The Coffee Academics restaurant - Hong Kong, China

Coffee is serious business. Just ask Jennifer Liu (founder of the highly popular homegrown chain Caffè Habitu) who is now blazing a trail in Hong Kong with The Coffee Academics. Tucked away in the heart of Causeway Bay, the café is an oasis for those wanting to indulge in all things java. Liu had a hand in the industrial, vintage-chic interiors, which feature communal wooden banquet tables set against red brick walls that could easily have us imagining we are in downtown Brooklyn. No expense was spared on a variety of top-end roasters, all housed - quite inexplicably - behind bulletproof glass. We recommend sampling the ice-dripped coffee, made from a painstaking process that requires six hours to produce just one litre of liquid. The result is a sinful brew with a delectably similar taste to whisky.