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