New cafés in Shanghai are redefining coffee as a medium for craft, storytelling and science.

Coffee shops in the city are ambitious and unique, from concept bars to hidden neighborhood hangouts. These cafés function as labs of flavor, where baristas operate like chefs and the menus resemble tasting notes.

For the curious, adventurous and caffeine-fueled, this chapter of Shanghai's café culture serves lever-pulled espresso or frozen Gesha beans brewed with lab-grade equipment.

Omnibus Coffee

Omnibus Coffee is a cozy coffee shop near People's Square with a wide bean selection and good brews.

Hidden among the city's high-rises, it is worth a morning stop. The brand started as a self-roasting café bean supplier. It opened its own store last year. There are usually around 10 pour-over options available, which rotate with the harvest season and range from deep to light roasts – a well-rounded selection.

In addition to their roasts, they also offer quality imported beans. Be sure to ask the barista about off-menu picks – there are often delightful surprises.

Although they use only a home-style espresso machine, the results are impressively refined, showcasing each bean's flavor – a testament to the baristas' skill. The shop itself has a cheerful vibe reminiscent of a coffee bus, with a playful transport theme evident throughout the space. An LED sign above the whiteboard scrolls with "next stop" messages and slogans. After enjoying a cup here, you truly feel recharged and ready for your next stop.

Opening hours: 9am-6pm (weekdays); 10am-7pm (weekends)

Address: 16 Yunnan Rd N., Huangpu District

黄浦区云南北路16号

Bathe Coffee

Bathe is back on Yongkang Road after six years with a new look and a more refined specialty coffee menu. The new menu includes boozy options and a clever "one bean, three ways" tasting set. Each drink has a different flavor profile – bright acidity, balanced sweetness or pleasant bitterness – so whether you want a refreshing afternoon pick-me-up or a lightly spiked sip with a buzz, there's something for you.

The espresso base uses REDXKEY's custom-blended beans for flavor consistency. Their pour-over results are always clean and precise with the xBloom automatic brewer.

A bonus detail: The quirky outdoor faucet from Bathe 1.0 remains in place. Turn it on, and you'll have access to drinkable, purified water – a charming nod to the past.

Opening hours: 10am-6pm

Address: 70 Yongkang Rd, Xuhui District

徐汇区永康路70号

村口大树 (Dako)

Many cafés now pursue avant-garde pairings and ultra-niche ingredients. But 村口大树 Dako's specialty creations are tasty, comforting and easily understood. The flavors are blended like a well-composed dish with a clear theme. They're not boring – they're creative and fun.

In the "color-guided" bean shop on the first level, you can taste a flight of five beans with smoky, fruity or other flavors. The second level is for relaxing with friends or enjoying your favorite coffee.

Try the "pepper room," a cold brew coffee blend of washed Colombian and semi-washed Papua New Guinea beans infused with fresh grapefruit, Sichuan pepper, cream and almond. Its gentle spice, citrus brightness and creamy depth create a refreshing and unexpected sensory experience.

Opening hours: 10am-6pm

Address: 88 Jiashan Rd, Xuhui District

徐汇区嘉善路88号

Aftertaste Coffee

Aftertaste in Qiantan is a futuristic coffee concept showroom. This espresso bar does things differently. The bar has Flair 58 manual lever espresso machines that require hand-poured hot water. Every espresso is handcrafted. Baristas adjust water temperature, quality and bean-specific pressure profiling. It complements the café's light roasts' clarity, fullness and clean flavor.

The right-hand bar is dedicated to pour-over brewing, showcasing an impressive array of cutting-edge equipment, including the GX-2 dripper with siphon-style tubes and an SSP Hu burr grinder (one of only two sets in existence worldwide). A minus-40-degree-Celsius lab-grade deep freezer has been imported from France that stores coffee beans.

The owner, one of China's top specialty green bean importers, has a strict bean list. The spotlight is on Gesha, but every hand brew uses 20g of coffee for over 300ml. Prices may seem high. For serious enthusiasts in pursuit of competition-grade beans or anyone curious about the future of coffee, Aftertaste is a must-visit.

Opening hours: 10am-6pm

Address: W3-102, 86 Jiangyong Rd, Pudong New Area

浦东新区江泳路86号W3-102单元

LuckyDraw

As a small café turned national roastery, LuckyDraw's mission has always been to make great coffee more accessible and let surprising flavors become everyday pleasures. A smooth and satisfying Americano costs 25 yuan (US$3.5), less than many well-known chains. Behind the low price are three espresso machines for different roasts and a lot of know-how.

This year's highlight? Espresso. While it's still not widely embraced in China and can be challenging to perfect, LuckyDraw is determined to change that. A Kees Spiritello lever machine lets baristas customize bean extraction. The café is always busy with dine-in customers, non-stop delivery orders and calm baristas. If you're unsure where to find a satisfying cup, LuckyDraw is a dependable choice.

Opening hours: 8:30am-5:30pm (weekdays); 8:30am-6:30pm (weekends)

Address: 1622 Beijing Rd W., Jing'an District

静安区北京西路1622号

Sweetback Coffee

Shanghai has many charming neighborhood cafés, but finding one that's perfect is difficult. Sweetback is the ideal local café for a quiet, deep sense of contentment. The cafe is discreet on a quiet residential lane. Prices are low, and the coffee is always great.

The espresso menu has four bean options: dark, light, blends and SOEs. You can always try something new because two of them (excluding the blend) rotate every two weeks. Despite frequent updates, quality remains stable, indicating strong fundamentals. Pour-overs use mostly imported beans.

The owner used to work in the tea industry and has a small collection of premium teas. There are seasonal specials, rooibos teas and a hidden tea menu. The owner has put a lot of thought into the space. The café's warm wood-tone interior has been replaced by a sleek black one. The space is small, but the seating is comfortable for an afternoon.

Opening hours: 9am-7pm (weekdays); 10am-7pm (weekends)

Address: 889 Fahuazhen Rd, Changning District

长宁区法华镇路889号