Metal Hands Coffee

Metal Hands opened in Wudaoying Hutong in 2016, founded by Ding Jiangtao around a bank of vintage lever espresso machines that give the shop its name, since pulling a shot means putting your own hand on the metal lever. The bar sits inside a converted courtyard house near the Confucius Temple and Guozijian, with concrete counters, wood shelving, and big windows that catch the alley's morning light.

The signature Dirty, espresso poured cold over milk, comes in rotating flavors like pistachio and matcha, alongside cheesecake baked in house. Metal Hands has since opened branches across Beijing and in Shanghai and Hangzhou, but the original Wudaoying room, small and informal, filled with regulars grabbing a seat at the counter, remains the one most people mean when they talk about Beijing's coffee scene.