Shall We Coffee? We Shall!

Step off the footpath from Waterfront Way and into a new world of coffee appreciation with the team at Shall We Coffee: the café where making coffee is both an art and exact science.

Nestled on an island store between China Bar and Empire Asian Supermarket at The District Docklands, Market Lane, Shall We Coffee has quickly become a favourite among Docklanders, with some claiming it as the “best coffee in Docklands”.

Shall We Coffee was founded in late 2020 by Danny Tan and Angie Lin, both of whom have worked in the industry for years and locals may remember from NewQuay café Cocobei.

The pair brings a revitalised energy and approach to their latest venture, which sees coffee meet science with the use of their new filter siphon technology.

“We wanted to bring something special and unique to Docklands – something that no other café is doing – which is siphon coffee,” Ms Lin said.

“It was an idea I originally put forward to Danny to see how it would be received and possibly take this approach to coffee competitions.”

“The response from locals has been amazing. They have been really curious to learn more about the technique and try our different roasts.”

According to Ms Lin, the siphon coffee method dates back to 1800s Germany, where its aim was to create a new brewing coffee using vapor pressure and, well, to design a more appealing brewing tool.

The process of producing siphon coffee is as mesmerising as it is exact, with a siphon coffee pot consisting of two chambers, one on the bottom and a coffee brewer on top.

Water then boils over a radiant heater to 100 degrees into the bottom chamber, creating water vapour and pressure, forcing it to the top chamber to brew the coffee grounds.

You then remove the siphon brewer from heat, and the opposite occurs: the cooled-down bottom chamber draws out the liquid from the upper chamber and the liquid is drawn back down to the bottom chamber, passing through a filter, leaving the coffee grounds behind.

“It is more like a performance and a show. It isn’t often you see your coffee brewed this way right in front of you at our barista bar,” Shall We Coffee duty manager Lin Lin said.

“When people see the orange glow from our radiant heater, they are immediately drawn over to our counter to see what is actually going on. Then we have the chance to explain this way of producing filter coffee and teach them about the history.”

“So far, the reception has been great. We have people coming to us and saying that we are the best coffee in Docklands. We feel so honoured and try keep the standard every single day.”

Although the siphon technology is a feature of its store, Shall We Coffee has all of the usual features of your “traditional” café offering a range of machine brew coffees, pastries and teas.

You will find the team at Kiosk TM-G-K04 7.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 5pm on weekends •

For more information, visit shall-we-coffee.square.site