Which Taobao Coffee Bean Shop is Best? 2019 Recommended Coffee Bean Shops on Taobao

The Importance of Subjective Coffee Experience

Personal preference in coffee tasting is crucial. Don't limit yourself to just one shop. Try multiple stores offering the same origin and variety, then choose the one that feels most comfortable and whose flavor descriptions best match your subjective sensations before exploring different varieties. Stores with high reviews or large sales volumes may not necessarily suit your personal taste. For beginners, I strongly recommend non-acidic beans, such as those from Central and South America, to establish a proper standard.

The biggest problem with most "specialty" coffee bean sellers on Taobao and Tmall is inconsistent quality control, making it difficult to guarantee the quality of both beans and roasting.

Sales volume doesn't represent everything. I used to be enthusiastic about choosing stores with high shipping volumes, thinking this would avoid stale beans. Let's call a store with relatively high shipping volume Store A, and another with much lower shipping volume Store B. Once I tried a bean roasted by Store B, and it had everything - body, fruit flavors, and was simply stunning. However, for the sake of a discount, I ordered beans from Store A that were the same origin and variety, with even the same roast level described in the details. Yet the flavor not only differed from Store B's but was also very unpleasant upon tasting.

At first, I thought it was my brewing technique, so I adjusted water temperature, grind size, used both V60 and Chemex... However, after using half a bag of beans, that unpleasant taste still lingered. Only then did I realize it should be a roasting problem, so I decisively gave up on Store A and explored more shops.

Therefore, for non-professionals, coffee is just a hobby, and enjoying it yourself is most important. For seasoned coffee enthusiasts, savoring single-origin coffees from different countries and regions without any additives, much like tasting a glass of red wine, is the true way to enjoy coffee.

Recommended Coffee Shops

Below are shops I've purchased from or tried that I feel are quite good! (Personal preference in coffee tasting is crucial - don't limit yourself to just one shop. Try multiple stores offering the same origin and variety, then choose the one that feels most comfortable and whose flavor descriptions best match your subjective sensations before exploring different varieties)

FisherCoffee Specialty Coffee

This is another ten-year-old established shop with consistently good reputation. As a decade-old store with top sales on Taobao, this shop offers quite a variety of beans. It's also a store with relatively high sales on Taobao, featuring three main categories: Blue Label, Gold Label, and Black Label beans. I bought their natural-processed Sidamo Flower Queen beans, which were close to medium roast with relatively uniform bean color.

To best express these rich layers, I recommend using V60 with a Fuji grinder setting of 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15, brewed at 90°C. The [Sidamo Flower Queen] has obvious cantaloupe aroma and strawberry jam in the front fragrance, with jackfruit-like gentle acidity upon entry, followed by strawberry berry flavors emerging in the middle, plus some sugarcane aftertaste ☕

Their membership card model seems to be the best among online shops. They offer six-month plans at 360/720 RMB (shipping included). The former sends you 2 packs of 100g beans monthly, delivered over 6 months at fixed times. Plans are updated every six months, with the next half-year's bean list shown half a month in advance. You can also join midway. For newcomers who want to try various coffees but have choice paralysis and don't know what to select, this membership card is quite excellent.

Coffee Workshop FrontStreet Coffee

For daily drinking beans, the most important things are product stability, reliability, and consistency. They offer many beans with guaranteed quality. If you have the chance to visit Guangzhou, this is a great destination. It's a long-established home-roasting coffee shop in Guangzhou, and some coffee shops in Guangzhou (those without roasting equipment) directly source from this shop.

FrontStreet Coffee, dedicated to coffee roasting, never compromises on material selection and procurement. They never use inferior ingredients to cut corners, focusing instead on roasting each bean and brewing each cup properly, doing their part, and leaving the word-of-mouth to customers.

I bought FrontStreet Coffee's green label Geisha, which has excellent fruit acidity. What's the difference between La Esmeralda's red label and green label Geisha? Red label refers to auction-lot Geisha beans, possessing special, bright floral and citrus aromas. Green label refers to reserve-lot (non-auction) Geisha beans, which also have the classic floral and fruit flavors of Geisha coffee beans. For brewing, you can use a wave filter for immersion extraction: 15g coffee, water temperature 91-92°C, medium-fine grind, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15-1:16.

When brewed with a wave filter, the overall flavor is quite balanced, with obvious maple sweetness, distinct bergamot and citrus acidity, and rich jasmine fragrance.

Wang Li Specialty Coffee

Wang Li specializes in 90+ beans.

Ninety Plus is an American company that enters Ethiopia and Panama through grower and origin trade methods for production and cultivation. We can call it "Ninety Plus" - widely labeled as "90+" in China, it's actually a company trademark name.

Silria Lockheart coffee comes from the processing of coffee in plot 11 of Geisha Estate. All coffee from this plot is processed simultaneously, and the harvested Geisha cherries absorb more fruit flavors during the Solkiln process, extending the processing time and resulting in stronger fruit flavors in the coffee. It has an obvious juice mouthfeel, rich tropical fruit flavors, and pineapple shortcake taste, with a persistent aftertaste.

The above can be classified as specialty coffees.

Blended Coffee for Home Use

For home coffee machines with added sugar and milk, you can use blended coffee beans. Blended coffee, also called mixed coffee or comprehensive coffee, includes almost all popular Italian coffees. For example, Starbucks' XXX blend belongs to this category. We generally call coffee made by mixing two or more different varieties of coffee, or the same variety with different roast levels, blended coffee.

M2M

M2M is from UNIUNI in Nanjing, whose owner is the 2014 WBC China regional champion. The recently famous Chinese pour-over champion beans come from UNIUNI. I haven't tried their single-origin coffees yet, but I've had a milk coffee in their café, which had excellent sweetness. Their Taobao No. 1 blend costs 70 RMB for half a pound (shipping not included). The flavor is clean and fresh, balanced and easy to extract, with quite a broad sweet spot and unlikely to produce bitter flavors.

Aodi Roast

Their No. 1 blend costs 65 RMB for half a pound - a classic dark roast with rich crema and full aroma, pairing well with milk.

Minority

Kitano Takeshi costs 98 RMB per pound, with special aroma that I particularly liked for a while.

PTN Coffee Studio

Speaking of .jpg, Guangzhou coffee enthusiasts all know it. Now .jpg has opened 2 branches. Today I visited the original store. .jpg only makes 3 types of coffee: Americano, Latte, and Flat White, only for takeaway. I ordered a flat white with nutty, creamy, chocolate flavors. I recommend the blend used by .jpg. The shop provides information: Colombia Huilan washed (80%) + Ethiopia Sidamo washed (20%) post-blend.

Instant and Drip Bag Coffee Options

No time, no stock, too lazy to move? Choose instant coffee or drip bag coffee.

Yongpu

Yongpu is a very special coffee shop that doesn't sell coffee beans - most of their products are drip bags and cold brew.

They offer diverse flavors. The first time I entered their shop, I was melted by their cute coffee packaging - each variety is designed by illustrators, and many crossover collaborations are quite interesting.

Cold brew coffee has been trending for several summers, and Yongpu's cold brew is also highly recommended by Tangyuan.

The low-temperature extraction method of cold brew inhibits the dissolution of tannins and caffeine, better preserving the coffee beans' aroma. In terms of mouthfeel, bitterness and fruit acidity are relatively reduced, with obvious aftertaste.

When you first taste this cold brew, the mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth.

The acidity and sweetness are perfectly balanced. Although the aroma isn't as strong as freshly ground or drip bag coffee, the mouthfeel doesn't fall short at all.

You can be bold in how you drink it - adding milk, ice cream, or soda water can all bring out different flavors.

Bubble prefers single-origin coffee with a bit of fruit acidity, and Yirgacheffe is an excellent choice.

Yongpu's Yirgacheffe is very refreshing, with a sweet taste on the tongue that's very appealing and highly acceptable.

Next Door Workshop

Next Door Workshop has a very special concept called "Everyone is a barista."

It feels like each coffee's flavor is very prominent. Entering the store is like being surrounded by floral and fruit aromas - very refreshing.

This multi-flavor drip bag mixed pack allows you to taste multiple coffee flavors at once - a blessing for those with choice paralysis.

From the fruit-sour Sidamo to rich nutty-flavored Italian blend, to the golden Mandheling with both bitter and aromatic notes, 20 bags offer excellent value for money.

Moreover, all these coffee beans are selected estate-grade quality, and you can also learn more coffee knowledge here.

Mingqian

Mingqian comes from the names of the owner and his wife's children - a very heartwarming coffee shop. You can see the owner's dedication from the products in the store.

Mingqian's customer service and after-sales support are quite good. You can ask customer service to recommend coffee suitable for you.

Today, Mingqian has become a relatively professional coffee brand in Shanghai with its own training school and stores. It's said to have an excellent industry reputation and guaranteed quality products.

This coffee is neither a drip bag nor instant, but a bag-brewed coffee.

There are two flavors to choose from: medium roast and dark roast. The medium is more suitable for friends who like black coffee, while the dark is better for milk coffee.

It's brewed like a tea bag, which is quite interesting!

Sumida River

Many people are very familiar with Sumida River - it's a Japanese brand.

It sells well in Japan, probably because the price is reasonable and the quality is good. Little cuties trying drip bags for the first time can try this.

I've always had the habit of drinking black coffee, and this drip bag black coffee has little difference from brewed coffee powder - quite surprising.

Moreover, this freeze-dried powder can be brewed both hot and cold. This is a relatively low-acidity variety with very rich flavor.

I've also bought Sumida River's red mocha drip bags and green Kilimanjaro before.

The red one has higher acidity, while the green one has moderate bitterness and acidity. In short, both have distinct flavors.

The new product packaging is also very cool with strong Japanese style.

Today I've shared some online shops I frequently visit. This article should be for those who really love coffee or want to try single-origin coffee. Besides milk coffee, I personally prefer black coffee, which is also healthier. Recommended!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473