5 "big-name" coffees, 6 well-received lattes

What to drink and where to drink?

As a barista who doesn't care about work and doesn't die, the answer is of course to make it at home. However, we will talk about making it yourself later; first, let's solve the urgent problem: I am lazy and don't have the conditions to make it myself. What should I do if I want to drink good coffee? Then, go to a coffee shop .

There are so many types of Italian coffee, but the most ordered coffee in coffee shops is latte . And most of the lattes we drink are from chain coffee shops. In chain coffee shops, latte is the most popular, accounting for the vast majority of milk coffee sales.

The question is, are these everyday lattes considered a good cup of coffee?

Today, let's try the lattes from the five most common coffee chains. In addition to lattes, we also tried espresso from these coffee shops.

Because espresso is the soul of an Italian cup!

Finally, you may remember that we once visited all the boutique coffee shops in Shanghai (as well as Beijing, Hong Kong and Guangzhou!). At the end of this article, we will recommend to you our 6 favorite lattes in Shanghai.

Ⅰ. What is a good latte?

To put it simply and crudely, a cup of latte, whether hot or cold, must have the sweetness of milk and a hint of coffee flavor (to complement the sweetness of the milk and increase the taste layer); if it is a hot latte, the milk foam should be dense.

But it’s not that simple. Teacher Cha believes that the factors and criteria to be considered are as follows:

raw material:

1. Coffee beans: The climate and terroir where the coffee beans grow give them a rich flavor. Different blends bring different collisions, but coffee beans from a single origin will also have a special taste experience. In addition, the coffee beans must be fresh!

2. Milk: I could write another 5,000-word essay on this (would you guys like to read it?) but generally speaking, Mr. Cha only drinks lattes made with fresh milk!

Other external factors:

3. Machine: The quality of the machine is crucial, but Teacher Cha believes that even the best machine still needs people to operate it.

4. Barista

4.1 Barista’s service: giving people a warm, comfortable and relaxing feeling.

4.2 Barista's skills: Rather than skills, it is more about understanding coffee. To create different drinks with only two ingredients, espresso and milk, one must be very skilled in using both. The stable skills of a barista are a big test for every coffee shop.

5. Production process (environment): Is it clean? Are the utensils neatly arranged? Are they cleaned immediately after use? A store that pays attention to details always makes people feel more favorable.

II.So, how do the following 5 cups of lattes taste?

Icon color, light represents good, dark represents needs to be improved

Hot latte: smooth in the mouth, bitter aftertaste, and loose milk foam

Iced latte: Even with fresh milk, it is difficult to cover up the bitter taste of coffee

Hot latte: The milk is over-foamed, too hot, or the barista doesn’t do it right

Iced latte: The espresso is so weak that it's like drinking brown milk with ice cubes

Hot latte: It doesn’t taste like fresh milk, the foam is rough, and it’s still watery after stirring

Iced latte: The unnatural aroma of milk overwhelms the coffee itself

Hot latte: It’s cheap, but it’s really not good

Iced Latte: Light coffee, syrupy, so sweet it makes your teeth fall out

Hot latte: The milk foam is dense, but not fully integrated

Iced latte: milk is sweet but coffee is slightly bitter

III. Look beyond the phenomenon to see the essence

Milk and milk foam play a very important role in hot latte.

The milk foam is dense, delicate, and has an attractive sheen, which makes the coffee taste sweeter and more mellow. After the lactose in the milk is heated and whipped, part of it is converted into sweet galactose and glucose, which also brings out the sweetness better.

By the way, if you drink a latte with rough milk foam and quick layering , it means the barista’s skills are really not that good .

We plucked up the courage to taste the espresso of these five companies, just to see the beans themselves ! Because espresso is the soul of Italian!

The most intuitive impression of a good espresso is the taste. Drinking it smoothly and without irritation is the first step; the remaining bonus points are the balance and the flavor of the beans' origin.

Here the teacher's expression is like this:

Big Crash.gif

So, the conclusion is, if it doesn’t taste good, why do people still drink it?

Maybe it’s because the taste buds have become accustomed to the strong burnt bitter taste and feel that this is the taste of coffee.

Actually, there are much better options!

To drink the following expression:

Boss, another cup of coffee by the pool.gif

We revisited a number of Shanghai cafes that we recommended before.

The following six companies left a particularly deep impression :

(Ranking in no particular order)

Come and have a look,

Is there a good coffee bar near your office/home?

IV. Our 6 favorite lattes in Shanghai, here

1｜UNDEFINE

Address: Room 105, Building 6, No. 50 Moganshan Road (Tianmu West Road)

Tel: 021-22776299

Coffee machine: Nuova T3;

Grinder: Mythosone EK34

Bean source: Encore

Bean blend: Sun-dried Yirga + Guatemala

Milk: Vipshop Food Packaging

The milk foam is dense, the nutty aroma is good, the taste is balanced, and it promotes all-round development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor!

2｜Paras

Address: No. 55, Shanxi South Road (near Xinle Road)

Tel: 021-64339796

Coffee machine: Kees Vander Westen Spirit;

Grinder: Mazzer Robur

Bean source: Confidential

Bean blend: Confidential

Milk: Meiji Foodservice Packaging

The hot latte tastes like eating butter cookies! The iced latte has a distinct citrus flavor, and the combination of milk, coffee, and ice is just right~

3｜Table 12

Address: Office Building, Feizhou International Building, No. 899 Lingling Road, Xuhui District

Tel: 17717374801

Coffee machine : La Marzocco GB5 EE

Grinder: Nuova Mythos One / Anfim / Baratza Forte

Source of beans: We usually have 3-5 types of SOE roasted in-house (currently mainly Colombian Caucaminamar, Ethiopian Guji Sun-dried G1, Colombian Huilan Deca ), deep roasted Brazilian Sandos No. 2 provided by Ashida Coffee Research Institute , and coffee from excellent roasters around the world from time to time (currently Graph Coffee Cooperate's Wild Weekend blend from Thailand)

Milk: Vipshop

I tried three SOEs that I liked. Whether it was dark roasted or slightly light roasted, the origin characteristics were very obvious. Brazil had a good sense of balance, while Ethiopia's beans were full of sun-dried flavor and had an excellent sweetness!

4｜Small Arms Big Heart

Address: Right side of the gate of Zhangyuan 99, No. 99 Taixing Road, Jing'an District

Tel: 17302115791

Coffee machine: Kees Mirage

Grinder: Anfim SP450

Bean source : domestic and foreign procurement and self-roasting

Bean blending: There are three types of bean blends based on flavor and purpose: the fixed recipe is used by Taipei Cavalli, the blends of other roasters at home and abroad are changed every month, and the others are roasted in-house.

Milk: Weiquan fresh milk

Different beans are used to produce espresso, Americano and milk coffee. For hot latte, you can taste the obvious hazelnut flavor; for iced coffee, the ratio of condensed milk to ice cubes is accurate enough to be weighed.

5. Uncle No Name Espresso

Address: Next to the Uniqlo parking lot, No. 258 Wujiang Road, Jing'an District

Tel: 021-62990109

Coffee machine: La Marzocco Linea PB ABR

Grinder: Mazzer KONY

Bean source: Changed from time to time

Bean blend: Changed from time to time

Milk: Weiquan fresh milk

Uncle's espresso, with a little bit of milk tenderness, is more like a mellow and warm uncle~ (oh, I'm already drunk after drinking the delicious espresso)

6｜ Umind Joyful Coffee

Address: 1st Floor, Lanxinyue Cube, No. 400, Zhangyang Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai

Tel: 13651701465

Coffee machine : Nuova Simonelli

Grinder: Mazzer Supper Jolly

Beans source: Purchased from home and abroad

Bean blend: Ashida Coffee Research Institute French Blend (Brazilian Chocolate + Colombian Na Linglong + Seasonal Beans)

Milk: Weiquan fresh milk

Take a sip, the milk foam is dense and delicate, and the sweetness is obvious. Although it is a darker roasted blend, it tastes completely free of unpleasant bitterness!

A lot of new stores have opened recently.

We also ran some

Shanghai coffee map is being updated

If you have any special favorite

Please tell us.

Text｜Charles, Coral, Miner, Xiaoman

Editor | Miner, Xibei

gif design｜Yaoyao

Photography｜Miner