Get Your Caffeine Cravings Fixed With Delivery From Coffee Box
Even though there are many reasons to head outside and enjoy this breezy spring (on the good days, that is), laziness coupled with the convenience of online delivery has inevitably spoiled us. Thanks to various online ordering apps, you can order Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Pacific Coffee, Café Flatwhite, and even McCafé straight to your desk. Coffee Box is a new player to the game of cutthroat caffeine delivery, and we were happy to give them a shot.
One positive is that you don't need to use a third-party platform to order, instead you simply follow their WeChat account (ID: lyancafe) and pay via WeChat Wallet. In a similar way to how Starbucks gift cards work, you can also buy e-vouchers to gift to friends. Sounds easy? That's because it is, except for one issue: there’s not much English to be found here.
If you're not well versed in the ways of Chinese coffee names then track down someone who is, and click the “order coffee” button, then choose from the hot (热咖啡 rè kāfēi) or iced (冰咖啡 bīng kāfēi) coffees on offer (RMB 22-35), including latte (拿铁 nátiě), Americano (美式 měishì), oolong latte (阿里山乌龙拿铁 ālǐshān wūlóng nátiě), black tea latte (红茶拿铁 hóngchá nátiě), toffee hazelnut latte (太妃榛果拿铁 tàifēi zhēnguǒ nátiě), vanilla latte (香草拿铁 xiāngcǎo nátiě), caramel latte (焦糖拿铁 jiāo táng nátiě), and matcha latte (抹茶拿铁 mòchá nátiě).
After you choose, type in your address and pick a time for delivery anytime between ASAP, or three days in the future (for when you know that your future self will be truly desperate). Unfortunately, because we ordered quite late into the morning all the morning delivery slots were already taken, we had to choose a later slot closer to lunch time. Better start making use of that order-in-advance function. There’s also a RMB 5 service fee, which is cheaper than the delivery fees on both Baidu Waimai and Meituan.
Sadly, we seemed to have picked peak coffee time, and the delivery shifu arrived almost an hour later than our already late slot, but thankfully the coffee was still hot courtesy of a thick carton box and a taped cup, preventing any leakage or loss of heat. And what about the taste? Overall, we certainly weren't blown away – the latte (RMB 28) had enough of a caffeine kick, the black tea latte (RMB 31) had a comforting mildness to it, but the matcha latte (RMB 31), while it had enough milk, was a bit too sweet for our liking. When coupled with the hour-long additional wait, we can't honestly say we won't just walk downstairs and get a cup ourselves next time.
One factor that may have us ordering Coffee Box again however are their regular and Oreo hazelnut flavored hot chocolates, which sounds like a great option for the incoming rainy days. We may also give the service another chance to deliver their coffee on time once the summer goes into overdrive and all we're craving is a sip of icy cold coffee without lifting a sweaty finger.
Photos: Tracy Wang
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