Yearly Archives: 2009

Year End Christmas Promotions

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To celebrate the passing of year 2009 and to welcome the arrival of year 2010, we have manage to get the support of two lovely cafes in giving YOU, our lovely reader and Coffee Lover, a very special…


Year-End Christmas 100% Promotions

Exclusively for readers of this blog

The two great cafes showing their appreciation to You, Coffee Lovers are:

1. Coffee Ritual

2. Espressamente Illy

What is this 100% promotions all about?
Order any Coffee (non-alcoholic) beverage, and you will get EXTRA 100% FREE.

BUY ONE FREE ONE


Password = Coffee In Malaysia

Conditions:

  • Tell them SPECIFICALLY you want the “Coffee In Malaysia” promotion.
  • Your FREE coffee beverage must be of the same value (thus 100%) or lower (if you wish).
  • Only applicable to non-alcoholic drinks.
  • Not applicable and cannot use with other existing promotions.
  • Promotions runs from 19th Dec 2009 to 1st Jan 2010.

Even more excitement.

After you went and enjoyed the promotions, come back here and put in your comments or review. Tell us your experience there. Include picture if you can.

First Prize:
The best comments or review will get a special Christmas gift from this blog. The excellent Aerobie Aeropress worth RM195.00 sponsored by Highlander Coffee.

Second Prize:
Sponsored by Coffee Ritual,  a Hario Dripper V60 + Hario Paper Filters (100 pieces unbleached) and 200g of Costa Rica fresh roasted coffee beans worth RM88.00 in total.

The best comments does not mean that you must say only good things. What we value here are good constructive comments, objective evaluations, creative writing and some good photos will do no harm.

Judge’s decision (which is mine) is final. All for good fun, good cheer and good coffee. Don’t expect me to justify why I think someone deserve the prizes.

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Locations:
Coffee Ritual
 Address: No. 35, Jalan 14/20, Section 14,
46100 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
 Tel: +6 03 7956 1080

Espressamente Illy
 Address: Lot 3-10-00, Level 3, Pavilion @ 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL

Blowing in the Wind

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Love this song… and this rendition by Katie Melua is excellent.

Here’s some thoughts while I was listening to it:

How many roads must a man walk down
Before he finds some good coffee?
How many cups of crap must I drink
Before sweet espresso I taste?
How many cafes must closes down
Before their barista be trained

The answer my friend is pulling… is pulling…
The answer is pulling your own espresso.

An Epic Experience at Epic Espresso

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The Epic Espresso Blend has been one of my favourite espresso blend for quite some time. And of course, I had Simon to thank for introducing this lovely coffee to me. And being the true fan of Epic himself, he went to visit EPIC for a coffee spree. Below are the accounts from the man himself:

Adventure at Epic

Finally, after years of drinking the Epic Blend, I am finally visiting the famous café in Western Australia. Can Epic lives up to its tremendous reputation?

We were greeted with the fresh aroma of coffee even as we got off our car. The café is small and sits about 25 inside and another 10 outside. It spots a cool blend of retro and contemporary design. Nothing beats the industrial sound of human and machine combining to make great espresso.


KF Chan: note the price. very cheap if you are an Australian

Since the walkway between the bar and seating areas was quite small I was not able to observe the baristas in action. A few things I noticed though:

  • Every milk drink has latte art
  • They use the huge Synesso machines and Mazzar Robur grinders
  • The baristas adjusted the volume of the milk before doing free style latte art
  • They used the Greg Pullman tamper – and I found out later that the design was a collaboration between Greg and Epic.

Mr & Mrs Simon

First batch order – 1 Flat White, 1 Ristretto, 1 Latte, 1 Piccolo Latte and Affogato. The moment of truth as our orders arrived. The following comments were drinks ordered and consumed by me:
KF Chan: Greedy fella. Consume all by yourself??? Your wife just watch and take photos issit 😀

Flat White

No Sugar Needed

No Sugar Needed

Flat White – 1 part espresso and 5 part milk – incredibly sweet without any sugar yet does not take anything away from the coffee. Best milk based drink I have ever tasted!

Ristretto

Ristretto – The “restricted” shot of about 18ml of double espresso, nice deep red and brown colour – the shot is very intense with caramelised sweet finish. There’s not a single hint of bitterness. Not something I will drink often but a showcase of how good the Epic Blend can be.
KF Chan: Are you sure 18ml for a double ristretto? A single espresso shot is 30ml. 18ml for a double is too short, right?

Latte

Piccolo Latte

Belgian Chocolate Couverture

Then we were offered the “Mojo” – a drink only offered by the Barista to their friends. The base was a single shot espresso, then filled with Belgian Chocolate Couverture and topped with another double shot espresso – then the drink was stirred – taste a bit like liquor chocolate.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino

Mocha

Mocha

The next day I came back (and actually the day after next as well) and I tried their Cappuccino and Mocha. I usually dislike Mocha because it can taste a bit bitter when not done properly. This version was superb and silky smooth although it can be a bit too sweet for those who are used to drinking coffee without sugar.

No Extra Hot

No Extra Hot

KF Chan: Don’t insult the barista by requesting your coffee “Extra Hot”

Truly Epic Café lives up to its considerable reputation. I went to the café three days in a row. There was a slight drop in the quality on day 3 (with a different crew) but overall they displayed an absolute master class in preparing espresso drinks. Three days and AUD150 (RM450) spent – it was a great experience. Epic claimed they could possibly be one of the best espresso café in Australia – based on my experience I would not disagree.

Thank you Simon for these lovely photos and memories.
Note to self: Must visit Epic before I go.

Love over coffee

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Found this lovely photo in PicApp

[picapp src=”9/7/e/5/Couple_kissing_at_8505.jpg?adImageId=4539491&imageId=5068119″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]

Expression of Love,
Espression of Passion,
Expression of Union
over Espresso

Coffee Lovers Gathering again

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Update: 4th October 2009

Thanks to all who turned up today.

Here’s the photos:

First agenda on the menu, Chin shows us the Cold Brew device.


Chin explaining the workings of the Cold Brewer.


Using Brazil Single Origins


Carefully placing the coffee grounds into place.


The Iced-cold water above will drip down onto the coffee grounds very slowly.  The brewing process took about 8 hours to complete and the coffee will be rested another 3 days for the taste to be fully developed.


The resulting coffee is a very intense kinda drink. Do take note that this type of brewing methods produced very coffee that is very high in caffeine content. Those who intend to burn mid-night oil, wanna stay awake at anytime or chasing Champions League matches, give them a try.

NEXT: Balancing Syphon Brewer

Brewed using Columbian Single Origin


This is a really elegant looking device. It brew coffee using the Syphon brewing method but it will automatically turn off the flame. Really cool to see and fun to use.


It even has a tap to pour out the coffee. It is imported from Taiwan and cost around RM500 to RM600.

LASTLY: The humble Drip Pour Over

A really humble and low tech way to brew lovely coffee. This Drip Pour Over only cost RM20 plus.

Side Note:
You can enjoy good cup of coffee without paying a bomb. Even a simple drip pour over can make good coffee. Just remember these few important rules to enjoy coffee at low cost and low tech way:-

1. Get good fresh roasted coffee
2. Get a decent grinder (If you have a decent grinder, the world of excellent coffee will be opened to you)
3. Monitor the water temperature. 90 to 92 Celsius and not boiling hot water.
4. Choose your brewing device like Drip Pour Over, French Press, Aeropress, Moka Pot (All less than RM200)

Also a special thanks to Mr. Tan Bee Leng. Mr. Tan brought us some samples of Kopi Luwak and some Liberica coffee cherries to sample.


Inside the cherries are the coffee beans.
What is kopi luwak? In a nut shell, these lovely red cherries were eaten by a certain type of Civet Cat. Then civet cats love the cherries but their digestive systems cannot digest the seeds or beans from the cherries. So the beans will passed through the cats’ systems. Farmers collect the “passed out” beans, washed them, dry them and roast them. Lo and behold, you got yourselves some kopi luwak. They are very expensive.

Finally everyone is satisfied. Here’s the group photo.

Left to Right: Ana, Fernando, Jane, Iris, Shin Tatt, Tan Yoke Ling, Tan Bee Leng, Cheryl, Wee Chuan, Mun Shin, Zayne and Chris. I’m the one holding the camera and Irving has left earlier.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EVENT

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Original Posting:

This Sunday we will be having a gathering at Coffee Ritual.

Coffee Ritual has been my preferred place for a cup of Syphon brewed fresh coffee. This Syphon thingy is a classy elegant device. If you plan to win the attention of someone special over a romantic dinner, preparing a cup of Syphon brewed coffee to share is pretty romantic and cool.

Note: This is not a device for the clumsy. And if your house is messy like mine… (that’s why I didn’t get one).

Coffee Ritual is giving us a special promotion: FIRST CUP FREE.
Guys… order something to eat and pay for it, ok. The food is pretty good.

Venue: Coffee Ritual
Map: Here and here.
Time: 2pm
Date: 4th October 2009
Address: No. 35, Jalan 14/20, Section 14, 46100 Petaling Jaya

After that, give your comments below.

If you are there and don’t know who to talk to or don’t know how to get the FREE coffee… This is the password: COFFEE IN MALAYSIA

See ya, ok.