Dirty Coffee from Asia - Greybox Coffee from China

I'm checking out a relatively new coffee chain from China called Greybox. They're serving dirty coffee for all their blends, a type of coffee style I first came across from Luckin and loved. Basically, they pour a hot espresso shot (or two) over cold milk and serve it fresh. There's an incredibly nice mingling of coffee fragrance with milk umami and warm and cold in the mouth.

They had a Tokyo dark roast, nutty and dark chocolate blend, an Australian light roast tangy blend and a Geisha blend. I'd tried Geisha dirty at Luckin before (or as they spelled it, Gesha). So I wanted to try the other 2.

The Tokyo dirty was my favourite, because I love the intensity of the dark roast and the dark choc flavours. I could really taste the nutty dark chocolate. Greybox coffee was also a lot stronger than Luckin's, perhaps because the milk serving is less, and maybe they used 2 espresso shots (although I didn't check and it wasn't apparent visually).

As you might be able to see on the card description, the beans are from Brazil (quite normal and common) and Papua New Guinea (first time I've seen for a Tokyo blend).

The Australian blend felt like a well-balanced seafood soup, but coffee version lol. It is similar to fruity coffees such as Gesha/Geisha (although I haven't tried Greybox's Geisha blend yet), but the fruity fragrance is not very distinct from the overall flavour, so I wouldn't quite call it fruity. There was a mild tanginess that wasn't acidic and blended seamlessly with the milk. Way better than any tangy Western coffee I've had. Plus it has this interesting winey or seafood type of taste (not sure how to describe haha). Basically some complex taste you find in those foods or even the winey fruits and French aged soft cheeses, but without the salt of course.

The beans came from Ethiopia.

Would highly recommend these two menu items to any coffee lover.

On top of that, the Great World City branch of this cafe had a very nice ambience - clean, natural (woods and greens) and quiet, with nice bag holders. Wonderful place to hang out.

For other other interesting offerings by Greybox, check out their Rose Red Velvet Latte and Planet Latte here!

For interesting offerings by another coffee chain from China, Luckin Coffee, check out their recent festive offerings - Little Butter Latte and Toffee Hazelnut Oat Latte.