Find Big Coffee Cups, Canvas Bags, and Creative Foam at 12 Corners

12 Corners - Lower East Side / Chinatown
155 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

12 Corners is orange walls, indie music, and hanging canvas coffee bags; big mugs, green tea lattes, and heart-shaped foam. Other than the odd open floorspace, I'd say this hits all the marks of a cute, trendy cafe.

At the counter an iPad faces the customer. By logging into your Belly rewards account, you can swipe your QR coded reward card to track and redeem points for drinks, discounts, and treats. This was my first experience with Belly, so I used the iPad to sign up and swipe my first card and purchase a green tea latte.

In American fashion, this latte is an adapted foreign delight decorated with an adorable foam heart. In keeping with Chinese fashion, it's robust, bitter, sugarless green tea. If you'd like to sweeten up your cup, you can add your own sugar. Though I tend to like my teas less sweet than many tea-drinkers I know, even this needed a hefty spoonful of honey. The green matcha is potent and powdery. Below the dark green top coat lies a more mellow milk mix. While smoother, it lacked the flavor and richness of the layer above. The cafe was enjoyable, but I did not love the cup as much as it seemed to love me.