Today I went into town for some business and decided to stop for coffee at one of the several shops nearby. This town is Pak Chong which is about half way between Bangkok and Korat, about two hours drive from Bangkok. In this area there are many little coffee shops but, as I have blogged in the past, most of them do not have good coffee. After having a coffee today I decided I should start doing reviews on all these little coffee shops as I try them. So this is the first of many reviews to come.
I had a cappuccino at a little shop called Coffee Journey. It is in talad Pak Chong on the main road through town and next door to one of the main bus stations. There are three little coffee shops next door to each other here – I will try the others and post about them in the future.
Today’s cappuccino at Coffee Journey was one of the worst cups of coffee I have had in a long time. To start with it was very sweet. A hot cappuccino should not be sweet, not until the customer adds sugar to it if that’s what they want. It also tasted like they used bad quality coffee, although I couldn’t be sure because the sweetness just took over the taste. I asked the server why it was sweet and she said because they use sweetened milk, that’s how Thai people like it…uh, fail. That is typical of so many Thai coffee shops that don’t know how to make coffee. I hate it. Seeing that I was unhappy about it she offered to add more coffee to it, but I said no since I knew that wouldn’t fix it. Nevertheless, she brought me a little shot glass of coffee, espresso basically. So I got to try the straight coffee. It was awful, just watery and brown with no aroma and a cheap bitter taste.
So I’m starting my series of coffee shop reviews with one out of five stars for Coffee Journey in Pak Chong. It gets one star instead of zero because it is edible and didn’t make me sick, but it tasted terrible because they used bad coffee and sweetened milk.
Tags: coffee
You might also like
Topless waitresses at Vietnamese coffee shop cited
In breaking news, three waitresses at a Vietnamese coffee shop in San Jose were cited for being topless....
|
Coffee Memories
Coffee Memories is a coffee shop on Thanarat Road near km 13 across the street from Khrua Khao Yai....
|
Twitterers meet at Bangkok coffee shop
I saw at story at Asia One News about a popular meet up location in Bangkok for people who are crazy...
|
Stuff I really want – espresso maker
My dear readers know how much I like a nice cup of coffee. It's not always easy to find one around...
|
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:02 am
Besides the pictures/commentary of the cuties I shall enjoy this new thread. Finding a decent Coffee Joint, including Starbucks which I do not like, is hit and miss in LOS. Specially up country.
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:31 am
Yes, and even if you don’t like Starbucks it is one of the few with decent coffee because they use good quality beans instead of the really bad junk so many little shops use.
June 23rd, 2011 at 9:55 am
Any place where Starbucks or mass chains offer the best coffee are struggling. I often drink the coffee (bahn yen) blended ice when in Bangkok which I expect to be sweet and is complimented by the condensed milk IMO, although it is often very strong and can leave you rushing for the bathroom. I like the cool drink when it is hot. I look forward to your research.
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:09 am
Oh yes, the cold coffees are tasty many places and you don’t really need the best quality coffee for those although it does taste better. It’s when you order a hot cappuccino that it really shows that they don’t know how to make it and they use cheap coffee.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:30 pm
I like the coffee beans that are sold through Coffee World stores. I guess they would use the same blend in their over the counter espressos and lattes. A bag of beans costs around 200baht (USD$6.50) and I use a French press to boil the coffee and add a dash each of condensed milk and evaporated milk to make iced espressos at home. Good value. If you drink your coffe at a Coffee World cafe you can enjoy free wifi which beats paying 200baht per hour at Starbucks!
June 23rd, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I’s interesting to note the variations in price as well which bear no relation to the standard of coffee, especially in Bangkok.
June 23rd, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I guess I should include prices in my reviews. Coffee Journey was 30 baht for a hot cappuccino. I’m used to paying 75 baht at Starbucks for a tall latte, 60 to 65 baht other places and like Paul said the price often says little about the quality.
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:23 pm
What do you think of Doi Chang coffee, Ms. AS???
I’m not a big coffee drinker myself, but they seem to have a good rep among caffeine fiends I know round about BKK.
June 23rd, 2011 at 8:46 pm
I think there is a Doi Chang coffee shop nearby. I will post a review when I try them.
June 24th, 2011 at 9:57 am
“I asked the server why it was sweet and she said because they use sweetened milk, that’s how Thai people like it.” Interesting to learn that’s not true – when Thai restaurants started opening in Boston, way back in the 80’s, “Thai coffee” was always strong coffee/espresso mixed with sweetened, condensed milk. Yucky stuff, IMO, except when ice cold. Later, learned I could buy nearly the same brew in aluminum cans, refrigerated.
Although it’s unlikely I’ll be using your reviews, I like the thread. Perhaps you’ll make a map with the stores starred?
June 24th, 2011 at 11:33 am
Yes, the cold coffee is very sweet, that’s the way Thai people like it. But that’s not how this Thai person likes her cappuccino.