I don’t know what it is about Asia but they sure do love their Nescafé (instant coffee) here. I personally find it quite disgusting but have been nevertheless drinking plenty of it to get my caffeine fix in the morning. When I found out that Chiang Mai had a fancy coffee shop, I knew that Mr. Selfish and I would try it.

We visited Ristr8to twice during our week in Chiang Mai. It was far away from our apartment but worth the trip. The coffee was perfectly brewed, had beautiful latte art, and was absolutely delicious.

The menu was a little intimidating at initial glance, but there are basically two steps to ordering coffee at Ristr8to. First, you choose the type of coffee you want – e.g., caffé mocha, flat white, cappuccino, etc. Second, you choose the type of beans – e.g., Ethiopian, Brazilian, blended, Thai, or decaf.

Afterward, you wait for perfection in a cup. The owner/Barista, who has won dozens of coffee awards, makes each cup. Here he is making my caffé mocha.

 

I had two caffé mocha. Mr. Selfish tried the flat white, piccolo latté, and mug-achino.

Ristr8to makes the best coffee that I’ve had thus far in Asia. We’re also going to try Irukaya in Tokyo. Do you have any other recommendations for good coffee places in Asia?