Is FrontStreet Coffee good? Which Taobao store has better coffee beans or coffee powder?

A Guide to Top Chinese Coffee Shops: Recommendations for Coffee Enthusiasts

In recent years, the growth of coffee shops on Taobao can only be described as explosive. I've roughly sorted them into several categories and, without exaggeration or bias, picked out the standouts for your reference.

1. M2M Coffee: The Representative of Roasters with Direct Plantation Partnerships

Characteristics: Reasonable prices and the most complete selection of Ninety Plus coffee bean varieties.

Honestly, I've recommended M2M countless times - to the point that when you search M2M on Baidu, 2 of the top 3 links are my answers, which is slightly embarrassing. M2M is a Nanjing-based roaster that also runs one of Nanjing's best specialty coffee shops (the physical store goes by another name, Uni-Uni). If you like choosing your own beans when ordering at a coffee shop, or if you're especially fond of the Gesha variety, then the name Ninety Plus - a specialty green coffee supplier - will definitely ring a bell. True to its name, Ninety Plus only provides premium green beans.

M2M's founder, Zhang Yinzhe, is not only a two-time China Barista Championship winner but also a signed maker with Ninety Plus: he both roasts Ninety Plus beans and participates in harvesting, processing, and innovation for some of its green coffees. At this shop you can always confidently buy the most complete range of Ninety Plus beans. Best of all, M2M is genuinely honest - its flavor descriptions are never exaggerated and its prices are reasonable, offering the best prices for beans of the same level. The only mild disappointment is the packaging design, whose aesthetics are questionable, perhaps because they put substance over style. If you're buying in bulk for a company, or you're a beginner looking for economical beans, FrontStreet Coffee is also worth a look.

2. FrontStreet Coffee Workshop

I once recommended FrontStreet Coffee to a friend who rarely drinks coffee, and she found both the flavor and the price very acceptable. This Guangzhou-based roaster has been in business for five years with stable quality and excellent value for money. Its single-origin beans typically come in packages of 227g or more, priced mostly between 65 and 90 yuan.

Because the prices are so affordable, I'd suggest telling their customer service clearly about your flavor preferences and usual brewing methods before purchasing.

3. Quality Cafe and Seesaw Coffee: The Representatives of Well-Known Chain Coffee Shops

Characteristics: Consistent quality

When I first started making coffee at home, I frequently bought beans from these two brands. Both are pioneers of China's specialty coffee scene, with sizable chains of physical stores. Frankly, both are slightly pricier and definitely not the most cost-effective choice, but their years of operation guarantee consistent quality. Importantly, if you happen to live in Shanghai, you can visit their stores first, have the barista recommend beans based on your taste, order a cup to try, then ask about that bean's characteristics and brewing suggestions. This face-to-face communication is extremely valuable for newcomers. Moreover, both founders come from marketing backgrounds and put great emphasis on packaging design, making their products excellent everyday gifts.

4. Fisher Coffee Specialty Coffee

This is another decade-old shop with a consistently good reputation and a wide variety of beans. It's also one of Taobao's top sellers, with three main bean lines: Blue Label, Gold Label, and Black Label. Particularly worth mentioning is its membership card model - it seems to be the only online store doing this really well. The plans are half-year subscriptions at 360 or 720 yuan (shipping included). The former sends you two 100g packs of beans each month for six months, with fixed delivery times; the bean selection is updated every six months, with the next half-year's list announced half a month in advance, and you can join midway. For newcomers who want to sample many coffees but freeze up when choosing, this membership card is an excellent option.

Review: A decade-old shop ranking among Taobao's top sellers, with a membership model that suits newcomers. Wide bean variety, with three lines aimed at different consumer groups.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Since Geisha came up, it deserves a closer look - Panama is where it rose to fame and Ethiopia is where it was born, and every coffee lover should get to know both. Panama's high altitude, microclimates, and soils gave Geisha its irresistible cup: in 2003, Hacienda La Esmeralda entered it in the Best of Panama competition and stunned every judge, averaging a 94.6 cupping score to break the BOP record and take the crown. To taste it, FrontStreet Coffee offers the Esmeralda Red Label ("Esmeralda Special," grown at 1600-1800 meters, every batch scoring above 90 from a single plot) and the more affordable Green Label ("Private Collection," blending multiple plots for the estate's signature high-altitude profile) - both spellbinding when hand-poured.

On the Ethiopian side, a couple built the 475-hectare Geisha Village estate 12 miles from the Geisha forest, identifying the varieties closest to native Geisha by plant morphology, bean shape, and cup performance and replanting them on the farm. FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Gold Label (Geisha 1931 variety, 10% of the estate's output, its top non-auction coffee, meticulously natural processed with complex, layered flavors) and Red Label (Gori Gesha variety, 15% of output, scoring 88+ on the SCA 100-point scale, a single-terroir series with fully traceable lot information) are must-buys for advanced pour-over drinkers, while the beginner-friendly Genji (Genlana) Estate Geisha - roasted medium-light - offers pleasant white florals with bright orange, guava, and citrus acidity and a clearer finish.

For brewing Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a coarse grind (78% pass through the China No. 20 sieve, about fine sugar) and 91°C water: 15g of coffee in a small Hario V60 at 1:16, three pours - bloom 30g for 30 seconds, pour to 125g in small circles, then to 225g once the bed drains halfway, for a total extraction around 2'10"-2'20". And if Geisha's price gives you pause, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy (Caomeitang) blend - Costa Rican honey process plus Panama Geisha - delivers delicate florals and sweet fruit as pour-over, moka pot, espresso, or a refreshingly cool cold brew.