Kinder Coffee — Restaurant in St. Cloud

TL;DR - Don't come here for the Chai tea; it's expensive and is just pre-made out of a box with a bunch of sugar..

I'm not a coffee person, but I do like a good Chai tea latte. I saw all the glowing reviews and so I met up with a friend here on a late Saturday morning to give it a try. Every other coffee shop I've been to in the area around this time has been bustling, so I was concerned about the potential wait, but Kinder Coffee Lab was almost empty. Not a great sign, but so many positive reviews couldn't be wrong, right?

Yes, yes they can. As I've stated, I'm not a coffee drinker, but typically with places like this that have so many positive reviews, it's an indicator their non-coffee drinks are also going to be solid. Well, their chai tea certainly isn't. I ordered a Chai Tea Latte and, while they at least had Oat milk as an option, the Chai tea was just a store-bought concentrate and also came out of a box, which was highly disappointing especially considering this was the most expensive Chai tea latte I've ever had. Coincidentally, it was also the worst. The proportions of tea and milk were off and whatever brand of Chai tea concentrate they use, it was... bland at best, but full of sugar. It was actually pretty gross.

Service was.. fine. There was one person out front preparing drinks and taking orders which sounds like a recipe for slow service, but when you are only getting a few customers an hour, it's more than enough.

Overall, I honestly don't see the appeal of this place; but perhaps it's just not for me. Other reviews talk about the great atmosphere but somehow with only 3 other people in the seating area (the barista and two other customers), it was still loud enough my friend and I had to raise our voices to hear each other. Perhaps if I really liked coffee I'd be impressed, but instead I really like tea, with Chai tea being my go-to drink, and to that end, Kinder Coffee Lab...

I recently moved to the area and discovered those place and fell in love after the first visit. I have returned several times since and mostly had more great experiences. But in the last two weeks I have tried to use the drive thru (yes during business hours) and NO ONE responds to me sitting at the order kiosk. I've sat there 5-10 minutes with nothing. I have even seen the employee inside LOOK at me walking by the window. I try to drive up directly to the window and still no one comes. It's been extremely infuriating and disappointing. I hope there's some kind of technical glitch or good explanation response they can provide so I have a reason to go back. But as of right now I don't think I will go back and that really is a bummer.

UPDATE - I decided to go back and try it again thru the drive thru and had a great experience. Was very thankful things were different this time. I'll continue to make a few more visits in the hope it's a continuing trend and not just a one-time improvement. I really am rooting for this place. I'll write a completely new review once the consistency is...

Stopped in because of an amazing 5 star review touting the "World's best honey lavender latte". I have to say, I was a little intimidated by the small size of the shop, and everyone was dressed in soft colors and looked extremely clean. Having slept on the ground at a rest stop the previous night and morning, I felt out of place. My friend ordered a double shot Americano, and I got the house drip. We stood around for a few minutes and the barista informed my friend that their machine pulls triple shots by default, and asked if he wanted a doughnut instead of the 2nd shot, which would equal six shots of espresso. He went with the six shots, and after getting our drinks, we left, thankfully, because I was embarrassed at how unwashed and unkempt I felt. Outside, a small sip of my friend's Americano gave me enough energy to tackle the day. My light-roast house blend has a superb fruity nuanced flavor. I kind of agree with the other reviewer about "10 stars if possible". ...