And Coffee is a small, almost cubic space on the busy Wulumuqi Middle Road, the door on the left and a solitary window on the right. I found it completely by chance, something about it setting off my Coffee Spot radar. I’m not quite sure what, but I’ve learnt to trust my radar over the years.

There’s not much to And Coffee. The counter occupies the back of the room and there’s just enough space for an eight-person communal table in the centre, plus a four-person window-bar at the front. And that’s it. The décor is similarly plain, verging on the austere, with white-painted walls and ceiling, punctuated by a wooden counter-front and wooden table.

Coffee-wise, there are espresso-based drinks, single-origin pour-overs (with a choice of four beans) and cold brew, all using beans from the local Moon Coffee Roaster. There’s also tea, detox smoothies and, if you’re hungry, cake.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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My biggest problem in Shanghai was finding places. My usual tools, such as twitter and Google Maps, weren’t very effective: even now, back in the UK, I can’t find any on-line trace of some of the places I visited. So you’ll have to take my word for it that while walking up Wulumuqi Middle Road on my way from The Coffee Academics (now sadly closed), in an abortive attempt to find a branch of Seesaw Coffee that probably isn’t where Google Maps says it is, I passed a little coffee shop that set off my Coffee Spot radar.

Wulumuqi Middle Road seems to be the place for coffee shops in this part of Shanghai, having already passed several places touting La Marzocco espresso machines and fancy grinders. However, by themselves, shiny La Marzoccos and fancy grinders do not make a great coffee shop, hence I walked on by (quite possibly doing them a great mis-service in the process: since I never called in, I will never know).

However, And Coffee caught my eye sufficiently to stop me in my stride. Maybe it was the shop’s striking, clean lines. Certainly it had the gear: the pre-requisite shiny La Marzocco, plus a Mythos 1 grinder, clearly visible on the counter. On closer inspection, the menu, boldly written up on the pillar separating the door on the left from the window on the right, intrigued me. When I went inside, I found that I could get a V60 at the reasonable price (well, reasonable for Shanghai) of around £5, with a choice of four single-origin beans. Something told me that I had made the correct choice.

I selected a Kenya AA, and was impressed with my barista, who clearly knew what he was doing. Everything was carefully weighed out and timed, and, after leaving the coffee to bloom after the first pour, he employed a single, continuous pour technique which I had witnessed in 18 Grams in Hong Kong and in Sumerian Coffee here in Shanghai. The resulting coffee was very good, although perhaps a little acidic for my tastes, but perfectly acceptable.

Like many of the smaller places I visited in Shanghai, And Coffee has no air conditioning, and the window at the front was pulled right back, leaving the interior open to the street. This meant that it was a little noisy and humid.

Despite this, it was a good choice for a coffee stop and, continuing my good fortune, I fell into conversation with a local student, Jennifer, who was sharing my table. She was able to tell me about several coffee shops I wasn’t aware of, including Rumors and AUNN Cafe & Co., as well as giving me directions, thus neatly solving my navigation problem!

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