What's your favorite franchise Coffee Shop?

[CHRISTIANa9]

Charcoal roasted coffee, owl brand, 3 in 1, aromatic, try it, just add ice if u want it cold

[matseng]

Doi Chang and Doi Wawee can produce excellent coffees, although the quality seems to vary from shop to shop. Amazon is adequate, when nothing else is around.

+1 on the Doi Chaang - most of their places make quite a nice americano. And the drip-coffee bags that you can get in most hypermarkets are almost as good as grinding freshly roasted beans yourself....

[matseng]

Why support a franchise that charges three times the price? Keep mum and pop in business, buy from independent people.

It almost feels like stealing when having a cup of coffee at a small random place for 30-35 baht compared to the 100+ at the chains.... But it's fun to try new places all the time - I spent a few weeks this summer going to a new place every day, unfortunately I forgot to keep track of which places that served the best coffees. :-(

[Palmeiras]

Nespresso if you like decent coffee at home.

[MILT]

I like the Mon Ngo...pronunciation (mon nuk) Organic shade coffee grown at 950 meters outside of

Chiangmai going towards Pai....

It's hard to find but found it and it is by far better than Tar Bucks and all of the rest of the

big company coffee's one finds in Thailand...

With that said to each his own.....

[stereolab]

Boncafe shops (outlets) have a big choice of coffee at very reasonable prices, I prefer to make at home, and experiment with mixing and matching coffees.

[moogradod]

Black Canyon quality and price wise.

....whereas I feel that Starbucks is a desaster

[smokie36]

Dean and Deluca for a cappuccino and ham and cheese croissant if I'm hungover works a treat!

[Alwyn]

easy, Costa Coffee - the only one where you can get a flat white. We have two coffee farms and a little coffee shop too and I do like the sweet coffee with a pot of green tea on the side but... I will go to Costa all day long!

[fred Kubasa]

McDonalds = 20 B !

[gerrytraveller]

Imo... ambiance often has a lot to do with a good coffee..

same as presentation with food..

Of course i am biased. Probably have one of the greatest little ambience cafe in Thailand.

Literally situated above the water...old fishermans house

looking at the ocean..

koh kood..last island before Cambodia.

[HooHaa]

in bangkok coffe club corner ekaamai and sukhumvit.

puts starbucks to shame.

[howzat]

I perk my own coffee at home as well.. Usually bring my coffee from UK but just run out. Any recommendations for local coffee for perking not too bitter but quite strong preferred. Also like Rabika coffee shops. Good value and Americano with a splash of milk my number 1.

[blazes]

If ambience counts, then next time you travel from Lampang to CM, look out for a coffee/ice-cream place called La Delizia.

Just gorgeous view to look out on as you sip your coffee.

[mike324]

I think Starbucks makes the most consistence cup of hot coffee based solely on the training. As for the others such as Amazon and Black Canyon, they always have a burnt taste, I suspect they don't know how make a proper cup, not really the beans fault. Many of the smaller franchise stores buy coffee from the handful of coffee suppliers in the market. There are many small coffee shops around Bangkok and Chiang Mai run by coffee enthusiasts that are worth a try.

For those who like to pull your own shot, I recommend the beans from the following companies:

Doi Chang

Bluekoff

P&F

Roytawan

[TigerandDog]

Anybody that likes Starbucks has never had a real coffee. Starbucks is the 2nd worst coffee I've ever encountered anywhere in the world. There's an Australian franchise starting to raise it's head in Bangkok, Gloria Jeans, but it's worse than Starbucks. The majority of coffee shops in Thailand do not know how to make a proper cappuccino. To them it's espresso with a bit of froth on top. YUK. The best cappuccino's I've had in Thailand are from Black Canyon. If you're ever in Sydney you have to try the coffee from a franchise called Coffee Emporium. Their blend of coffee beans is sensational, their baristas are well trained, and the coffee is awesome. At the moment though Black Canyon is the best in Thailand.

Had a coffee this morning at The Coffee Club. Didn't know they were in Thailand until this morning. They are now No1 on my list for the best coffee in Thailand. They were No. 2 on my list in Sydney. Starbucks coffee is so bad it doesn't even qualify as swill.

Edited September 24, 2015 by TigerandDog

[fang37]

The Coffee Club originated out of Queensland, Australia. Greeks I think.

Merlos was another. Italian - I knew Gino Merlo (father).

Both supplied coffee & food.

Gloria Jones - I am aware of but thought it started in USA.

[HooHaa]

The Coffee Club originated out of Queensland, Australia. Greeks I think.

Merlos was another. Italian - I knew Gino Merlo (father).

Both supplied coffee & food.

Gloria Jones - I am aware of but thought it started in USA.

ah, coffee club, sorry. excellent people watching great coffee.

[fang37]

I THINK that the Coffee Club merged with a Thai beverage company & is now expanding into other countries.

It was/is a huge success in Queensland.

However, my favourites were the older traditional coffee houses. I remember one had a very large grinder. Owned by a Queensland mafia family (protection & prostitution) - Cosmopolitan in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland. The proprietor had bribed the Police Commissioner & then had an all-expenses paid holiday "inside".

[stereolab]

I perk my own coffee at home as well.. Usually bring my coffee from UK but just run out. Any recommendations for local coffee for perking not too bitter but quite strong preferred. Also like Rabika coffee shops. Good value and Americano with a splash of milk my number 1.

Where I live there is little choice, but I find that Boncafe make about 7 different types of coffee bean, and they do me fine. I try to support the smaller businesses, but after one coffee at each location I never go back.

[stereolab]

Dean and Deluca for a cappuccino and ham and cheese croissant if I'm hungover works a treat!

I have to travel 95k to find a coffee shop that has a croissant, never mind a ham and cheese one, a lot around here, do not even offer any food, and those that do have that tasteless cake covered in whipped cream from a can.

[stereolab]

McDonalds = 20 B !

Fred

What does this actually mean?

[misterphil]

Black Canyon is the best cappuccino in Thailand.

If you don't like whats available on the road get some khao shong cappuccino to take with you. Just add a bit of sugar, drop of milk and they're delicious.

[unclueng]

The best coffee is at our home.

This is the coffee we use.

This is our coffee maker.

The secret is real cream or Half & Half.

[stereolab]

The best coffee is at our home.

Coffee.jpg

This is the coffee we use.

Coffee maker.jpg

This is our coffee maker.

The secret is real cream or Half & Half.

Your secret would not help me as I am a black coffee guy, black tea also, never touch milk and cream gives me a migraine. Very interesting machine, never seen that model, does it give you a good crema?

Off topic slightly - Moccana at half price in Tesco just now.

[stereolab]

The best coffee is at our home.

Coffee.jpg

This is the coffee we use.

Coffee maker.jpg

This is our coffee maker.

The secret is real cream or Half & Half.

Your secret would not help me as I am a black coffee guy, black tea also, never touch milk and cream gives me a migraine. Very interesting machine, never seen that model, does it give you a good crema?

Off topic slightly - Moccona at half price in Tesco just now.

[F4UCorsair]

My favorite is the no name coffee cart in Soi 5 Sukhumvit. The caffeine dispenser is a cheery young guy, makes great coffee, hot or iced, and fast for B20. Runs rings around the big guys.

[HaleySabai]

I stopped going to these shops even though I love coffee. I have yet to walk into a single one of these shops, ask for a Large black coffee and simply get one. Every single one just asks me whether i want a Americano, espresso or rattles off some name of which I know nothing about

Just how hard is it ?

I was impressed with the large cup of black coffee(50b) I had at the Fang Coffee kiosk on 2nd floor in Airport Plaza (ChiangMai)...finally a full cup of coffee for the price!

[HaleySabai]

McDonalds = 20 B !

yes, can't beat the price...however, after drinking home-made,fresh ground,immediately brewed coffee...Mickey-Dee's coffee,for me, has a very strange taste...if you don't load-up on milk and sugar the coffee is crap.

[NiwPix]

Just like the OP, I am lucky to have my own shop with a fully automatic machine ( just upgraded it last week )

And just like the OP, when on the road, I find it difficult to find a good coffee. "Luckily" I enjoy iced coffees quite a bit too now.

A couple weeks ago my wife and I ordered an Iced Latte and an Iced Cappuccino. One tasted pretty good, and the other was awful. We just didn't know which was which. And luckily Black Canyon is fairly readily available. I prefer them over Amazon. Some A lot of areas in Thailand are not as "developed" as Bangkok, so not that many franchises available to choose from.

If I had all Coffee franchises in front of me to choose from, I'd probably go with Doi Chaang.