Where to buy good coffee in Nakhon Phanom?

[Ombra]

I've tried a few of the brands of coffee on sale in Tesco, BigC and so on, but none of them seem to have much taste. If anyone could recommend a good brand and tell me where to get it, I'd be very grateful.

With thanks

[SunsetT]

Do u mean ground coffee or instant?

[mikebell]

Do u mean ground coffee or instant?

He said 'Good coffee' so that rules out 'instant' by definition!

[dinger]

The only stuff that I have found that is half way decent ( my opinion only) is Moccona brand. They have a couple of types ground, no whole bean. You can get it at Tesco and Big C comes in a box and they usually don't have too many in stock

[Ombra]

I've tried Moccona and it is certainly decent coffee. I've got to the age, though, where I can drink much coffee at all and I would like my few cups to be really worth drinking. Given the number of Vietnamese in NKP, I wondered whether Vietnamese coffee was on sale somewhere. I'll have to search around. Thanks for the help, though.

[dinger]

I just found a shop in BKK that has vietnamese coffee and they ship via the postal service

CafeVina .com

[Ombra]

Thanks very much for the suggestion. I did think of buying coffee online, but I had no idea which website to look at. I'll definitely try CafeVina.com.

[SunsetT]

I've tried Moccona and it is certainly decent coffee. I've got to the age, though, where I can drink much coffee at all and I would like my few cups to be really worth drinking. Given the number of Vietnamese in NKP, I wondered whether Vietnamese coffee was on sale somewhere. I'll have to search around. Thanks for the help, though.

Im the same Ombra, and I reluctantly switch to 'ground' decaff and tea after 2 mugs of good ground coffeee in the morning when Im in the UK every summer for 6 mths. But having to be content with 'instant' coffee so often while travelling around Thailand, and cafetiere's repeatedly being broken when settled, Ive found that I can be content with 'instant' while spending winters in Thailand. This means I can drink twice as much as it contains half as much caffeine. Again Moccona's Expresso instant is very good and so is Nescafe's Expresso. But I will no longer buy Nestle products for ethical reasons.

So many Vietnamese in NP, Im sure u can get their ground coffee somewhere.

Good Luck......

[Ombra]

Thank you, SunsetT. A doctor advised me to switch to decaff a few years ago, but I preferred to just drink less of the real stuff. Maybe it's time to try decaffeinated coffee.

[Gonsalviz]

I found Douwe Egbert coffee at Makro if there is one there. Nice strong coffee from Holland.

[Ombra]

Makro opened in Nakhon Phanom about a year ago. The wife doesn't much like it so we rarely go there. However, if they have good Dutch coffee, then that's a reason to go. Thanks very much.

[ubonjoe]

I always get one that say espresso on the package. That takes care of my need for a good strong cup of coffee.

In Makro here in Ubon we have been buying a brand called Sole Cafe "Black blend of Robusta and Arabica" that comes in 500 gram packs. It meets my requirements.

[MisterUbon]

I always buy Blue Mountain Coffee in Big C

[Ombra]

I am grateful to UbonJoe for recommending the Sole coffee brand, which I had never heard of, and to MisterUbon for telling me that BigC has Blue mountain coffee. It seems that if I look carefully and if I use the internet, my early mornings in NKP will be pleasant. Thanks for the help.

[GinBoy2]

I'll also reiterate the sentiment, 'instant rules out good'. Now back to 'good coffee'. I used to buy whole beans from Starbucks in Khon Kaen, but that was costing me an arm and leg, since I'll confess I'm a 'coffeholic'

I now buy from verasu.com in Bangkok. I like their Expresso Whole beans, which at 690฿/Kg isn't bad. They charge 220฿, regardless of quantity for shipping and it usually shows up in 2 days after the order.

If you are in Bangkok stop by one of their stores and they will let you taste the various blends.

http://www.verasu.com/product_subcategories.php?cid=97

Edited November 4, 2014 by GinBoy2

[dinger]

GinBoy

Do you know if you can buy retail at the store on Wireless?

Thanks

[GinBoy2]

GinBoy

Do you know if you can buy retail at the store on Wireless?

Thanks

Yes you can, upstairs at the little restaurant section. What I can't remember is if they have the 1kg bags there, or only the smaller ones

[dinger]

Thanks. I will be down there next week to go to the embassy so will check it out

[fatfather]

In Macro they sell "Boncofe", espresso whole beans. Fresh grinded every morning it does the job for me....

Fatfather

[SunsetT]

Thank you, SunsetT. A doctor advised me to switch to decaff a few years ago, but I preferred to just drink less of the real stuff. Maybe it's time to try decaffeinated coffee.

I can get decent ground decaff in the UK. Not sure about here in NP or Thailand.

Good luck and good health in your search.

[iSabai]

In Macro they sell "Boncofe", espresso whole beans. Fresh grinded every morning it does the job for me....

Fatfather

Boncafe has one variety called 'Espresso Dubai' I buy at Makro which is a decent everyday coffee for me at a reasonable ฿240 for 500 grams. Some of their other varieties I find lacking.

If you've got a Tops Market nearby, they sell a Duang Dee Hilltribe coffee that is a very tasty roast and a deal at ฿109 for 250 grams. Unfortunately they never have the whole bean, and their ground is very fine so can be a problem depending on what coffeemaker you're using. I also find the straight Arabica coffees mostly better than a Robusta or an Arabica/Robusta blend.

Cheers.

Edited November 7, 2014 by iSabai

[Dario]

I don't live in or near Nakhon Phanom, but if you have a Makro there, you will find the coffee I can buy at Makro Surin. A few months ago a German friend of mine told me that he has found an excellent coffee, in fact, what he described as the best coffee he ever drank at Makro in Pattaya, The coffee he mentioned is Aroma Arabica Special. It's bean coffee, not ground I buy, but the package shows ground available as well. It's not difficult to get a coffee grinder in Thailand. Mine I bought about 20 years ago at Central. I think every Central store sells them. Real coffee lovers buy only bean coffee and grind it fresh every time before they make coffee. In top class restaurants and hotels it's done the same way.

Aroma Arabica Special

my coffee grinder

my coffeee and tea compartment

[bouph12]

In Macro they sell "Boncofe", espresso whole beans. Fresh grinded every morning it does the job for me....

Fatfather

Boncafe has one variety called 'Espresso Dubai' I buy at Makro which is a decent everyday coffee for me at a reasonable ฿240 for 500 grams. Some of their other varieties I find lacking.

If you've got a Tops Market nearby, they sell a Duang Dee Hilltribe coffee that is a very tasty roast and a deal at ฿109 for 250 grams. Unfortunately they never have the whole bean, and their ground is very fine so can be a problem depending on what coffeemaker you're using. I also find the straight Arabica coffees mostly better than a Robusta or an Arabica/Robusta blend.

Cheers.

Duang Dee Hill Tribe Classic blend from Chiang Mai is the best value coffee I've found so far. Can order by phone for 350 baht/kg for delivery to your door, ground or whole bean.

Not quite such a good deal for UK based members - it's £38 per kg from Amazon UK ....

[Ombra]

Buying beans seems to be the best solution, but it didn't occur to me to look for them in NKP. The coffee shops here seem to cater to drinkers of iced coffee and there aren't many foreigners, so I didn't think that there would be a market for coffee beans. However, the fact that Makro sells good beans and good ground coffee is excellent news. I also look forward to trying the two online suppliers that have been mentioned and perhaps phoning and ordering some hill tribe coffee. Thanks for all the information.

[plachon]

Have you though about nipping over the river to Laos and buying one of the brands of Boloven coffee (e.g. Lao Mountain Coffee)- some of the best in the world, IMHO. They might stock Vietnamese coffee too (given the high resident popn. of VNMese), and probably much cheaper than same stuff in Thailand.

[A1Str8]

Online.

[Rotweiler]

Must add a ++ for Boloven Coffee. We are driving from CR to Vientiane for 5kg of it (well, not ONLY for that, but a plus for the visit).

[Ombra]

Thanks very much to Plachon for recommending Boloven coffee. A trip across the river is no problem.

[mike2011]

Have you tried the Vietnamese market at the river? They might have good Laos coffee (whole beans). I bought a lot of these at the market in Nonkhai on the river. Thus, I think there is a good chance that the Vietnamese in NP do the same as their cousins in NK. In NK I got a very good price after some discussing for my 4 kgs.

[Ombra]

It just so happens that my wife suggested going to the Indo-China market this morning. The place is being renovated and she wanted to see what they were doing. While we were there, I found a shop which sells four brands of Vietnamese ground coffee. They were all priced between 130 and

160 baht for 250 grams, and I thought that it would be interesting to try one. I bought a packet of 'Me Trang Arabica' coffee, which had an expiry date of August 2015. The money was wasted, though. When I opened the packet, there was no aroma of coffee, and when I tasted it I thought that it was a bit like cocoa. I'll mix it with water and put it on my tomato plants and hydrangeas.