Lets talk about COFFEE

[A Y]

On a side note: is there any reason why some beans will lose flavor faster than others? It seems that better roasters can prolong the good flavors (is this an inherent superiority of the beans?) and more middle-of-the-pack roasters can have a quicker drop off but will be more consistent over the long haul....if that makes sense.

If I had to guess, it's maybe that some beans start out more intensely flavorful than others, so you still get some of the flavors when it ages. There are some beans I've had that are too intense when new off roast, but settle down 2 weeks later, for my tastes. I've been experimenting with freezing beans at what I think is their flavor peak too. For example, I wait a week after roast, and then freeze it.

 

[flipstah]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a tamper or does any tamper suffice?

I'm trying to finish my Cubita beans before venturing out to other beans. Also I was a fool for steaming on Corelle pitchers. Metal pitchers makes microfoam easier.

 

[Girardian]

If anyone here is in the market for "precision espresso baskets" drop me a line. I have a few spare new Pullman baskets (standard double shot size). They are $35 @ Prima and I'll sell for less delivered. I also have a (non-pullman) distribution tool for sale that I'd recommend with the precision basket.

 

[Girardian]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a tamper or does any tamper suffice?

Based on my recent experience, I am now of the opinion that a good distribution tool and a precision basket makes a bigger difference than a "great" tamper. (That said: I own a Pullman Big Step tamper and love it.) I really liked a Reg Barber I worked with for many years.

 

[once a day]

How come we've missed this thread?! this could be the most important discover we've made as a company since discovering the spell check (we're non-native speakers...)

We love to get our mitts on some photos ft. coffee moments to use on our Insta and blog. Please PM us if you have some on your IG account or elsewhere.

Check out our origin story here to appreciate how significant coffee is to our brand: https://onceaday.se/blogs/once-a-day-moments/once-a-day-the-origin-story

Cheers,
Anders

 

[A Y]

This is one of the most remarkable coffees I've had recently. The Kenyans this season and last seem to be really excellent in general.

http://store.georgehowellcoffee.com/coffees/mamuto-kenya.html

 

[justridiculous]

This is one of the most remarkable coffees I've had recently. The Kenyans this season and last seem to be really excellent in general.

http://store.georgehowellcoffee.com/coffees/mamuto-kenya.html

I love George Howell. I had their Tarrazu sometime last year and really enjoyed it.

 

[FrankCowperwood]

Hi Coffee Thread,
Can anyone recommend a nice place for coffee in Portland, Ore.? Ideally with a pleasant place to sit and downtown or closely adjacent?

Thanks!

 

[sood]

Hi Coffee Thread,
Can anyone recommend a nice place for coffee in Portland, Ore.? Ideally with a pleasant place to sit and downtown or closely adjacent?

Thanks!

Stumptown @ Ace Hotel

 

[am55]

How come we've missed this thread?! this could be the most important discover we've made as a company since discovering the spell check (we're non-native speakers...)

We love to get our mitts on some photos ft. coffee moments to use on our Insta and blog. Please PM us if you have some on your IG account or elsewhere.

Check out our origin story here to appreciate how significant coffee is to our brand: https://onceaday.se/blogs/once-a-day-moments/once-a-day-the-origin-story

Cheers,
Anders

Much as I love Tiong Hoe and the rest here in SG I think the HK coffee scene is more fun... was sad to see this (highly SF-appropriate) place near Mid-Level is now closed:



as they were the only ones willing to sell me beans...

Also % Arabica (in Discovery Bay - I see they opened centrally now) were the first place I started seeing Panama Geisha, and generally were one of the best roasters I've visited period. Quite like the Cupping Room also.

Where do you get your "once a day"?

 

[once a day]

Much as I love Tiong Hoe and the rest here in SG I think the HK coffee scene is more fun... was sad to see this (highly SF-appropriate) place near Mid-Level is now closed:

View attachment 1146027

as they were the only ones willing to sell me beans...

Also % Arabica (in Discovery Bay - I see they opened centrally now) were the first place I started seeing Panama Geisha, and generally were one of the best roasters I've visited period. Quite like the Cupping Room also.

Where do you get your "once a day"?

Yes, it's really hard to get attached to any specific place here in Hongkers, the turnover rate of shops is just crazy! A gem is "filters lane" in Causeway bay, small and independent shop tucked away in this uber commercial area.

Our office is in Sheung Wan, and there're ton of options here. Amber Coffee is really good, and they keep a loyalty card so you'll get 1 out of 10 for free. the coziest one though must be common ground a bit further up in Soho.

Other options similar to % arabica would be Cupping Room, NOC Coffee Co, Coffee Academics. Backed by larger investors with multiple locations. Nothing wrong with that but I prefer supporting the smaller ones trying to make it.
Whats the price point for solid cup of joe in Singapore these days? In HK it's getting a bit silly 4.5 USD for an americano/filter house blend (sometimes single origin) where as a pour over starts at 9 USD.

 

[am55]

I tried Coffee Academics twice in SG, wasn't impressed. You can tell it's employees, not a passionate owner (incidentally I did look up those Portland recommendations and almost all are chains...). The food was average and overpriced too - and they're right next to Tiong Bahru Bakery in Raffles City, which serves stellar baked goods and a decent Common Man-based selection of espresso drinks; and Paolo which was the first to bring the cronut craze to SG.

We're still alright. Our coffee scene is dominated by washed Latam whereas I prefer African natural. Usually SGD 3-4 (x 2/3 for USD) for an espresso and maybe 4.50-6 for a milk drink with the latter pushing the envelope into Starbucks territory (yet somehow they're always full?). Geisha in Rochor does a $2.50 espresso which also happens to be quite good. I think HK is hit by the ridiculous rents, from memory I remember real estate being around 2-3x higher for a similar unit. But you get seasons and mountain hiking of sorts.

Tried Heap Seng Leong for a change last week. It was interesting. The original hawker kopi came about because the hawkers couldn't afford good beans so had to disguise the taste with sugar and fat, and by roasting the beans to a char. But I think a lot of the food courts, particularly chains (Ya Kun, Food Republic, Kopitiam etc.) obviously don't have staff that remembers this, or has any experience of it. So the kopi you get most of the time is not that different from a Nescafe. Now HSL does his coffee the same way he always did (and his son looks like he might have grandkids himself), over the same charcoal grill he does his toast, and maybe it was the smell of smoke in the room, but that was just a perfect balance of burnt coffee/fat/sugar and I "got it". Much recommended for the nostalgic visitor, a bit of time travel.

 

[once a day]

I hear you @am55 - sometimes the best coffee moment (#onceadaymoments #shamelessplug) isn't necessarily the perfectly roasted honey geisha by a well groomed guy in an on point coffee shop.

We lived in Vietnam for a couple of years, and Ca Phe Sue Da (the meanest Robusta beans imaginable, with condensed milk with ice) can still be great if done the right way. Truong Nguyen is not the way to go. Do you have a google map location on HSL, love to check that out next time in Singapore.

A side note on Vietna, is that they are actually starting to produce some really intesting Arabica beans in the highlands, near Dalat. We went there and met with Josh and his wife, who are running a coffee coop there that produce very good quality coffee beens, elevated by a ton of love and care in the production. http://www.khocoffee.com/locations

We're producing a blog post soon on the independent coffee shops here in Hongkers, love to learn more about 4-6 solid places in Singapore.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I've had some great robusta coffee in Cambodia. Black even.

 

[am55]

https://sethlui.com/heap-seng-leong-singapore/ has photos as well.

Think I had the Da Lat origin in Saigon Coffee Roastery in HCMC. Like the nearby Chinese SO I tried, did not find it to be quite distinctive yet beyond the novelty factor of a decent SO from Vietnam, but it could have been the heat, humidity and pollution in the air making it hard to discern much, or just not a suitable origin for espresso. There's just so many great SOs around the world, the region will have to step up their game to get there I think, so many things have to be gotten right between growing and the cup especially at lighter roasts. I'll try Kho if I come across it...

Of the places I'm a regular at these days it's just Tiong Hoe, Nylon and Geisha which are consistently good cup after cup, pound of beans after pound, at a level that could take on the Sydney names. I had good experiences with Lunar Coffee Brewers near Tanjong Pagar, although not enough to rate it. Alchemist can be really good but I think they're spread too thin, and had the odd bad cup. For the rest, never been that impressed, I think it's an island for brunch spots which happen to have a side business in espresso (Common Man, Kith, Summerlong...).