Singaporeans sure do love their coffee, as seen from the throngs of people who made their way to the Singapore Coffee Festival, which happened last week. While some have expressed unhappiness at the crowds, we found ourselves skipping with joy as we chanced upon some hidden gems, new kids on the block, and favourite familiar local names at the festival. If you missed the chance to attend the inaugural festival, here are five things that fascinated us during the festival (you can still seek out these coffee maestros at their actual outlets):
The art of coffee brewing
This set-up looks straight out of a chemistry class and is most likely to be, as the folks behind Make Decent Coffee Lounge take much pride in brewing a cup of coffee.
Who knew coffee brewing itself is such a sophisticated art? There is more to brewing a decent cup of coffee than a capsule machine. Even the commonplace complex-looking machines in many coffee joints do not come close to what we have seen at the festival.
The Aeropress method of brewing is cleaner than French Presses and gives users more control over the brew time, not to mention this coffee equipment is highly portable too.
At Make Decent Coffee, the barista demonstrated the Aeropress method of brewing. It was simple, fuss-free with minimal steps and yet the coffee was one of the best I had in the festival. The Papa Palheta speciality coffee they used had a smoother taste and was less acidic compared to other coffee that I have tried before. That is certainly my cup of coffee.
If you are feeling curious, CMCR lab teaches latte art techniques and brewing that perfect cup of coffee within the comforts of your home. Budding baristas can also try their hand at any one of their Fundamental Barista Skills or other basic classes to learn a trick or two.
Nothing beats a good ‘ol pairing of coffee and a slice of cake
Coffee or tea, goes hand-in-hand with a slice of heavenly goodness. The ones at Cream & Custard packed a punch! Their chocolate and melon cake was a breath of fresh air for my taste buds. Sadly, their watermelon strawberry cake was sold out by the time we got to their booth. We were hoping to try the first watermelon strawberry cake and see if it really did live up to all the hype around it.
Cream & Custard for sure won in the looks department as I was already sold upon seeing their wide variety of mouth-watering cakes and tarts on display.
There was some artisanal tea at the festival too. The specialty tea blends are blended right here in Singapore, with premium handpicked tealeaves carefully sourced from all over the world.
Alcohol-inspired tea is one of the many types of tea you can find at BREW. There are pure and blended tea available as well.
We were most certainly tempted to try these quirky flavors and we were glad we did with its sweet aroma and mild taste, which is how we like our tea to be.
Cold brew all day every day
At every turn in the coffee festival, we would find some cold brew, which has been an instant hit amongst caffeine lovers. Nitro iced coffee seems to be the hottest fad now in the coffee scene, with that creamy Guinness Stout froth on top. Instead of having coffee poured over ice, it comes straight from the tap, which seems to give the coffee a smoother taste.
Made Cold offers quality cold brew, in both coffee and tea, which are made locally.
Dapper Coffee, a café by day and bar by night, sure knows how to capture one’s attention with their irresistibly enticing packaging (and awesome cold brew).
Truckloads of delicious food and of course, specialty coffee
Popular cafes like Oriole Coffee, Common Coffee Roasters and Chye Seng Huat Hardware were also at the festival. We even got to try their new kaya ice cream flavour, which we swooned over the moment we had a taste of it.
Besides that, The Pourover Bar, which opened a few months back, has an unique concept of pourover to its coffee. Water is being manually poured over coffee grounds in a filter to yield some of the freshest aroma stored in the coffee beans. There was simply no lack of new brewing concepts at this eye-opening festival.
Some of the big names such as Paul and Antoinette were at the festival too, alongside café favourites like Buck Tile St. and Hungry Heroes. Speaking of the latter, their light bites like the pulled pork was smoldering good. It proves that festival food does not have to compromise on its quality with the lack of a fully equipped kitchen.
Two Bakers gives pastries a healthy name, with cakes that are natural and gluten free. We cannot help but notice the adorable name “Crispy Duck” has.
As third wave coffee hits Singapore, consuming coffee is increasingly seen as a lifestyle and not just another beverage. Customers have also become more discerning to the taste of different varieties of beans, all thanks to the prolific café culture that began a few years back. Now, is third wave coffee becoming mainstream?
