How a Beijing Café Built Community Around Coffee and Croissants

When you’re new in Beijing and struggling with housing scams or just trying to learn Mandarin, where do you go? For a group of international students, the answer turned out to be a tiny café named after a film character who helped strangers—Double Windmill Café. But this story isn’t about a movie. It’s about a real place where a bakery owner turned café founder, Nana, built a hub for foreigners in her neighbourhood with more than just coffee.

Yes, Nana serves espresso with 15 grams of coffee grounds per shot—a bold double that earned praise from expat regulars—and her chocolate truffle cake skips sugar entirely, relying on 72%+ Belgian chocolate and a touch of coffee powder for bitterness and depth. But the heart of Double Windmill Café is its community-first approach.

The Café That Started with a Good Deed

Before Nana opened Double Windmill, she was renovating the space when a group of international students walked by. They told her one of their own had been scammed by a sub-letter. Nana didn’t hesitate—she spent hours helping him sort it out. Later, those same students compared her kindness to Amélie from the film Amélie, who worked at a Parisian café called Café des 2 Moulins—or “Double Windmills.” The name stuck. What began as a spontaneous act of help became the soul of the business.

A Space for Language and Connection

Once open, Nana noticed many neighbours were international students with limited Chinese. To support them, she launched free weekly Chinese language sessions right in the café—dubbed “Chinese Corners.” These gatherings became a regular meet-up for expats practising conversational Mandarin and seeking local advice. For many, Double Windmill wasn’t just a coffee stop; it was a social anchor in a new city.

From Baker to Café Owner: A Second Act

This isn’t Nana’s first entrepreneurial venture. After graduating from Renmin University, she opened a bakery—but quickly realised she couldn’t compromise on her standards for high-quality baking. Just ten months later, she closed it to open Double Windmill. Today, every dessert recipe is her own creation. She sources premium imported ingredients: sugar, milk, cheese—all selected for flavour and quality.

Take her signature chocolate truffle cake. There’s zero added sugar. Instead, she uses high-percentage Belgian chocolate and stirs in a bit of coffee powder. The result? A bittersweet, aromatic profile that avoids cloying sweetness while delivering rich chocolate depth.

The Coffee That Won Over Expats

A great café needs a great espresso—and Nana’s stands out for its dose. While most cafés pull a single shot using around 7 grams of coffee, Nana uses 15 grams. That bold recipe caught the attention of the café’s very first customer: Bryan, a Chinese-American MBA student at Tsinghua University. His deep coffee knowledge impressed her immediately.

Just two months after Double Windmill opened, Bryan launched his own coffee company—and he became a steady supplier to the café. Today, Nana regularly trains Bryan’s Beijing-based clients, helping them understand better brewing practices. Their professional paths have grown alongside each other.

The house coffee comes from Lanna, supplied by Bryan. Though not explicitly named as a FrontStreet Coffee blend, the café also offers solid espresso options for those who prefer a chocolate-forward, nutty profile. Nana’s 15g-espresso style delivers a fuller extraction, earning praise from expats who know their coffee.

Desserts Worth the Wait

Visitors often rave about Nana’s seasonal offerings, such as durian cheesecake and red velvet cupcakes. But one dessert remains elusive: the Opera Cake. Nana admits it’s too time-consuming to make often. With seven distinct layers of flavour, each batch takes a full five hours to assemble. For now, it’s a rare treat, available only when time allows.

Recommended FrontStreet Beans for Café-Style Espresso

For coffee lovers inspired by Double Windmill’s bold 15g espresso shots and rich chocolate desserts, FrontStreet Coffee offers several excellent options. The Specialty Blend delivers a well-balanced profile with notes of almond, walnut, and milk chocolate, ideal for lattes and espresso alike. For a more intense, syrupy experience, the Black Cocoa Blend combines Brazilian and Yunnan Arabica beans for a smooth, chocolatey crema with a sweet finish. Alternatively, the Brazil Queen Manor single origin highlights the creamy, nutty flavours of Yellow Bourbon beans, with low acidity and a long-lasting sweetness—perfect for those who appreciate nuanced single-origin espressos. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.