Mandarin Coffee Stand

Yunnan coffee at a brass bar

Mandarin Coffee Stand is about 400 square feet of Burlington Arcade, most of it brass bar, and it was built to work the way Japanese coffee stands do: order, stand, talk to whoever is making the drink, move on. It started as a pop-up in early 2022 and took the arcade space later that year, and it is woman-owned and AAPI-owned. What sets the bar apart is where the coffee comes from. Yunnan-grown Chinese coffees have run as both espresso and drip, and the Mandarin House blend pairs Guatemalan and Ethiopian beans roasted by Rabbit Hole Roasters, which has also supplied the Yunnan lots. Guest roasters rotate through, among them The Barn, La Cabra and 4LW. Eater has listed the shop in its coffee guide.

A serious kit in a small footprint

For a stand this size the equipment list is not modest: Mahlkönig EK43 and E65S grinders, a Synesso S200 espresso machine, a Curtis batch brewer, pour-over brewers and a Pentair reverse-osmosis system to deal with Pasadena's hard water. That last one matters more than it sounds, since water chemistry does as much to a light roast as the grinder does. The setting is a covered retail arcade modelled on the London original, so the shop sits behind a curved bay window painted with flowers, warmly lit and half-hidden from the street. It is a beverage counter rather than a meal stop, and the conversation across the bar is part of what is being served.

Toasty first, then the tea lattes

Start with Toasty, the house coffee milk tea, which bridges the two halves of the menu better than anything else on it. Then work through the tea lattes: Hojicha Latte for roasted, nutty depth, Matcha Tonic for something brighter and carbonated, and Gui Hua Latte for osmanthus florals. Blossom Latte is the most composed drink on the board, built from espresso, milk, house ginger and pink peppercorn syrup, freshly ground pink peppercorn and pink salt. There has also been an osmanthus latte with cardamom bitters, and a pineapple espresso tonic made with house pineapple jam, Chinese crystal sugar, lime juice and tonic water. If you would rather drink coffee straight, ask whether the Yunnan is on espresso, drip or pour-over. Pastries are limited but useful, with a croffin and a ham and cheese croissant the ones to look for.