The Most SouthCoast Coffee Ever Is Now at This New Bedford Cafe

Move over, pumpkin season. There is a new flavor in town and it's taking inspiration from a sweet SouthCoast treat.

Tia Maria’s European Café has mastered the art of Portuguese fusion with its crafted menu items, and as the restaurant looks to expand its coffee selections, the team has cooked up some exciting seasonal items, resulting in the most SouthCoast coffee drinks ever.

Introducing the Malassades latte. Yes, you read that right.

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Jessica Coelho Arruda and her husband, Ryan, are the masterminds of New Bedford’s European café that has been serving up Portuguese-inspired meals for breakfast and lunch since 2013.

Consistency is Tia Maria’s superpower, but Jessica Coelho Arruda believes there is always room to improve.

“We’ve been trying to elevate our coffee program and offer exciting new drinks that people can only find at Tia Maria’s,” she said.

It all started with the Pastel de Nata latte. Caramel swirl, crème brulee flavor shot, a double shot of espresso, and choice of milk topped with an egg tart custard.

And people couldn’t get enough.

“We were brainstorming some fun ideas and came up with the Malassadas latte, a double shot of espresso, milk, house-made brown sugar syrup, sweet cold foam, and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar.”

The idea was to make these Portuguese-inspired offerings a seasonal treat, but thanks to the amazing response from the community, Arruda plans on keeping these on the menu.

“Our customers love to see our new ideas and we just want to keep stepping it up a notch,” said Arruda. “We don’t want to be a one-time visit kind of place, we want to give people a reason to make us a part of their daily routine.”

Any day that starts with liquid Malassadas sounds like a good day to me.

Arruda looks forward to launching another new item next week, but we’ll have to wait and see what Tia Maria’s has in store.

For now, run, don’t walk, to get your hands on the Malassadas latte.

Where to Find the Best Coffee on the SouthCoast

Whether you like it hot or iced, flavored or straight up, chances are you have a favorite place for coffee. Lucky enough for us, there are a bunch of high-quality java spots to choose from. Here is a map of the best coffee shops in town, as voted by you.

Gallery Credit: Maddie Levine