Accidental Encounter of CAFFA

It's coincidence that we ended up at Malaysia first coffee expo. Coffee Art and Fringe Festival Asia (CAFFA) was sponsored by Nescafe, Dankoff, Degayo, Coffex, Soyfresh, Eciatto, etc. Well, since the media has done their job reporting about the event, I will just be describing some of my worthy experience and encounters over there (So, it's gonna be short, lol).

Well, the festival is not quite a large one, with only about two rolls of booths represented by different companies. The first we visited was Dankoff, the leading coffee specialist in Malaysia. They demonstrated pour over method at the counter which attracted quite some customers to try their coffee, they also showcase their classic gold Victoria Arduino Athena lever machine by Nuovo Simonelli. Another booth would be from Barista Guild Asia, coffee education specialist. Their baristas did quite a good aeropress demo and offered SCAE certified courses for coffee lovers who would love to take coffee making as their future career. Their uniforms looks cool too! The other booths we visited were Coffee Stain by Joseph (they served us ice drip coffee, which they had made for 8 hours just for the expo; their senior trainer is super awesome!), Coffex (the macho looking barista served us ristretto with the company's sleek Kees van der Westen Speedster espresso machine, which tasted damn amazing!!!!!), Degayo (they served coffee from Tobing Estate, Aceh, Indonesia), and they did a roasting demo using their home made roaster modified using a hair dryer and baker's oven. And guess who I met?!!! The celebrated coffee blogger and My Espresso Cafe owner, KF Chan!!! I have been a reader of his blog for so long, but this was my first time meeting him in person! I took the opportunity to consult him about his opinion of how a good cup of espresso should be. Okay, let's come back to the booths. Departure Lounge, a well received cafe located right in the Solaris Dutamas, also served us good cappuccino with their milk white SanRemo semi-auto machine and grinder. Next of course, would be my personal favourite, Espresso Lab!!! At the booth, they showed off their Gene Cafe mini roaster, as well as a selection of green beans, which are available for purchase if anyone has a roaster at home. Besides all the local roasters and cafe, the famous Italian "illy" was also there, brewing milk based coffee for people who like their page (took me some time to get into their page using the barista's Samsung smartphone, got distracted by the cup of cappuccino they brewed for me, haha). They were using La Marzocco Strada EP lever machine, which has two cool gear box like lever handle, it even has USB for easy firmware update (to us, their coffee tasted typically illy, with chocolatey and sweet taste, with slight bitterness). As for Eciatto, we don't really fancy their Musetti blend, so didn't really try their coffee.

I guess that's it! There goes my short description of the event. We didn't really had the opportunity to attend any of the coffee talk due to our busy schedule, but we did had 3 espresso, 1 ristretto, 3 cappuccino, 1 caffe latte (done by accident), 1 cup of aeropress, 1 Kalita wave dripper coffee, and 1 clever dripper coffee. Result? Half drunk and heavy headache the next day!!!

LOL, Nescafe is main sponsor??? 

Coffee Experiment: Extraction and Tasting

The day abruptly turned into a meaningful and fascinating one when we decided to brew ourselves a bright cup of joe, using the newly unpacked Ethopia Yirgacheffe beans which were still fresh. The brewing method we used is hand drip, with the Hario V60 dripper and paper filter. Our coffee adventure also includes the long tip kettle that we used to control the water flow which leads to a balanced extraction.

Brewing through drip brew produced a clear cup of coffee, as the sediments are trapped in the paper filter. The technique we used is by circling around the coffee ground slowly and steadily (which is to prevent overflow) and to ensure an even extraction.We tried our best to produce a great cuppa by controlling the temperature of the hot water and observing the bubbles produced attentively when the water is poured. It was absolutely a clean cup of coffee as we observed the color of the extraction that drips slowly into the coffee server.

We settled down when the coffee was served, both anxious to taste the coffee we brewed. We could smell the aroma of coffee around the space as we took the first sip of our coffee. It was considered a bright cup with a fruity (more like citrusy) taste and slight bitterness. We had slices of homemade mooncakes while we slowly drained the cup and talked about coffee with the presence of coffee music that lingered around the atmosphere.

Minutes later, we tried brewing the second extraction of the coffee using a different technique, which is pouring the hot water slowly into the middle of the coffee ground. We must be very patient and observant as we must ensure the water to seep through the coffee ground and paper filter slowly instead of pouring a large amount of hot water non stop. The second extraction was a success too, as it produced a brighter cup which we can hardly taste the bitterness of the coffee. We both concluded that the second extraction tastes more like the coffee produced through the syphon method.

Paper Drip Coffee Experiment

The Mid Autumn Festival is approaching, and we got some good moon cakes from relatives, so we think that it is a good time to unpack our fresh Ethopia Yirgacheffe beans that was bought few days back. The brewing method we used is paper drip / hand drip, with my Hario V60 dripper and paper filter. We also start training with the gorgeous looking long tip kettle. 

The pour over technique we tried was designed by Horiguchi Coffee, from Japan. It is done by circling around coffee ground in slow motion, allowing the ground to immerse in the hot water thoroughly for longer period, thus releasing the original flavour of the beans. The water temperature is approximately 93 degree celsius. 

The extraction is quite successful, and we manage to identify the distinctive fruity taste of the beans. The coffee is quite bright, with upper mid level of acidity, sweet and fruity at the same. There's no bitterness in the coffee. We noticed that it matches the taste of our lotus flavoured moon cake, resulting in a taste of chocolate on our tastebuds. 

Tonight is an amazing night, Happy Mid Autumn Festival peeps!!!

The Roquette is here!!!

Being a new cafe in the town, with some of the best cafes of Ipoh surrounding the area, it has to make good coffee, provide good customer service, and most important of all, be able to offer something special that no other cafe can.

And this is EXACTLY what this new cafe has done! The Roquette Cafe (derived from the word "Rocket") @ Old Town Ipoh is not just a new cafe, it's a really special one, with not just good hand craft espresso based coffee and dripper coffee, but also a political service centre, offering a place for locals to share information, talk, and raise complaints to DAP's Kepayang Assemblyman, Nga Kor Meng (if you are not sure who he is, just type his name on Youtube, he's all over the place).

The service cafe is divided into 2 parts, with the front part being the cafe and the back portion being the service centre (Mr Nga can be seen every Tuesday at this service centre). The cafe offers various freshly roasted coffee beans, mostly from Indonesia. I ordered a cup of Indonesian Lintong (mid acidity, slight herbal and fruity, a full body cup) brewed with dripper method (they called it Paper Drip Coffee) and I love the way they brew the coffee right in front of me at my table. They are using Kalita wedge-shaped dripper and coffee server, which is pleasant in the eyes. The espresso machine they are using is a semi-auto La Cimbali M27 with double group head.

Though the baristas are not skilful (perhaps they are still new), they are very sincere and passionate in serving us good coffee. Their courtesy make me want to return to that cafe again in the near future. 

We are ready to BREW!!!

Hey guys! We are in the midst of upgrading our equipments in order to brew better and serve you better. So, let's get ready for our new brewing session in the near future!!!

A Gorgeous Espresso Experience

Just two days ago, Espresso Lab has held a soft opening at its new Ipoh Garden branch. Yup! You heard me right! It's Espresso Lab!!! This is their first ever out of mall cafe, and they celebrated with a buy one free one promotion for only one day. We are lucky to arrive at the cafe at 9.55pm before it closed. And guess what? We ordered an espresso and flat white for only RM11! We appreciate the knowledgeable and friendly staff, and not to forget, the most beautiful espresso machine in town! As all the other outlets did, they are using the same Astoria Lever espresso machine! Expensive as hell! 

The house blend is very fruity and aromatic, and I love the way they make their thick and creamy espresso with the manual operated machine. You will notice a lack of thick crema though, as the lever machine has a different way of extraction than those semi auto machines, so, can't blame the barista :)

Bread and Art

I have always been complaining about the lack of good cafe in Ipoh. Last night, we found a cozy cafe at Medan Istana that makes beautiful latte art and bakes their own fresh breads. We tried a cup of cappuccino and mocha. They are using their own house blend, a blend of Sumatra Mandheling, Columbia Supremo, and Brasil Santos. The espresso machine used is Nova Simonelli Appia.

Another Trip to Burps & Giggles

We visited Burps & Giggles again, for breakfast, and most IMPORTANT of all, a nice cup of coffee. Burps & Giggles is using Bristot Tiziano blend, a mixture of Arabica (Brazilian & Central American Grand Cru beans) and slight Indian Robusta, resulting in a balanced blend that is fruity, spicy and sweet, intense aroma. I ordered a cup of cappuccino (the barista will always give you double shot of espresso, so make sure you specify if you don't desire such a strong cup). They are using Farmhouse fresh milk from Australia, which is quite reputable among baristas. The milk foam is smooth and aromatic, and the lattee art is made just nice. The milk mixed well with the espresso, hence an excellent cup of cappuccino. 

Crema

Good crema is extracted in a colour tone that ain't too light, nor is it too dark. Good crema doesn't guarantee good espresso, but it does tell you how well the extraction process has been done. A light coloured (like the creamy clover honey) crema usually signifies a short extraction, around 15 seconds, while a tiger flecking texture (like the reddish brown fur of Sumatran tiger) indicates well extraction, around 25 seconds. If you observe a dark and burnt coloured crema which is not distributed evenly on the surface of the espresso, it normally shows over extraction, which exceeds the maximum extraction period, resulting in an overly bitter cup.

We are serious about our coffee

People might be wondering why we are so obsessed about coffee quality. Our answer is, why bother spending money on a cup of horrible coffee, when you can get something better with the same price?

An Aunthentic American Date with Lavazza Blend

At Michelangelo, Ipoh, it's all about authentic American experience. We enjoy good pizza, awesome brownies, and a fine cup of cappuccino. As a fan of smooth, velvety cappuccino, good milk texture, it's pretty hard for me to accept the rough and bubbly milk foam made with automatic machine, but the overall taste of the Lavazza blend from Italy is just comfortable. My partner and I both agreed that the blend is chocolatey, with a hint of cocoa, caramel, a bitter sweet combination.

Lavazza logo

Lavazza cappuccino

Woodfired Pizza

Look at the size!!!