Why is it so hard to find a Great Coffee in Paris?

Good post on the difficulty of finding a good latte in Paris. Most Paris cafés serve their café cremes with lait écremé (2%), which for the Italian-style purist, is not very good. We coffee snobs actually plan walks across Paris by places we know actually serve a good cup of Giuseppe (that’s a “cup of joe” Italian-style.

When I was visiting Paris, France recently I knew I’d need to find some good coffee. I’ve lived in Paris and visited many times, and the French are not known for their coffee. or milk. My experiences on this trip brought back vivid memories of when I lived there lots of cafes served coffee that tasted like tar, and the milk added was almost always UHT milk – milk which doesn’t need refrigerating, and which has a smell which is hard to describe.

=== Caf Malongo – 50 rue St Andre des Arts, 75006 Paris ===

I found Cafe Malongo mentioned on the internet, so I took the metro to St Michel, walked along the gorgeous Rue Saint Andre des Arts and stepped inside Malongo’s wide glass doors. Wow! what a huge caf! I was overwhelmed by the size of the caf, and delighted by all the little sections where I could sit down and read the paper; some people had laptops plugged in, everyone was savouring their coffees in a great atmosphere, with easy-listening music in the background.

You can order coffee plus cakes or pastries, but no sandwiches or lunch-type food is available.

My latte was served in a long glass, the tray was wonderfully presented, and the staff efficient and very friendly.

Taste: Different coffee ground on the premises each day. I tried one, then asked for ’strong’ for my next one.

Mlk : Fresh milk, steamed.

Quality: The milk didn’t have that thick creamy quality I adore, but it was good.

[From Finding Great Coffee in Paris, France – Randomness – iDisappoint]

I dislike French coffee less than I hate that they only serve demi-ecreme or 2% milk, which I always thought was reserved for obese Americans giving them an excuse to add extra sugar. I like my lattes strong enough to break through the rich taste of whole milk, not a watery mess like the French serve almost 100% of the time.

I agree Malongo is pretty good. Sadly, I often end up at Starbucks, just because you can get good milk. If you double the number of shots, their coffee is almost okay.