When I heard about this cafe, I was excited. It was an exciting concept.

Apart from the traditional Italian style coffee like espresso and cappuccino, they have a selection of single origins. Their single origins are Brazil, Columbia, Kenya, Sumatra and Indonesia. You then can select the single origin you like and they will grind and brew for you in a Moka pot or french press (they also have this really expensive looking device that cost RM30 a brew, which I dare not risk). You can even mix the different single origins to produce a different profile of taste.

I think this is a unique concept and it is great that single origins are promoted. It offers a great option to coffee lovers. You don’t call yourself a coffee lover if you ONLY like espresso or cappuccino or latte. Coffee lover or coffee connoisseur if you don’t try different type of coffee and brewing methods.

I know place like starbucks also offered single origins, but how many people would order that.

I talk to the supervisor there and she says the coffee were roasted locally. Sounds great… until I ask how fresh.

When we go to Espressamente or Segafredo, we don’t ask how fresh. We know they are not really fresh. They do need to travel a long way from the roasting plant to warehouse to storage and etc. In a sense, they compensate their lack of freshness by having properly trained Baristas, maintaining the cleanliness of the machine, microfoaming their milk and all the other things they can control. And if they can maintain the consistencies of the things they can control, I salute them.

But if you locally roast and don’t know how fresh is the coffee??? Don’t know when was the roasting date? That was disappointing. But then, I remind myself to judge the coffee by what’s in the cup.

My first order is an espresso.

It looked better than it’s taste. The crema was thin (though better than any Starbucks), kinda bitter but not horribly bitter. It’s not really bad but more like a bit bland. Nothing really special unless what you want is just a strong cup for the kick.

Next, I have a moka pot brewed Kenya.

I must say the Moka Pot just looks cool. And surprisingly the Kenya was not bad at all. There’s hint of fruitiness with pleasant acidity. Quite a nice clean cup of Kenya coffee. They also gave some warm milk along with it. Those are just warm milk… not microfoamed milk. Anyhow, if you want to enjoy the delicate taste from single origins, ditch the milk.

Next, a cappuccino.

I think I know why the espresso was nothing to shout about.
I took a peek while this guy was making my cappuccino. He used a portafilter that was on the tray instead of one in the group. I have no idea why in the world they use a cold partafilter. The funny thing is, after he tamped, he removed an existing portafilter in the grouphead and put in on the tray and insert the cold portafilter for brewing? It’s like he’s making sure he has a cold portafilter for use later. Mind boggling.

This is one big cup of cappucino man. Certainly not the traditional 6oz cup. I would say at least 10oz or 12oz. The milk is not really properly microfoamed. So, is it bad. Well… not really that bad, especially if you like a lots of milk. I would say the saving grace is that they use Farmhouse Full Cream. Currently the best quality of milk for cappuccino and the most expensive.

My verdict… Pick n’ Brew got potential especially if you want to try different kind of single origins. Hopefully they can maintain the freshness of their coffee. And they certainly need to improve their Barista training. I wouldn’t want to spend any money on their Espresso and cappuccino… unless someone is buying me the drink.

And here’s the Single’s Menu:

They currently got 2 outlets. One in One Utama, just above Jusco’s supermarket. The other is hidden somewhere in Glenmarie-hicom industry area.