Is it just milk tea? Situated inside S Maison is a new food hall concept put together by Bistro Group’s Chef Josh Boutwood. Dubbed My South Hall, one of the stations that Bistro Group has included in this mix of food stalls is a fresh Thai milk tea concept called WCKD.
What sets it apart from all the other hundred milk tea places that have sprouted around the city, you ask? For starters, they are trying to be different by going for a fresh, non-traditional approach on their branding. They also have a streamlined, 20-item menu which consists of the classic milk tea drink, plus some more adventurous flavors like their cheese cream and coffee jelly options.
Another notably admirable feature of WCKD is how they are making more eco-conscious efforts in their business by using biodegradable, plant-based boba straws. They are definitely one of few, if not the only one, who are doing this. These straws are actually made of sugar cane fibres which are not flimsy at all and do not leave any taste in your mouth whatsoever as one would expect.
And how about the milk tea itself? We can say that it is highly satisfactory and everything one would expect in a good cup of milk tea. Nothing stellar, but milk tea is about comfort anyway. Also, the fact that it is very new, not at all hyped up, and located inside a shopping mall that is never really crowded, you wouldn’t have to worry about lining up too long.
La Station is a bakery and cafe inspired by the Parisian subway system along Queen’s Road at East Wan Chai. The bright neon sign and red tiles on its shopfront are hard to miss. Like many coffee shops in Hong Kong, La Station is designed for quick take out, but they open earlier than most others for a good head start. They offer all the basic cafe fare—filter, latte, cappuccino. But for the more adventurous and sweet tooth inclined, La Station also has signature handcrafted drinks like their rose latte, creme brulee cappuccino, and golden latte. They even serve charcoal lattes which some say are a quick hangover fix. Regardless of how you prefer your coffee, you can expect this spot to deliver it well. They pay attention to the quality of their beans as well as to keeping the flavor on point in every cup. Add one of their freshly baked butter croissants and you’re good to go!
There are people who like their coffee basic. But there are also many who are a little more adventurous with their caffeine fixes. La Station boasts of their flavorful signature drinks, handcrafted specifically for those who like their coffee sweeter or simply with a little more to interest the palette. Their Rose Latte is one of the popular of these signature drinks, and it’s the one we got to try when we visited the cafe in Hong Kong.
Lifting the drink towards your face, you immediately get a whiff of the fragrant rose petals. That first sip introduces a mellow flavor of cream and nuts. In the end, it gets sweeter with the more prominent floral notes. It’s not overwhelming at all and it’s absolutely enjoyable. It’s even a pretty drink to look at with the dried petals sprinkled on top. Maybe instead of bringing flowers to your special someone, bring her to La Station for a romantic coffee date!
Baguio City has gotten pretty busy pretty fast within the last decade. With the rise of more mega shopping malls and hotels in the area, it’s a shame that we see more towering concrete than the majestic pines this place is loved for. So it is a gift when you do chance upon a sanctuary like Hatch Coffee.
Somewhat hidden on Easter Road and alongside the charming bed and breakfast, Easter Home, Hatch Coffee is secluded, peaceful and wonderfully lush. It is almost a secret, you have to find a gate on a wall almost completely covered in vines, then pull a rope to ring a bell to call someone to let you in. But once inside, you almost instantly feel relaxed. You can cozy by the fire in their beautiful garden, sip on their delicious cup of hot mocha and enjoy Baguio’s chilly breeze. Hidden away from the hustle and bustle, Hatch Coffee has exactly the kind of set up that makes a trip to pine city perfect and memorable, an ideal spot to escape to for the holidays.
It’s quite impossible to run out of cool cafes to visit when in Taipei. Here’s one that’s easy to love because of its awesome location: it’s called Mountain Kids Coffee Roaster. Located in the Zhongsheng district this space offers a cozy vibe despite its slick, modern interiors. Make your way up the white steps in the back corner and you’ll find a seating area giving you an unobstructed view of Beiman. That’s the North Gate of Taipei, a significant city landmark. It’s obvious that guests who frequent that cafe also prefer to sit by the window, you’ll find them sipping their coffees while enjoying the scenery and we totally get why!
Mountain Kids Coffee Roaster, also known by its abbreviated moniker, “MCKR,” seems like a pretty ideal chillout spot. It’s also a good place to visit if you’re exploring Taipei for the first time. Not only do you get to enjoy their locally roasted coffees, you also get to appreciate a beautiful historical site.
It’s not only the view that makes Mountain Kids Coffee Roaster worth visiting. The coffees served here are pretty stellar too! As a micro-roaster, they have a wide range of flavors to choose from but we decided to have their offering from Colombia. Lightly roasted and brewed using a pour-over filter method, it was mildly sweet and tangy. Just the right drink to enjoy after having been on a salty and spicy street food spree around the city. They also offer a variety of beautifully decorated pastries and decadent desserts which you can enjoy with your cup of coffee.
Coffee geeks can also geek out on the all-white KB90, the latest model from Italian espresso machine giant, LaMarzocco. The machine features a fresh take on barista workflow ergonomics and integrated scales that take espresso brew consistency to a whole new level.
Singapore’s Nylon Coffee seems difficult to find, especially for a first time visitor. Plus, it’s in an area where other coffee shops are visible and more easily accessible. So it really makes you wonder why so many people go out of their way to grab their coffee at Nylon. Why did they pick a hidden spot? Well, once we got there, we immediately realized why.
Nylon is situated in between Housing Development buildings facing a quaint pocket courtyard with a few benches and big flowering trees. When in bloom, they flower in bright hues of peach and orange. It’s such a beautiful sight that it makes complete sense why one would want to open a shop right there. When you step inside, you are greeted by an attractive wooden coffee bar and you will almost instantly notice that there are no seats except for a couple of chairs that match the colors of the flowers outside. The single, long table in the middle of the store and smaller ledges mounted out of the walls are where you can place your cup or stand by while waiting for your order to be served.
It’s a coffee shop — not really a cafe, per se –obviously designed for take out and quick turnover. But of course, some customers stay a while too and everyone there was perfectly fine to be on their feet while enjoying their coffees and conversations. The chairs were barely used.
Maybe this is a shop culture that will not work in other places. Most people like cushy seats in their cafes. Nylon, in its charming location, warm interiors, subdued decoration, not to mention excellent coffee selection and a very positive barista presence, has definitely created a place where you can feel comfortable, at ease and taken care of without the cushy seats.
Craft milk tea. This is what you get when you cross a city that loves milk tea with that city’s world renowned bartending masters. Kero, one of the owners of FU Milk Tea, describes his milk tea bar as an effort to apply all of the expertise they have perfected from making high quality craft cocktails in bars at night time into afternoon pleasures that are uniquely Taiwanese – specifically, milk tea. What you end up with is a short menu of about 5-6 beverages, all uniquely prepared and paired with a light snack. Interestingly enough, the experience you get inside FU Milk Tea is as much like drinking a craft cocktail because of the service style they use. The flavours line up well: you’re getting unique tastes that you don’t usually get from a normal milk tea. More than anything else, those beverages serve as great conversation pieces with the people you’re sharing the bar with, whether its a stranger or a friend you brought with you.
It’s a new idea, but it makes sense in a global scene where we’ve already embraced craft cocktails, craft beer, craft coffee, and even craft juices. And what better place to explore this concept than in Taipei, which can be considered ground zero for the global milk tea movement.
A speakeasy for milk tea. A beautiful idea in a beautifully hidden spot. It’s all the magic and charm of a prohibition style bar, sans the alcohol. Only days after we visited this hidden afternoon spot, they unfortunately had to shutter their doors. Thankfully, their Instagram shows that FU Milk Tea is prepping a brand new location. We cannot wait to see the new spot.
FU Milk Tea is located in Taipei, get a reservation and precise location via their Facebook page.
UPDATE: FU Milk Tea has moved to a new location! A speak easy craft tea bar in Taipei, FU has creatively brought the milk tea experience into a whole new level. Even the process by which they present you drink options is exciting. You are given a map showing different countries where each of their drinks are based on. Then, there are little glass vials containing different types of teas which you are supposed to match to its region of origin based on the scent. It’s just a fun activity to break the ice and jumpstart the experience. But once you’re done, the bartender tells you more information about the teas so you can choose which one you’d like to try.
On this second visit, we tried “India,” a fragrant milk tea, served only hot, in a wooden cup with a biscuit on the side and a little carpet accent. They even light up a spice right next to it to for a dramatic presentation. The beverage integrates a combination of cardamom and cloves which are both traditional Indian spices. Surprisingly, it creates a flavor very similar to hot cocoa even though they did not add any chocolate to it at all. They say that milk teas in India are meant for inner healing. This one definitely warms the heart as soon as it is presented to you, especially because of its visual appeal, the tactile nature of the biscuit pairing, and its lingering aroma preparing you for the first sip. Who knew that milk tea could be such a multi-sensory experience! It is delightful to the taste and a uniquely comforting drink for a cold, drizzly day in Taipei.
One of our interesting discoveries traveling Taipei is the widespread use of drink carriers. Yes, they are little bags, whether disposable or reusable, which they use specifically for take-away drinks like milk teas, fruit shakes and coffees. They’ve found a way to make drinks-on-the-go convenient and cute!
In Natural Coffee, a little specialty coffee shop along Hengyang Road, serves their drinks in cardboard cup holders with a strap attached to it. Primarily a take out bar, this is perfect as it is specifically designed for take-aways in a business-centric area of town.
If you think about it, the little sling-like device makes so much sense. Especially for a shop like theirs located near a public park, a coworking space, retail shops, hostels and a train station. Their customers drop in and out in a matter of minutes then walk straight to their respective destinations or places of business. That simple detail of a strapped cup holder can totally make carrying coffee around a lot more efficient and allows you to enjoy a proper cup of coffee anytime, anywhere, or even bring a few more with you for your friends.
Goffa is a cozy little coffee shop in Scout Rallos that you can only stumble onto in person, since they’re not on social media. It’s just a little under a year old and has a classy, slightly old-fashioned interior. The pebble wash flooring, dark wood-panelled walls, and solid wood tables make you feel like you walked into someone’s home. There are even baskets to store your bags in so you don’t have to put them down on the floor. It’s an inviting contrast to the usual industrial-style or minimalist shops we see everywhere that were clearly built and designed to appeal to millenials. Goffa is the kind of cafe where you can take your whole family for coffee and dessert, including the grandparents, and no one feels out of place. Granted, the seats are not designed for people to sit in for hours and hours, but the warm ambience and friendly staff promise a satisfying visit.
Apart from Goffa being a pleasant space to visit, you can also count on them to serve you delicious coffee. The beans they use are roasted by Yardstick Coffee and while we already know that they are a reliable roaster, it goes without saying that the roaster is only one factor of what makes a good cup of coffee. Preparation is also a very important aspect. Pulling out the right flavors, creating balance and making it pleasing to the palette are all factors that make coffee preparation both a science and an art. The baristas at Goffa seem to know their stuff well. We were very pleased with the cortado we ordered. It was smooth and well rounded considering that the coffee blend is very fully developed. It’s enjoyable from the first sip to the final slurp of foam.
You come for the coffee, of course, but it would be a shame not to pair your beverage with fresh bread or pastry on the menu. It’s all made by neighboring bakery, Purple Oven. Apparently, they are both next door neighbors and also sister companies. Do this and you’ll be sure to have a highly-satisfactory coffee break.
Every corner of Manila seems to have a coffee shop on it, so why do people prefer to go to one shop over the other. Figuring out why is one of our missions at Daily Drink. Mother Ignacia Ave is exemplary of how many cafes can sprout up in one location, and Brewology Cafe is one of the pioneers. One advantage they’ve carved out is their late hours. If you ever find yourself with a hankering for coffee after 10 p.m., they’ve got you. And their beans are from the very respectable local roasters at Crema & Cream. You can always expect a decent cup at Brewology. One of their popular drinks is the Babysitter, which is basically a mocha topped with slightly torched marshmallows. Speaking of sugary goods, Brewology is also known for going big on desserts, serving waffles with every topping imaginable, as well as crepe cakes and cheesecakes. On our last visit, we had a Smores Double Chocolate waffle—make sure to bring friends to share with because it’s too much for one person. It’s quite a treat! Brewology isn’t just for coffee lovers, it’s also your sweet tooth’s happy place.
Jiro Coffee was named after sushi master Jiro Ono. What does sushi have to do with coffee, you ask? Well, nothing, to be honest. But the cafe is very much influenced by his unwavering dedication and discipline (which you can see in the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”).
Experience is also important to them, so the team travels to many different places, exploring other cultures and taking those lessons home. They tell stories through the coffee and diverse dishes they serve, playing with a variety of flavors and ingredients. Their Cocospresso, which is essentially iced coconut juice with a shot of espresso, is their most popular (and most Filipino) drink. It’s served in a natural husk and is a classic, summery drink—sweet, refreshing, and super healthy. It’s definitely enough reason to go and visit Jiro, but they also have other great offerings like the Malagos Mocha and Bulletproof Coffee. And these are just a sample from their unconventional and creative menu.
