big mugs.

Italian cafes featuring espresso are also popular in Gubei.

Though there's great variety among cafes, all have a few things in common: there are no eye-catching signs outside and inside the barista maintains the tempo of grinding and brewing very slowly. Customers wait patiently, reading magazines or watching the barista - some are performers with flourish.

Regulars and waiters understand each other, and there's no need for menus.

Last week, I went to a cafe in Gubei and found that I was the only customer. After finished making my coffee, the barista soon dedicated himself to washing each cup and pot.

"Are you worried about business, it seems desolate?" I asked.

He silently shook his head.

Appreciation of coffee actually begins with the growing, selection and roasting of beans. But in the cafe, we can watch the barista grind the coffee. He removes it from containers and the aroma can be smelled in the room. He puts it in the hand grinder and slowly, patiently turns the grinder with a gentle, sweeping motion. If the cafe is quiet, you can hear the sound of beans being ground.

A veteran barista Wendy Wang once told me that the way coffee is ground has a huge impact on the final taste. Different beans need different grinding, from coarse, to medium to fine, thus achieving the best flavor.

"I cannot accept machine grinding since it cannot precisely control the extent of crushing. For example, the result might be over-coarse and not medium. Hence, the final cup of coffee is not my art of creation but a kind of commercial product," he said.

Then comes the brewing, when you smell the intense aroma that fills the whole cafe, reminding customers of one reason they are there. There are exacting standards for pure distilled water, filters, length of time and other factors. But as the water drips through the filtered grounds, what finally emerges is that wonderful, flavorful, not-too-bitter and energizing brew.

You might infer the taste from the aroma, but only the tasting will uncover the secret.

Finally, it's time to taste. For laymen coffee lovers, there's no standard; we all know a good cup of coffee, a great one and a bad one. Everyone's sense of flavor, body and aroma can be totally different. An expert who knows his coffee chemistry might give high marks to a cup with a perfect balance of bitterness and acid. The same cup might be panned by a layman who thinks it lacks personality. Even the same person tasting the same coffee when he or she is in a different mood, can have a different experience.

I conducted a small survey among 20 of my friends and asked about their favorite coffee. Most of them said they like coffee with balanced flavor and moderate body. Nevertheless, it's interesting that female respondents said they enjoyed a bit of extra acidity, saying it imparts a vibrant and bright quality. On the other hand, male respondents appreciated the bitter flavor, saying it helps made the body rich and thick.

Now, are you ready for a cup of coffee? This week, we bring you into four interesting cafes in the Gubei area.

Organ – the healthy option

Some coffee lovers insist that good coffee should be drunk independently, and not paired with food. However, drinking coffee on an empty stomach can be detrimental to one's health. This cafe restaurant resolves the issue with its signature dessert, soybean milk cake, which goes well with coffee and can relieve digestive disorders brought about by heavy coffee consumption.

The cake is the creation of Japanese owner Tsukino Shibo. The inspiration comes from her love for her child. "Traditional cake, although delicious, is not healthy enough, especially for kids. That is why I hoped to create a cake with good flavour and health benefits. I found that milk, the basic ingredient of the cake, can be replaced with soybean milk."

The cake tastes soft and fluffy, with a slight aroma of soybean. The cream topping is silky and fresh, not too oily and sweet, very suitable for dessert lovers afraid of piling on the calories. When paired with their coffee, a pleasant balance of sweet, bitter and acid, will feed your palate and soul.

Opening hours: 11:30am-3pm, 6pm-midnight

Price: Soybean milk cake 25 yuan

Tel: 5206-5973

Address: 66 Ziyun Rd W.

More Books & Coffee – relaxing reads

This three-story cafe is more like a cultural salon. The first floor is a book store, where books covering art, architecture, travel … and children's themes are sold. Cushions are provided for customers to relax and read.

The second floor, with its colorful chairs, soft carpets, Disney characters and cartoon books, is a space designed for children. Parents can leave their child with professional nursery staff and go to the third floor to enjoy a cup of coffee. The cafe often hosts a family salon, inviting nearby residents to come along and discuss parenting.

Latte is the choice coffee here, displaying an appropriate proportion of coffee and milk. A certain acidic hint improves the thickness of the body. The first taste is sweet and creamy, while the finishing touch is chocolaty and mild.

The owner is Taiwanese so the menu offers delicacies in Taiwan style. We recommend their soup noodles with sirloin. The flavor of the beef has been completely absorbed in the soup and the noodle is nicely chewy.

The cafe also has a large wooden shelf displaying exquisite Chinese tea sets and traditional guqin, a seven-stringed harp, providing foreigners a good chance to experience Chinese culture during their visit.

Opening hours: 9am-11pm

Price: Latte 25 yuan; Soup noodles with sirloin 38 yuan

Tel: 3209-0831

Address: 598 Huangjincheng Ave

Cafe do Carmo – special blends

This classical Japanese cafe offers filtered and single origin coffee. To cater for Gubei residents' varied preferences, many of them coming from countries outside Japan, the owner has tried to develop a few coffee blends which he hopes will prove popular.

The eye-catching coffee bar displays more than 50 kinds of coffee bean from world's famous producing areas, such as Ethiopia, Hawaii, Guatemala, El Salvador and Yunnan Province of China.

We recommend two of their single origin coffees and their famous Shanghai blend.

With fine and delicate acidity, showing some bright characters, Hawaii Kona is very suitable for female drinkers. Its back taste can catch some fruit-toned sweetness.

Their Blue Mountain No.1, although a little expensive, is a coffee lover's dream. Its rich and caramel-like flavor, perfect balance of acidity and body, and strong fragrance deeply impress the palate.

Coffee blends, although not pure, offer complex flavor and changeable character. Shanghai Blend, a mixture of three coffees of different origin, has a full body, mild taste and complex flavor combining mellow, nutty and sweet.

Opening hours: 8:15am-11pm

Price: Hawaii Kona 50 yuan; Blue Mountain No.1 60 yuan; Shanghai Blend 28 yuan

Tel: 6295-0557

Address: 28 Shuicheng Rd S.

Cat and Jazz – purrfect for feline fans

This feline-themed cafe is well hidden in a residential building. On entering, we are greeted by a lovely black cat with charming green eyes and inside the small cafe six cats are lounging about. A brown-and-white cat is basking in the sunshine; a black one is running around a customer's leg like a spoiled child and a white cat is staring out the window and wagging her tail.

As you would expect, the overall design and decor plus the menu are all cat related. Photos of the resident cats adorn the menu, accompanied by introductions about each one, including their breed and origin. We learn two of them were stray cats.

According to the waiter's explanation, the owner hopes that her cafe can give fellow cat lovers a chance to share their pet experiences.

The coffee here is freshly brewed, from American coffee to Cappuccino, covering all the popular styles. Being frank, the taste is general and lacking its own character. However, the presence of the cats and the sounds of jazz in the background enhance the overall experience.

Opening hours: 11am-11pm (closed on Mondays)

Price: coffee 30-50 yuan

Tel: 1312-0660-883

Address: Rm 301, No.3, Lane 79, Ronghua Ave E.