🍂 chapter two: autumn 2024 - the little black sheep

it's been an incredible journey these past couple of months since we opened in late july. we are truly humbled by everyones support to visit our little shop and for the effort that everyone has put into creating content and posting your experiences. each day we have been looking forward to seeing incredible posts. we love you all!

we are very proud of our team and what they have achieved. we have learnt so much over this period and it's been crazy busy.

we have been listening to feedback about our drinks & flavour profiles so we can keep on improving, along with working hard to improve our workflow to make things faster in the busy periods. also we are doing stuff to make it a bit nice in the shop with some new seats and more aircon so it's more comfy when it’s hot outside.

our r&d team have been restless, they get bored easily, every day they have been busy researching our chapter two menu to keep on improving. 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 aim 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.

autumn 2024 : new season’s coffee 🍂

this season, our r&d team have been playing with single origins from ethiopia with a sun-dried natural process and a washed process costa rica. 

amederaro konga g1

in ethiopia, there’s a famous coffee growing region called yirgacheffe in the gediyo zone. some people say this region produces the best coffee in the world. coffee from yirgacheffe are famous for having bright acidity, floral aromas and complex fruity flavours. 

we found this incredible coffee called amederaro konga g1. its grown at 2000m altitude, the cooler climate slows down the coffee bean growth & ripening and gives a higher density flavour with a higher natural sugar content. these beans are processed naturally, where the whole ripe coffee cherry is laid out in the sun with the fruit still around the bean during fermentation. this process makes the coffee super fruity and brings out the sweetness of the coffee. we’re tasting some strawberry, nectarine, sweet citrus & black tea, its perfect to add some fruity flavours to enhance these beans. 

yirga chefe, ethiopia

esperanza, aquiares estate

once we found a super nice fruity coffee, we were on the lookout for a more nutty and chocolatey flavour profile for our second single origin. we come across the esperanza variety from aquiares estate in costa rica, grown in an area called turrialba. coffee there is grown in volcanic soils at a bit lower altitude so the berry can ripen faster with a balance of acid, sugar and body giving it a thicker mouthfeel.  

the farmers work very hard to hand pick the beans and then put them through a fully washed process. first they run the beans through a wet mill which removes the cherry skin and fruit pulp, but leaves on the mucilage, this is a natural sticky layer of sugars that surround the coffee bean. the farmer then places the beans in a fermentation tank for a day or two to break down the sugars with the natural enzymes and microbes on the beans. 

next the beans are washed again to remove whatever mucilage is left, laid out to dry on beds for a few weeks _and then shipped over to singapore for roasting. in this coffee we’re tasting stonefruit, pink grapefruit, marzipan & praline. we thought it would go super well with our mont blanc version two. 

aquiares estate, costa rica 

we are so happy to share these new drinks and experiences with everyone and we are excited to welcome you to join us on this journey into chapter two of our autumn 2024 menu.

happy valley punch

our happy valley punch has turned into our signature drink and best seller, so we will leave it on our menu for a bit longer before we change it up later, we hope more people can try it. 

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 sometimes, 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. 

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. 

papaya peng

sometimes we get inspired from our travels, but sometimes we can find inspiration at home each day. we really love eating papaya and recently we’ve been picking one up with other fruits with our shopping each week. usually they are a little green so we need to sit them out next to our tv for a few days to ripen. we were eating this all the time and we were thinking how can we combine this with coffee and create something with a familiar flavour profile, in a new and different way. 

we get fresh and ripe papaya & pineapple and juice them in the shop, then we thought to add a tea to give it an extra layer of flavour. our r&d team tried all sorts of flavour combinations but decided on a tea concentrate made with a white peony from fujian, china.

this white peony or bai mu dan, is delicate and has flavours of honeysuckle or chrysanthemum tea with little sweetness. the tea is very fresh and harvested just a few months ago at the end of march this year. we quickly steep it at 85 degrees to make sure the concentrate is light, isnt bitter and the tannins don't come out.

then we mix in some raw, fresh coconut water & coastal wildflower honey from western australia from the rare honey company to add some sweetness and some spice from the honey. 

we love how we can make the drink layer with the coffee floating like a cloud on top of the papaya, and add on a little candied papaya to add some texture. we hope you enjoy!

warabi mochi

we have a love affair with japan and are very lucky to have been many times to travel, explore incredible food and drinks (and go snowboarding too!😉). last time we visited we tried all sorts of mochi, and recently warabi mochi has been very popular, we see it at a few places in singapore too with big lines.

we wanted to create a new but familiar drink that uses a bit of a traditional japanese flavour combination.  

warabi mochi is not like the common rice-based mochi, its made from warabiko starch, from the root of the bracken fern plant grown in japan. warabi is more jelly-like, translucent and has a soft & chewy texture, we love it.

our r&d team were playing around for a few weeks to refine the process for making warabi mochi in the shop. after cooking, setting and cutting, we mix it with some okinawa black sugar, fresh milk, a double shot of big short espresso and add a layer of kinako cream made from roasted soy bean powder from japan. 

after we add on some ito togarashi , this adds a little spice and contrasts the creaminess and sweetness of the drink.

little black sheep

last year we were lucky to explore taiwan and we visited a traditional tea house. the tea master served a tea brewed with plum and purple shiso leaves. the tea was floral and herby and stuck in our minds for months, we’ve never tried anything like it before and we were working out how to combine shiso and coffee.  

amederaro konga g1 from ethiopia gives some bright, fruity and floral flavors and the cold brewing process with a 10:1 ratio enhances its sweetness, reduces acidity and creates a smooth & a little syrupy mouthfeel. 

we really wanted to add in some big fruit flavours to enhance the natural flavours of the coffee, so we freshly juice honeydew melon in the shop each day. 

then we make a slow cooked sous-vide syrup with passionfruit, purple shiso and gula melaka that we cook for 2 hours at low temperature to very gently draw out the shiso flavours without heating and cooking the passionfruit too much or making the shiso bitter, this combination adds a sweet and sour element to the drink. 

the purple shiso adds in a little herbal, slightly minty and slightly anise-like flavour. we tried a few different sugars and we decided to add in a gula melaka to add in a bit of caramel and molasses flavours and balance out the tartness of the passionfruit. to finish we give it a shake to combine it all together and add some aeration into the drink. 

the other day someone said big short is the black sheep of the coffee industry, perhaps we don't follow the typical norms, trends or expectations of coffee, this drink for sure is a little bit different.

mont blanc

our mont blanc is one of our best selling drinks from our chapter one menu, so we wanted to keep it on for a bit longer. we wanted to do another version to improve it by changing the coffee to have a better flavour profile and enhance the sugar by adding a new sugar syrup we make from moscavado sugar & orange zest.

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 went to good measure in melbourne, the creator of the mont blanc and described it with a great coffee aroma and smooth texture. 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 aquiares estate esperanza from costa rica. this coffee has some nutty and fruity flavours like stonefruits, pink grapefruit, marzipan & praline.

its grown in an area called turrialba. coffee there is grown in volcanic soils and at a bit lower altitude so the berry can ripen faster with a balance of acid, sugar and body, its super nice in a cold brew and adding orange, nutmeg and muscavado sugar brings out these natural flavours. 

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

grover’s plot

since we opened we found we have lots of people visit who don't drink coffee. we know some people who don't like the flavour of coffee & we aim 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. this time around our r&d team were on a mission to create a super special drink that doesn't contain coffee. 

earlier this year we were lucky to be in china for a few days. we were walking through a market and we saw a stall with perfectly presented teas piled up very high. the girl serving us was lovely and we tried all sorts of incredible tea. the one that really stood out the most was a buckwheat tea which we had not tried before. the flavour was very rich, it had a nutty, roasty flavour and an amazing golden colour. 

we bought some tea and didn't calculate the exchange rate properly, we got massively ripped off and we brought some very expensive tea home. we learnt a good travel lesson and have a funny story to tell. 

we researched where to find the best buckwheat tea and tried all sorts of different types. we found the tastiest was the alpine yellow tartary buckwheat tea from the daliangshan region of yunnan province in china. buckwheat has been grown in the area for hundreds of years, is a sustainable crop and has good health benefits too. its grown in the mountain areas at high altitude, dried and roasted until it's golden brown. 

daliangshan, yunnan, china

then we make a maceration from wild blueberries, lemon, rosemary & some coastal wildflower honey. next we make some gummy bears from scratch in the shop using salted plum we have been buying since we were kids from a shop near our house, this adds a familiar umami flavour we love. 

start off by taking a sip of the tea to get its natural flavour, then mix it all together as you go, it's got some complexity with some sweet, savory and tangy flavours going on. we hope you enjoy it. 

crema al caffè

sometime last year we 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 we were staying. along with their espresso, we kept seeing people drinking this coffee slushy out of small cups. we tried it and it changed our 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, powdered milk and sugar. we 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.

trick or treat?

our r&d team are working on something crazy and very special for halloween in october, keep an eye out for it in the lead up to halloween.

coming soon - chapter three : winter 2024/25

our r&d team are already gathering ideas for chapter three of our winter 2024/25 new menu, we are excited to see what they create in the next chapter!