Coffee bars ("to go", to go) are becoming more and more popular. The pros are obvious: you save time and money, but what about the cons? Can we talk about the high quality of drinks in such coffee houses?
Of course, first of all, preferences in the taste of coffee are questions of personal taste and preferences. But you can check how much the offered drinks correspond to the declared characteristics and professional requirements. So, together with Natalya Subbotina, director of development and work with clients of Catch Crack, judge of national barista championships and permanent expert of the special project "Tea & Coffee", Roskontrol went to test coffee.
What was checked and how?
Well-known chain establishments were selected for tasting, in each of which the expert and the journalist of Roskontrol (with the rights of the people) bought two drinks - espresso, it is in it that the taste of the beans and cappuccino are really revealed. According to statistics, the latter is preferred by the absolute majority of consumers.
During the tasting, criteria such as density, bitterness, acidity, flavor nuances, and general sensations from the cup were evaluated. For cappuccino, the quality of the froth, the taste of milk and the taste of coffee in it, and the aftertaste are also important. Coffee was assessed on a five-point system.
1. Wow! Coffee
Savelovsky railway station square
Coffee: 100% Arabica, Brazil and Ethiopia
The espresso at this point turned out to be strong, the gravity is below average, and the sweetness is also low. Despite the fact that Ethiopia is declared in the blend, Brazil is more on the palate. The taste is calm, nutty, Ethiopia is poorly revealed in the taste.
Rating: 3
Natalya Subbotina, director of development and customer service at Catch Crack, judge of the national barista championships:
"Ethiopian coffee has a brighter, more acidic, fruity flavor. However, for the average consumer, Brazil is more familiar."
The cappuccino turned out to be very hot, but this temperature is quite suitable for a street version - the drink retains its temperature for a long time, which is especially important in the cold season. But the taste is very watery, the first few sips are felt very weakly. Only when it cooled down did the taste of coffee begin to appear, its bitter notes came to the fore. And like in espresso, Ethiopian notes are not revealed in this drink."
Rating: 2
2. Wake up coffee
st. Lower Maslovka, 5, building 1
Coffee: 100% Arabica, Brazil
The espresso was sharp. Its characteristic viscosity is due to the fact that the coffee is underextracted. The drink has a dense body, but very high acidity and pronounced bitterness in the aftertaste, which goes into dryness - you immediately want to drink water.
Rating: 1, 5
In cappuccino coffee is "lost" - its taste is poorly expressed, the drink will turn out to be too milky. But the temperature is normal - not scalding, and you can drink right away.
Score, 1, 5
3. True coffee
st. Lower Maslovka, 5, building 1
Grains: 100% Arabica, Brazil
The espresso in this coffee bar was assessed by the expert as acidic, at the same time quite sweet, and the bitterness was above average. The drink is dense, with a long, slightly astringent aftertaste on the tip of the tongue. The chef barista and the apprentice stood behind the coffee machine. When they were told that the drink needed to be adjusted, they thanked them, but did not offer to replace the tasteless cup.
Rating: 2, 5
The cappuccino in Pravda Kofe is balanced, it tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, creamy and tender. The temperature of the milk is not very high, you do not need to wait for a long time to cool down.
Rating: 4, 5
4. Coffee Way
st. Suschevsky Val, 5 bldg. 8, pav. T-13, at the entrance of the Savelovsky market
Grains: 100% Arabica
The espresso is watery and harsh, but it gets more tactile as it cools, which is definitely good for it. Coffee has a short aftertaste that does not leave a dry mouth.
Rating: 2, 5
The cappuccino was made with milk, which does not reveal the coffee very well, which immediately reflected in the overall impression of the cup. As a result, the taste of the grains was lost - in fact, it turned out to be a milk drink, moreover, quite watery, more like a latte.
Rating: 1, 5
Natalya Subbotina, director of development and customer service at Catch Crack, judge of the national barista championships:
"Often, the owners of the chain invest quite large funds in related products and accessories - branded cups, containers for spices, high-quality lids. This is what they did in this chain. Unfortunately, these nice little things do not compensate for the lack of attention to raw materials and staff training. Even the most beautiful a glass will not make the coffee tastier. The first thing to look out for is the quality of the grain and the barista's qualifications."
5. Pete Stop
Transition to the metro station Savelovskaya
Grains: 100% Arabica, Costa Rica
Espresso is sweet, slightly harsh, with a pronounced note of dried cherry. The quality of the coffee has been influenced by the conditions in which it is brewed, but the potential of the raw material is definitely good. Costa Rica, richer in flavor spectrum, differs from ordinary mixtures or monos, which gives the drink its individuality.
Rating: 2
Natalya Subbotina, director of development and customer service at Catch Crack, judge of the national barista championships:
"The conditions in which the beans are stored and coffee is prepared are very important for the quality of the final drink. If the room is too hot and stuffy, this immediately affects how the beans are stored, what taste they give. But, of course, one cannot ignore that it is difficult to achieve ideal conditions in to-go coffee shops due to the specifics of the business."
You can feel coffee in the cappuccino, but the berry notes of espresso were lost in the milk, the drink came out even and calm, without pronounced taste accents. There is a slight dryness in the aftertaste, but the cup itself is sweet and balanced.
Rating: 2
6. Cup "n" Cup
st. Butyrsky Val, 10
Grains: 100% Arabica, Ethiopia
Espresso is dense, sweet, fruity, with low bitterness and pronounced acidity. Has a long-lasting dark chocolate aftertaste. The origin of the grain gives it an original and bright taste, which differs from the usual for this drink.
Rating: 3, 5
The cappuccino was prepared with very hot milk. But the drink itself is very soft, sweet, with tangible notes of dried fruit. If the serving temperature were lower, the creamy notes would be felt more strongly.
Rating: 4, 5
7.9bar coffee
st. 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya, 29s1
Grains: 100% Arabica, Brazil, own roasted. A free bottle of water was offered with the espresso.
As for espresso, it can be said that the beans are underexposed - this gives the characteristic viscous aftertaste. The drink has a bright acidity of unripe green fruits, gives a long dry
aftertaste. It is worth noting that after recommending how to customize the recipe, the barista suggested remaking the cup, which clearly speaks in favor of this coffee bar.
Rating: 1, 5
The cappuccino was served at a comfortable temperature. The drink has a milky taste that clogs the coffee - the already watery espresso is not felt. At first, the creamy, creamy taste then kind of falls apart, leaving a lumpy aftertaste.
Rating: 1, 5
8. Coffee Take
Tverskaya Zastava Square
Grains: 100% Arabica. Ethiopia, natural processing
The espresso has an off-flavor (possibly a defective bean) and an earthy finish at the end. At the same time, the drink is still dense, sweet, medium acidity, bitterness slightly above average.
Rating: 3
The cappuccino is dense, rich, coffee notes are clearly felt in it. In the taste - dried apricots and prunes. The serving temperature is higher than the comfortable one, it is pleasant to drink the drink only after some time has passed.
Rating: 4
9. Cofix
Tverskaya Zastava Square, 3
Grains: 100% Arabica
The espresso is full, full-bodied, with medium acidity and slightly above medium bitterness. But there is a viscosity in the aftertaste, it leaves a roughness on the tongue.
Rating: 2
But the cappuccino lacked sweetness, rather rancid nutty notes were felt. The taste of coffee
dominates over milk.
Rating: 2
10. Coffee Moose
Bolshoi Kondratyevsky per., 14с1
Grains: 100% Arabica, Brazil
Espresso has an unbalanced taste, a watery body. Weak sweetness, the cup carries a light foreign taste. The taste is dominated by bright notes of unroasted nuts.
Rating: 2
A slight acidity of sour milk is felt in cappuccino, the main taste descriptor is
unripe green fruits. The drink is very rough and dry, you want to wash it down with water.
Rating: 1, 5.
Natalya Subbotina, director of development and customer service at Catch Crack, judge of the national barista championships:
"The technology of preparation of the drink, the qualifications of the barista play a primary role in the final quality of coffee. If you overheat the milk, use the equipment incorrectly, do not follow the rules of hygiene at work, you will not get good coffee. In this case, the low quality of espresso and cappuccino is not least due to the fact that that the employee of the cafe has not mastered the principles of work well enough. mediocre."
11. Prime
st. 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya, 66
Grains: 100% Arabica, Brazil
Espresso - bitter, dense, with a nutty chocolate pungent taste. For an ordinary consumer, such coffee is familiar, therefore, most likely it will not cause rejection, but from a professional point of view, the cup came out unbalanced.
Rating: 2
There is a coffee note in the cappuccino, but the balance of coffee and milk is lacking, and the drink also lacks sweetness. Dry, loose foam only enhances this feeling. Nevertheless, the taste can be described as familiar and everyday.
Rating: 2, 5
12.1bucks coffee
(Transition to the metro station "Tverskaya")
Grains: 100% Arabica, Brazil
Espresso is harsh, unbalanced, with a high acidity of green, unripe fruits. There is a medicinal bitterness in the aftertaste.
Rating: 1
Creamy milk cappuccino, coffee is felt in it, but not pronounced.
Rating: 1, 5
13. Take & Wake
st. Tverskaya street, 17
Grains: 100% Arabica, Brazil
Espresso - very hot, it burns the tongue. At the same time, it is quite sweet and acidic. It should be noted that this coffee bar serves only double espresso, that is, 60 ml.
Rating: 2
Cappuccino is sweet, it has a coffee feel, but the drink as a whole does not have a pronounced taste. In terms of tactility, it is creamy.
Rating: 3, 5
14. Maccafe
Gazetny per., 17
Grains: 100% Arabica
The espresso tastes bright woody notes, charcoal (this indicates that the roast is most likely dark). Acidity is above average. But at the same time, the taste seems to “fall apart.
Rating: 1, 5
The sweetness of milk is felt in the cappuccino. The foam is solid, does not collapse, the drink has a bright
pronounced coffee flavor, milk smoothes the woody notes of espresso. The aftertaste is rough and dry, you want to drink such a cappuccino with water.
Rating: 2
15. AB Daily
st. Tverskaya, 5/6
Grains: 100% Arabica
Espresso - bitter, salty (such a specific aftertaste may appear due to the characteristics of the water used or the settings of the machine). Feels dark roasted coffee.
The taste is bitter, charcoal, with a very high bitterness, giving off to herbiness.
Rating: 1
The cappuccino showed an atypical sweetness (which became clear when the barista confirmed that the coffee was made with low-lactose milk). The drink is very hot, even 10 minutes after purchase, it did not reach a comfortable temperature. Due to the milk used, the coffee tastes
felt weak.
Rating: 1
16. Cheerful day
st. Pravda, 24/17
Grains: 90% Arabica, 10% Robusta. Arabica three varieties
The espresso is dense, its sweetness is below average, its acidity is slightly above average, and its bitterness is high. If we talk about the average consumer, this is a pretty common cup. There is a slight dustiness in the taste.
Rating: 2
Cappuccino - you can feel the coffee, but it reveals itself with bitterness and dustiness, so the illusion is created that we have been sold a coffee drink. The taste is flat and bitter, dryness at the end in a long aftertaste, after which you want water.
Rating: 1, 5
17. Surf
st. Nikolskaya, 8
Espresso is berry, fruity and sweet, rich and versatile, yet dense. Many positive coffee descriptors can be applied to it.
Rating: 4
You can feel coffee in the cappuccino, it has high-quality whipped foam, which, however, does not hide the taste of coffee, giving it the taste of melted ice cream. The drink is velvety, berry-fruity and sweet.
Rating: 5
Voice of the people
Ekaterina Potseluevskaya, editor, Roskontrol:
“Our inspection of to-go coffee shops has shown that the tastes of an ordinary consumer and a specialist often do not coincide. to taste bitter rather than sour (acidic) taste of the drink, respectively, espresso and cappuccino, which have bitterness, are more likely to be perceived as "tasty" and "good".
And as an ordinary consumer of coffee, I preferred those drinks that were bitter. These are, firstly, coffee from large chains (Prime, Maccafe), as well as such coffee shops as True Coffee, Coffe Way, Cofix, Wow! Coffee, AB Daily. But when evaluating Cup “n” Cup and Surf, I shared the expert's assessment: original flavor notes and rich taste balance all pronounced features and open up new facets in coffee, albeit slightly unusual, but clearly attractive."
Issue price
Finally, a few words about prices. Some chains adhere to an emphatically democratic pricing policy. For example, in Pravda Coffee, each drink cost only 50 rubles. The 1 bucks coffee chain, true to its name, sells the smallest volumes for one dollar (at the current rate). In principle, it turned out not much more expensive in most other networks that we visited. But the check showed once again that it is impossible to focus only on the price. Both in the lowest and in the highest price segment there can be both tasteless coffee and very good coffee. Suffice it to mention that the leader and the outsider of our rating sell drinks at approximately the same prices.
