☀️ chapter one: summer 2024 - humble beginnings

Jul 19

7 min read

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creating something new comes with mixed emotions. we are lucky to have no boss, no guidelines, and no brief for the direction. it’s super exciting and fun, but at the same time, it’s scary. we have no reference points for what others have done to see what works, and aren't following the current tik tok trends. perhaps we are a little rebellious like this.

we have been researching this concept for the past few years. we are fortunate to be travelling, gathering inspiration, and experiencing all sorts of different cultures, food, and coffee. we have been thinking, thinking a lot. our knowledge, learnings, and experiences have led us to this point, along with working until 3am for months.

we have been focused and thinking about the future of coffee. how can we create something new and different, something that excites us, something that is interesting for us, something we want to drink, along with a place where we feel at home and where we can welcome everyone into our home, a place where we can share & look after our team.

after tea, coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world. we know some people who don't like the flavour of coffee & we wanted to create drinks that make specialty coffee more approachable to those who don't normally drink it and we can open a new world to them.

we have been playing and experimenting with techniques not normally used in coffee. some techniques from molecular gastronomy, some techniques from cocktail bars, some techniques from science labs and some techniques we have created through trial and error too.

we’ve been spending a lot of time in the joo chiat hood lately, we love the energy and vibe here and we love our little coffee bar on the corner. there is so much history here. over 100 years ago, it started as a cart track running through chew joo chiat’s spice plantation that grew nutmeg and pepper, we used this inspiration and found ways to add these ingredients into our coffee. for 100 years the area has become a place where people gather, eat and drink together, we are proud to now be part of the history.

it’s a great feeling to hang out at the front of our little shop with the hoarding up, we see people notice our brand and graphics, point and speak tell each other about it as they walk past. now we will be able to share the drinks we have been working hard to create as a team. we are so happy to share these new experiences with everyone and we are excited to welcome you to join us on this journey.

happy valley punch

our r&d team wanted to create a milk clarification drink for the first time. milk clarification is normally used in the cocktail world. it's a bit hard to do, but you can do it at home with simple equipment.

we have been working on this process for a few months, not only to get the flavour profile of the drink right, to balance the acidity of the blood orange & bergamot and to find the right profile of sweetness, but the challenge for us is to clarify a large amount everyday.

it's easy to make one or two cups at home and clarify it, dripping slowly, but if this drink sells a few we may run out, we are working on the process, so we can make bigger batches and playing with a lab vacuum syphon funnel to clarify faster and clearer. we clarify it two or three times. even we have been experimenting with traditional kopi strainers too. we can use this old familiar equipment in new ways.

we find this drink challenging to make and interesting to drink. it has a complex flavour, it has different textures with some crunch from the roasted coconut chips and also a thick mouthfeel that comes from the coconut milk. hold it up to the sunshine and you’ll see a pretty ruby-red colour from the blood orange. we love it and we hope you enjoy it too.

cherry peng

summer isn't summer without a cherry on top. this summer time, we have seen a lot of cherries around at aunty’s fruit shop near our house and have been researching where to source the nicest and freshest ones. we don't like pre-made syrups like the monin types & we want to keep the nice fresh flavour of the fruit without cooking it like a jam, so we have been playing with new processes to make lacto-fermented fruit in the shop. it takes a few days, but it's fun to make and we love how this flavour profile brings out the flavour in the coffee.

during our travels, we found a new way to make an emulsified coffee foam that is really popular in greece, they call it a freddo espresso, and pretty much everyone drinks it there by default. it was the first time i had seen it, i had 3-4 of these every day but i can't find it anywhere else, it's really delicious and has a great thick and fluffy texture.

we took this inspiration and added a fresh orange peel syrup. we think the sweetness and flavour of the cherry balances the acid and brings out the natural flavours in our lighter roast profile espresso blend like stonefruit, caramel and chocolate, it goes really nicely.

bee's knees

we have been pretty darn lucky to spend some time in australia recently during the summer, the produce is very fresh and some of the best honey in the world is from there. life is a different pace there, it is nice to be slower and feel more relaxed.

the honey we source is from bees that have been gathering pollen from wildflowers, down south on the coast in western australia.

it's such high quality and tastes like nothing we have tasted before. these bees go around and gather pollen mainly from eucalyptus & banksia trees and all sorts of other wildflowers in the spring and summer. it's very complex, each batch changes colour and tastes different with flavours like citrus & herbs, sometimes there’s a mild spice to it, we love it.

during our tastings for the fazenda samambaia, we found it to taste like amaretto, cherry & plum. a nutty amaretto flavour is quite an unusual flavour profile in coffee, so to enhance it we created a way to make a light caramel using pine nuts, it almost tastes like a brittle in liquid form, it's delicious.

we tried all sorts of fruits to go along with the honey & nutty flavours and found that a simple fresh strawberry puree works the best. it's a bit of a weird combination for sure and not one that is common, but we like it and we hope you enjoy it too. during our tastings we found this was the gents favourite drink, it surprised us!

young harry

during one of our trips to thailand, we found that the coconuts taste different there, especially coconut water. coconuts are so much fresher and the flavour is incredible, so refreshing and sweet to drink in the sun.

we were lucky to find a fresh, raw coconut water producer. it tastes incredible compared to the ones in the store, usually these are pasteurised to keep it shelf stable for months. we flavour the coconut water a little with some jasmine & green tea concentrate to balance the sweetness with a little bitterness, add a little guerrero santos walter cold brew and top it with pistachio foam made from roasted pistachio paste and a bit of cream.

we named this drink after our great friend harry. he always says he is quite old already and we wanted to make fun of him. really he is still young, good looking and has many years ahead of him.

please drink it slowly, don’t stir it at the start, drink a little cream, then a little coconut water, then mix it all together as you go.

mont blanc

we love to travel to find new inspiration and to take others on our learning journey as we learn more about coffee. as we were developing this drink we shared with our barista team about this new trend in australia, mont blanc.

they hadn't travelled far from singapore before and were lucky to explore and experience coffee in melbourne for the first time, he told us about this mont blanc with a great coffee aroma and smooth texture that a few cafes have started making. we thought to do our own version of this popular drink and share it with you all.

we make a 10:1 ratio cold brew with our guerrero santos walter beans from peru. this coffee has fruity flavours like persimmon & mango and adding orange & nutmeg brings out these natural flavours.

the joo chiat area used to be a nutmeg plantation, perhaps it was where our shop is now.

bus uncle

as most people will say, sometimes i have the monday blues. for years i have followed a silly telegram bot that tells me a joke every monday from bus uncle. you can also message bus uncle to tell him your location and he will tell you how far away the bus is.

“today someone threw a can of coke at me in the kopitiam. but don’t worry I’m not hurt, its a soft drink”

"bus uncle, do you love me?" "no, my heart is only for bus aunty"

lately our r&d team have been playing around with creating different flavoured foams and bubbles. these bubbles add new interesting textures & flavours to finish our coffee. sometimes fine dining restaurants use this technique as garnishes for soups or desserts and we think its interesting to add this to coffee in new ways.

we love osmanthus tea and have been researching how to combine tea with coffee, adding it to this drink gives it some sweetness and floral aroma with no bitterness.

then we add a little coastal wildflower rare honey and some fresh watermelon juice we make at the shop. it gives it a special red colour, then we grind a bit of pink peppercorn on top to give it an interesting taste.

crema al caffè

sometime last year i travelled to italy in the europe summer. the coffee culture is different there. there are no seats and people stand around the coffee bar to talk with the barista. in some ways, this gave us inspiration for our shop.

there was this little bakery at the top of the hill near where I was staying. along with their espresso, i kept seeing people drinking this coffee slushy out of small cups. i tried it and it changed my life. it was sweet and refreshing for the summer sun. we researched how to make it and found they use a pre-made powder for this drink, it's a bit like a three-in-one coffee using instant coffee powder. i wondered what it would taste like if we recreated it with specialty coffee and proper ingredients.

after alot of testing, we decided to use our big short blend in espresso to get a super punchy coffee flavour and churn it with full cream milk, condensed milk and a little brown sugar. then we add a heap of hazelnut & almond praline on top that we make to add some nutty flavours and a crunchy texture. we hope you like it.