Koffie: It's a No From Me

Let's lay some groundwork. Koffie is located in Escondido, California. Escondido is a smaller city located in San Diego County, aka the Northern Hills. Like most of Southern California, it's breathtaking.

Escondido itself has a unique feel. It's quaint and more slow-paced than downtown San Diego. Its main road is lined with cute, local businesses.

Enter: Koffie.

Koffie boasts a gorgeous storefront along one of Escondido's busiest streets, Grand Avenue. The inside is typical but cute. It has a Joanna Gaines' modern farmhouse vibe to it. Even with all the seating pushed to the back half of the store (COVID style), you can tell it's normally très aesthetique.

My sister and I were very excited to visit the store - firstly because of its proximity to us, but also because its chai came highly recommended by Yelpers.

Based off the title, you already know that Koffie was a major disappointment. Let me tell you why.

1) Very unimpressive chai

First and foremost, the chai was utterly mediocre. We ordered a 16oz dirty chai with oat milk, for reference.

The first flavor that struck me was licorice, which is a bit odd. However, the overall chai flavor was not bad; in fact, it was a decent blend of spices. Unfortunately, this pleasant blend of spices (albeit faint) was muted by the lack of creaminess in the drink.

The drink was rather watery, and the coffee was fairly bitter. For me, this drink has no redeeming qualities.

Rating: 2.5/5 - would not order again.

2) Even less impressive vanilla latte

For me, the vanilla latte was not even palatable when sipped after the chai. I believe Koffie makes their vanilla syrup in-house, which I like, but the drink reeked of it.

Oddly enough, even though the drink was laden with syrup, the vanilla flavor was overwhelmingly... missing. I will admit that I prefer a vanilla bean flavor as opposed to a more strictly vanilla flavor (like what you'd get at Starbucks); however, this drink had neither.

Rating: 1/5 - couldn't finish.

3) Employees were not wearing masks

Lastly and most importantly: the two employees behind the counter were not wearing masks. Admittedly, I did not notice this until our drinks were nearly done. Escondido is part of San Diego County, and thus is not exempt from the mask mandate.

I've since called Koffie, as well as reached out to them via email for an explanation. I unfortunately have yet to receive a response.

Overall, our experience at Koffie was astoundingly disenchanting. Every barista has bad days, but for the Chai Everything team, no mask means no business.

So, what do you think? Have you tried Koffie? Know of a better chai nearby? Let us know in the comments below!

Hugs & scones,

Micah