A vibrant subculture

Just a decade ago, though, there were far fewer specialty coffee shops in Hong Kong and they didn't enjoy the visibility they have now.

Allan Guan was fascinated by Melbourne's coffee culture when he was living in the Australian city, but after moving back to Hong Kong in 2013, he was surprised by the variety, and authenticity, of coffee flavors that his hometown had to offer. "There was this vibrant, almost underground, scene - passionate microroasters, baristas with obsessive attention to detail, tucked away in corners all over the city," he says.

Guan had uncovered a tightly knit subculture of people who brewed and drank coffee by the book. They include roasters working in shared industrial spaces, those trying to establish direct-trade relationships with farms, creative coffee menu designers and purists keen on single-origin sourcing of coffee beans. Many of them gave up corporate jobs to embrace a path less certain.

"They don't just roast coffee beans," Guan says. "They tell stories."

Guan's own contribution to Hong Kong's specialty coffee ecosystem was to start Coffee and Tales - pitched as Asia's leading coffee subscription service, featuring top artisan roasters from across the region.