Which Chinese coffee bean brands are worth buying?

The Chinese coffee bean market now spans Italian-style blends, single-origin beans, international giants and newer local roasters. A review of ten popular brands compares price, review counts and real user feedback, ranking beans and ground coffee so buyers can match a bag to their taste. Nestle coffee brands lead the top ten, with refill packs priced around 74.90 yuan and about 27,079 reviews.

For Italian-style beans, a medium-dark blend of Yunnan small-berry and Brazilian Red Bourbon leans toward nuts, chocolate and plum, working well as an Americano or latte. A second option blends Costa Rica, Colombia and Ethiopia, carrying rose, citrus, grape and dried blueberry notes that turn into a strawberry gummy sweetness with milk.

The market is flooded with coffee bean brands, from Italian-style blends to single-origin beans, from international giants to emerging local players—so which brand is actually worth buying? This article first recommends two popular Italian-style coffee beans for coffee lovers—Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend and Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso. The former combines Yunnan small-berry beans with Brazilian Red Bourbon at a medium-dark roast, delivering a soft, balanced flavor of nuts, chocolate, and plum, ideal for Americanos and lattes. The latter blends beans from three major origins—Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ethiopia—featuring aromas of rose, citrus, grape, and dried blueberry, and releases a strawberry gummy candy sweetness when combined with milk. It then follows with a top ten coffee bean and ground coffee popularity ranking, presenting price, number of reviews, and real user feedback one by one, helping you quickly find the one that suits your taste among the many brands.

If you want a popular Italian-style coffee bean, Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend is the top choice for many baristas. This bean was designed with extraction stability as the first priority, so it blends Yunnan small-berry coffee with Brazilian Red Bourbon, with the roast level controlled at medium-dark. The resulting espresso has a flavor focused on gentler notes like nuts, chocolate, and plum. Whether made into an Americano or a latte, the overall performance is quite balanced and no single flavor overly dominates.

If you prefer floral and fruity notes, then for a popular espresso bean you can look at Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend. This recipe was created especially for those who love floral and fruity aromas, combining beans from three origins: Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ethiopia. The aroma carries notes of rose, citrus, grape, and dried blueberry, and when blended with milk it also gives off a sweet scent like strawberry gummy candy.

Top Ten Coffee Beans and Ground Coffee Popularity Ranking [2018 Latest Edition]

TOP1

Nestle Coffee/Milk Tea

¥74.90 27,079 reviews so far

I've always been used to buying Nestle coffee on JD.com. The refill packs are affordable and consistent in quality, cheaper than physical stores, and the taste suits me. The production date is very recent, and customer service is good too.

TOP2

Swire Coffee/Milk Tea

¥75.00 371 reviews so far

This price is still acceptable, feels similar to Ming's.

TOP3

Starbucks Coffee/Milk Tea

¥92.00 7,566 reviews so far

The beans are highly intact with few broken ones, the flavor is very rich, the caramel aroma stands out, and grinding is easy. Logistics arrived in two days.

TOP4

illy Coffee/Milk Tea

Imported from Italy illy Espresso Coffee Beans 250g (roasted)

¥92.00 14,932 reviews so far

Pretty good. I've also bought it through overseas channels, and the quality is consistent with the global purchase version. Very aromatic, only the packaging differs: for the global purchase version the text is printed directly on the can, while the self-operated version has it printed on nylon material and then applied to the can. The bean size and aroma are similar, and compared with domestic medium roasts it's still slightly better. Of course the price is also much higher. Overall very satisfied.

TOP5

GEO Coffee/Milk Tea

¥49.90 35,500 reviews so far

I tried it at a friend's place and the effect was good—fragrant and mellow, with a feeling of first love and a touch of youthful spirit. I bought four packs at once and will keep repurchasing, because it's worth it.

TOP6

LAVAZZA Coffee/Milk Tea

¥126.00 3,544 reviews so far

TOP7

Ming's Coffee/Milk Tea

¥39.60 39,292 reviews so far

The flavor is especially rich and fragrant, only the production date is almost a year old...

TOP8

UCC Coffee/Milk Tea

¥79.00 929 reviews so far

The packaging was proper, the delivery maintained its usual reliability, and the courier was very responsible. Overall a great experience and I'll buy again.

TOP9

MellowerCoffee

¥38.00 603 reviews so far

I'd never tried it before; this is my first attempt. The appearance looks premium, so it shouldn't be bad. If the taste passes, I'll stick with it from now on.

TOP10

MILANGOLD

¥29.66 42 reviews so far

Uh, it's from 2016. Although it hasn't expired yet, seeing this shelf life still bothers me a bit. But it also shows the seller is fairly honest and didn't just change the date. The packaging is quite nice. I bought the trial version at a promotional price and am already quite satisfied. That's all—haven't started drinking it yet.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.