lyzzard Senior Member Joined: 27 May 2007 Posts: 18 Location: Singapore Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Tue Jun 17, 2008, 11:48pm Subject: Re: Searching for good espresso in Singapore
A dude, he's in charge of training Spinelli baristas.
Between the two, I would still head over to Highlander. I know I sound like a broken record but they do serve a better cup of joe. Every shot is a double over there and the flavors do come through a tad more.
Posted Thu Jun 19, 2008, 8:54pm Subject: Re: Searching for good espresso in Singapore
Been sitting in highlander all morning after a night of booze. Vibiemme replica, ditting/malhkoenig doserless grinder, diedrich roaster (IR3), milk steamed to order, clean equipment, passionate staff, no soy, no decaf available...
Great! The owners and staff are friendly and (more importantly) tolerant of geeks.
Little worrying that they all seem to be aware not only of coffeegeek, but also seem to logon often... dont they work :p They were expecting me today... Couldnt sneak in.
Kloh Senior Member Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Singapore Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Fri Jun 27, 2008, 3:53am Subject: Re: Searching for good espresso in Singapore
Hi there,
Someone mentioned my name (Keith Loh) in the search for good espresso in Singapore. Well so am I! I do second the guys at Highlander and they do a great job of elevating the coffee scene here. I'm there almost every other week anyways and end up getting something from them!
Yes I do own and operate Whitebait & Kale but its a restaurant and not a cafe. We do strive to do a good coffee programme there with strong emphasis on correct Barista techniques.
Alternatively you could check out Aerin's at raffles city basement. It's more a bistro than cafe but sit at the espresso bar if you just want a quick hit.
PLease feel free to send any comments my way and I hope it'll help us continue to move the standard forward!
However, I'd like to qualify that our current batch of coffees are slightly on the dark side so I'd recommend milk based drinks for the meantime. We shuld be returning to slightly normal colours soon.
milesbuffett Senior Member Joined: 29 Jul 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Singapore Expertise: I love coffee
Vac Pot: French Press Drip: Japanese Chemex
Posted Tue Jul 29, 2008, 7:04pm Subject: Re: Searching for good espresso in Singapore
Hi all,
First post, so shall not mention any names.
Do agree that decent espressos are hard to find in Singapore. I lived in London for a couple of years and there are a couple of specialist coffee shops that sell stove tops, French presses, home machines, cups etc. These places usually roast their own beans and grind on the spot for you based on your specification. Most have a machine in-store as well and can pull a decent shot for a quid. I haven't seen a shop like that since I've been back.
Anyway, do tell if anyone comes across a good expresso bar that has not been mentioned in this thread.
DavecUK Senior Member Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 203 Location: UK Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto (serial... Grinder: Mazzer Mini E Roaster: Toper 1kg (sold) Gene Cafe
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2008, 2:44pm Subject: Re: Searching for good espresso in Singapore
It was easier to find a decent coffee in Singapore about 4 years ago than it is now. Sure, there are more coffee shops and outlets, but the quality seems to have become generally worse. I remember the Public Libraries used to sell quite good coffee, their Barista's were well trained, used La Marzocco machines and ground what was required, rather than fill the doser so it went stale. Sadly this all seems to have gone and they are now serving the same drinks as everyone else. The public Library near Bugis used to be quite good about 3 years ago, but now....well simply a very average coffee.
I went to a little coffee place at the base of the Orchard hotel a few years ago, the chap there did quite a decent coffee, but the second time I went a different "Barista" served me a cup of complete slop. The last time I was in Singapore (about 7 months ago) I stuck to Chinese tea for the whole 4 weeks....so I have given up trying to find a decent coffee in Singapore. I think the problem might be that the Singaporeans generally don't seem to like coffee very much and so when they get a cup of something nasty, that's what they expected and so no one complains. About a year ago, I was reading Singaporean magazine about a girl who was one of Singapore's competition Baristas (I think, entering the world championship).
From memory: She had only started drinking coffee 2-3 years previously, having tried it before but didn't really like it. She felt her taste had changed and now drunk as much as 2 coffees per day! So for me it's unsurprising that the coffee culture in Singapore is probably in it's infancy, but what hasn't helped is the recent commercialism/standardised training in the last 4 years that appears to have reduced the quality of beverage in most outlets? I don't know why, although one of the people working in these outlets indicated that a few large commercial companies were supplying all the equipment, beans and training to the outlets, rather than their being independent and he cited that as a possible reason for the drop in quality??
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