Category Archives: Syphon

Highlander Fresh Roasted Singles


Sometimes too much milk based drinks like cappuccino and caffe latte can put worrying stress in one’s middle-kingdom. And sometimes we just wanna enjoy a full cup of hot coffee while catching up on newspaper or magazines. On days like these, the craving for a cup of SYPHON-BREWED Single origin of Ethiopian Djimma or Costa Rica will bring much comfort.

I particularly like myself a bright and refreshing cup of Ethiopian at Coffee Ritual.


Many Choices.

When you got chance to go with a few friends, order 1 cup each so that you get to taste the obvious differences of the aroma and taste of coffee from different regions in the world.

Asked for Fresh Roasted Highlander Single Origin Coffee.

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.

Coffee With Moses Chan

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Updated with new Photos
Check out another angle from WeeChuan.

In case some of you still do not know, there is an excellent program about coffee on Astro channel 311.

It’s Coffee Confidential with Moses Chan: 9 episodes, every Sunday at 9pm. If you are fans of Hong Kong Series, you will know that Moses Chan is one of the very popular star in recent times. He is a coffee enthusiasts. His program introduces coffee from the basic to the complex, from the farm to the cafe. I think it is an excellent development of coffee exposure to the Malaysian Public. Check out Wee Chuan’s blog, he will probably give a summary of every episode.

But somethine even better happened. Astro manage to arrange for Moses to have a Coffee Forum in Malaysia. And I was privilage to be invited as one of the panel.

So, last Saturday at Berjaya University College of Hospitality, I was having coffee with Moses Chan. Astro organized the event and on the panel was Moses, Sum Leong and yours truly. The EmCee was Vivian Tok. There were about 40 students and invited guests in the audience.


Well, this is as close as I have ever get to a celebrity 🙂
We must be laughing over some bad coffee experience.


Here is Ms. Sum Leong, the other panelist. She is demonstrating how to brew coffee using a Syphon Device. Sum Leong has a small cafe in Shaw Parade, Pudu.


Sharing freshly brewed Sumatra beans. Not bad at all.


Moses and I were asked to demonstrate making espresso and cappuccino.
Well, you can see where all the attention goes to lah 🙂

Hopefully this little program will see air-time over in Astro. When I get the schedule, I’ll let eveyone know.

About Moses
He is a friendly guy. That is not a surprise at all. Trained in the art of PR. But make no mistake, he knows about coffee. That means what you see in his program is not just someone reading from a script.

He is a barista too. Better than most behind the bar in any cafe in Malaysia for sure. During the demo, he paid attention to grind adjustment, paid attention to extration rate, froth milk correctly on the 3rd attempt and manage to pour latte art too.

In the private interview after the forum, he told of his experience with kopi luwak. I assure you that he was being very courteous during the filming with regards to kopi luwak. Very courteous and polite.. if you know what I mean 🙂

Hey, he owns an Aeropress too. And he also gave me a copy of his program “Coffee Confidential” on a copy-protected and autographed DVD.

Coffee Scenes in Malaysia
As far as promoting quality gourmet coffee is concern, more exposure, education and publicity is needed. We as consumers (especially those who love coffee) MUST demand quality from anyone attempting to sell us coffee that cost more than RM4.

Why? Well, even gourmet coffee are consider cheap as far as raw material is concern. Most single shot of espresso cost no more than 50 cents. Many are even cheaper and even the more expensive ones cost no more than a ringgit. I’m willing to pay Rm10 for a cappuccino only if they are well made. A well made cup of cappuccino requires good beans, good machine, good milk, good environment and GOOD SKILLS. All these things cost money. Any cafe who does not spend money on all these good requirements has no right to charge you even RM4 for a lousy cup of coffee.

Berjaya University College of Hospitality
The Espresso Machine is in a sad condition. Dispersion screen probably block. Gasket dying and water is leaking during extraction. How do you expect good barista to come out from there? They make us a pot of french press using the very “expensive” Jamaican Blue Mountain beans. Ughhhh… STALE. Funnily, the few cups very given to the audience. Lucky for Moses, he didn’t manage to taste it. One last cup available, I took a sip…. yup… taste as stale as it smelt.

‘Nuff Said.

Coffee Ritual – The 3rd Coffee Lovers Gathering

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On March 8, we had our third Coffee Lovers Gathering at Coffee Ritual.

This time though, it was a bit different. Instead of espresso and cappuccino, we had Syphon’s brewed coffee instead. Thanks to Chin for inviting us to his place for a FREE sampling of Syphon coffee. It was a first experience for a few guys here.

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The Crowd… including the cute lil baby girl that brightens our day.

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Coffee ready to brew. This is a single origin from Columbia.

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As the water begins to boil, the top part which holds the coffee will be properly attached to the lower parts that holds the water.

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The moment the top part is attached, hot air inside the water compartment will have no place to go. Due to pressure differences, most of the hot water will be pushed up to the compartment containing the coffee. As the water wet the coffee, it is stirred to ensure all the coffee are properly saturated with the water. It is then allowed to steep for about 50 seconds.

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Once the fire or heat source is removed, in a few seconds, the air inside the earlier water compartment cooled down. The coffee will gushed back down to the lower compartment.

We actually tried 3 types of single origin beans from Columbia, Brazil and one that I forgot (getting old, if anyone remember, do let me know).

I find that the Syphon way of brewing coffee to be quite romantic. You have the gadget, the glass, the fire…

Ok, how does it taste? I have to say the Syphon brewed coffee is quite nice. It is clean (as clean as the Aeropress), able to bring out the delicate flavour of the beans (if you have good beans and freshly roasted of course).

It is very comparable to the Aeropress (base on memory, not that I have a chance to really compare side by side). Both can brewed very tasty, delicate coffee. Aeropress is the most convenient. The Syphon is way more romantic and appeal to more than the taste sensation. But, you can drop the aeropress and no sweat but if you drop the syphon there goes your money… hahaha. In fact someone told me he is reluctant to get a syphon because there are many clumsy people in the house.

Do give them a try and check out the location here. Certainly the Best Coffee Place in Petaling Jaya.

Coffee Lovers’ Gathering – Last Minute Ad-hoc notice

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This is truly a very late notice but our friend in Coffee Ritual made us an excellent offer.
Many of you never tried a Syphon brewed coffee before. Now’s the perfect opportunity.
After that, you can order your favourite coffee….espresso, cappuccino or latte.

Since I’m meeting Wee Chuan for coffee and chit-chat, you are all welcome to join in.

The Offer: Free 1 cup per person
The Coffee: Syphon brewed single origin
The Password: Mention “Coffee in Malaysia” for the free drinks
The Duration: Whole of Sunday and Monday (8 – 9 March 2009)

I’ll only be there from 2pm to 4pm Sunday.

The Map:

Please drop your name or nickname in the comments.

See you guys there.