What Caused the Coffee Aroma Across Shanghai?
In the early hours of May 17, 2021, residents across several Shanghai districts reported a strong coffee aroma on Weibo. Some blamed a neighbor brewing late at night, others wondered about a hidden cup at home. The smell resembled instant coffee with burnt and sesame oil notes. Shanghai's fire department and ecological environment bureau found no accidents and continued tracing the source.
Online rumors pointed to a flavoring factory gas leak in Minhang District, with furfuryl mercaptan named as the possible substance. That organic compound is a food flavoring that gives a strong coffee aroma when diluted. For a city with nearly 8,000 coffee shops, the unexplained coffee aroma chemicals turned a quiet night into a citywide discussion.
In the early hours of May 17, 2021, residents in multiple districts of Shanghai reported on Weibo that a rich coffee aroma was drifting through the air. Some thought a neighbor was brewing coffee, while others suspected a family member was secretly drinking coffee late at night. This mysterious fragrance smelled like instant coffee, with hints of burnt and sesame oil notes. Later, rumors circulated online that a gas leak had occurred at a flavoring factory in Minhang District, with speculation that the leaked substance was furfuryl mercaptan. The Shanghai Fire Department and the Ecological Environment Bureau responded that they had not received any reports of related accidents and had launched an investigation, but no abnormalities were found at the scene, and the source is still under verification. As a "City of Coffee" with nearly 8,000 coffee shops, Shanghai's real-life coffee aroma incident attracted widespread attention.
As an international metropolis, Shanghai has seen its urban vitality gradually return as the pandemic situation improved after a period of quiet. In 2021, with nearly 8,000 coffee shops, Shanghai became one of the cities with the highest density of coffee shops in the world, and residents' love for coffee continued to grow, earning it the reputation of "City of Coffee." Unexpectedly, the aroma of coffee actually filled half of Shanghai.
Around 12 a.m. on May 17, some netizens posted on Weibo that they had smelled coffee and were full of confusion—who would drink coffee in the middle of the night?
Some netizens even suspected they were hallucinating.
Others thought the intense coffee aroma came from a neighbor brewing coffee, while the neighbor had the same thought in a moment of telepathy.
Still others thought someone in their home was secretly drinking coffee behind their back.
Many netizens reported that this inexplicable coffee smell spreading across Shanghai was very similar to the aroma of instant coffee, while also carrying burnt and sesame oil notes.
Afterward, online rumors spread that an accident at a flavoring factory in Minhang District, Shanghai, had caused a gas leak, and some netizens speculated that the leaked gas was furfuryl mercaptan.
It is reported that furfuryl mercaptan is an organic compound and an important food flavoring. When diluted, it emits a strong coffee aroma and a sweet, caramel-like scent. This chemical is mainly used to blend coffee, chocolate, and other flavors.
On May 17, staff from the Minhang District Fire Rescue Detachment told a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that they had not received any reports of an accident at a flavoring factory on May 16. Staff from the Shanghai Fire Rescue Corps also said they had not received any reports of an explosion or gas leak at a flavoring factory, and that they had taken note of residents reporting smelling coffee. The fire department is still investigating the source of the coffee smell.
Meanwhile, staff from the Minhang District Ecological Environment Bureau told reporters that they had received reports from Shanghai residents about smelling an inexplicable coffee odor on the evening of May 16. After going to the scene, the staff did not smell any abnormal odor. At present, during the pandemic, work and production resumption has not yet officially started, and enterprises are still in a state of shutdown. The specific situation is being verified and investigated jointly across multiple districts, and the source is being sought.
Image source: Internet
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
