Coffee Buff

Coffee Buff moved its roastery and cafe from Shanghai to Qingdao in early 2025, taking over more than 2000 square meters of a former western style suit factory below Beiling Mountain in Shibei District. Owner Li Zhen, who won the 2020 national coffee brewing championship and has placed in several national brewing and barista competitions since, built the space around a front shop, back factory layout, with a glass wall separating the retail counter from the roasting floor so customers can watch beans go from green to roasted while they wait for their order.

The bean list runs to dozens of mostly light roasted lots from Yunnan, Central and South America and Ethiopia, each sold with its own flavor card and priced close to wholesale cost plus a processing fee rather than a typical cafe markup. Coffee Buff sells whole beans, drip bags and its own merchandise alongside the drinks menu, and the shop runs professional coffee training courses along with a free monthly cupping session open to customers.