Butter + Beans at Seventeen

its the last day of 2012, it should be well spend and indeed it was..after a big feast at Matsuya the night before ( missed the sea urchin tofu and fat, thick sashimi), lets go for something lighter and we decided to go for Butter+Beans at Happy Mansion right behind Food Foundry..they are related anyway..and of course on the eve, traffic was smooth. It meant the day started off well! Whoopie!!

love the interior of the cafe

it was a petite little cafe but sufficient enough to serve you a good cuppa coffee and to feed you a good piece of cake. and it was awesome that a barista i knew from my previous workplace had already shifted here. Glad to see he is doing well.

where is the menu? this is the menu. don't you think the illustration of the bear look so cute and adorable. i'm not so sure what juice they serve but for tea, its Gryphon. 

all bread and pastries are freshly made on site, they have an in house pastry chef, but i don't see any other hot food items.. but my eyes literally focused on the display when i stepped in. saw the croissant, as a big fan of croissant but remembered coming across a blog stating the croissant is on the 'bread' texture instead of the flaky kind, I decided to leave it aside. To me, you know its a good croissant when you literally messed up the whole place after finishing one. the girls had their quiche and they find it not bad but its not a quiche day.

its a cake day!! and Raspberry Orchid cake it is. Its very seldom for me to have cake without cream coz its hard to find one that is moist, you need to balance it. MOIST crumbs and DRY crumbs is two different thing!! and the flavor interest me, a good one to go with tea but how can i not have a good cup of coffee from Neil right?? did i regret it? NOPP, the cake looks dry but its not, its pretty moist and the flavor, i'm not so sure how orchid taste like, but the aroma of this is a pleasant one, i can taste the raspberry though. NOM NOM NOM! one more thing, NOT OVERLY SWEET!! good point for that. 

then we have this pistachio chocolate tart, according to the barista, its Varlhona chocolate, but erm some how, i don't really felt it and at one point, i thought its sicao..one more time its not overly sweet, the ganache was smooth also. I wished the pastry was more flaky though.  you know its good cause i bought two home for teatime.

That is what Neil made for me, till now i din know is it a flat white or capp, its like something in between which most of you will said latte but its not serve in their latte cup. Nevermind that, i was quite busy chit chatting with the girls though, and not paying full attention on the flavor profile besides the chocolatey after taste and the temperature of the coffee is done right! Thanks Neil!

they also have bread on sale such as baguette, epi baguette, etc etc. Price is definitely reasonable. Boo bought the baguette, will asked her how is it, but recently i'm into Komugi bread, yes over-priced according to some, but i still love to munch munch especially their walnut bread. more on that next time. 

do anyone know where can i get the mini cake tray..love this kind of tray, love giant cookie jar..what else?? lol

and after the girls left, its time to hang out a while with Neil and have a cup of hot chocolate. erm, from what i see, they don't use Varlhona cocoa powder, its a mixture of cocoa powder of a company and also Varlhona chocolate tablet and of course warm milk. if you like ur hot chocolate thick, this is not for you, its lighter in taste, the cup where you can finish everything and still have space for the next cup.

and i shall come back for the next cup!! 

Hope everyone have a blessed 2013

sin

Butter +Beans at Seventeen,
BG-1a, Happy Mansion,
Jalan 17/13, Seksyen 17,
Petaling Jaya.
Mon-Sun: 0830-2030
03-79544822

Barista Jam '12 @ 'F' by Buffalo Kitchens

after the CTI conference, Barista Jam '12 was held at 'F' by buffalo kitchens the next day.

this event was all about gathering the coffee enthusiasts to talk about coffee and of course coffee jamming.

this was the second coffee jamming held by them, hopefully there will be more coming up in future. 

this place is pretty awesome if you want to spend a quiet afternoon with a great cuppa of coffee, or reading those book i love (who doesn't like 'The Fat Duck, Noma..etc etc), or hanging out with friends..going to try their brekkie soon enough

back to the story, I had the opportunity to try out the coffee brought over by Van-lin. Two different beans from different regions. Sorry i don't have the pictures but i still remember the taste and aroma of the coffee. One was lighter in taste, smoother, and i do agree it goes better with the milk, or in my words, a more lady kind of coffee..gentle. The next one was stronger, more pungent, and the aroma actually linger at the palate for a much longer period. if you asked which did I favor more, I would say, I prefer having both at different time, different mood.

 they had a small, fun competition too. to see who can make the most rosetta in a cup..hmm i decided to stand there and watch since i don't even remember making a love..lol..guess my sifu will be pretty disappointed with me huh..

this cup was by Ryan..5 in a cup..pretty awesome huh..

 Cheryl and Fai..it's great to talk to both of them. thanks for the sharing the other afternoon..

 ahh...its Cheryl turn..how was it?? haha

 this was not from Cheryl. it's Van-lin. 6 in a row..two thumbs up for this.

how long does all this people take to master all these skills and after gulping so much coffee, they still have such strong passion towards coffee..the sensitivity of smelling and tasting, that's one thing i envy..

 the manager of 'F', Rachel, an awesome lady, energetic. and i remember what she said, ' i love the machine lots'. i mean you seldom listening people saying this as the common said ' i love coffee' or 'i love latte art'. listening to her story of her coffee journey just makes me feel like flying straight out of the country at that moment and be at the spot she once stood.

 Tung-wei performing..someone who turns his hates of the 'black liquid' to love and all thanks to all the coffee enthusiast around him. and we shall thanks him for holding this FUN event at his place. 

 everyone seems to paying full attention when it was Sk turn

 Barista Jam 2012 rocks!!

let's look forward to another awesome one!!

WE LOVE OUR CUP OF COFFEE!!!IT'S A WRAP!!

sinny

CTI conference

looking at the leaflet, the first two words IDEAS > INSPIRED just pop up

indeed it was an inspiring day today, speakers from all around sharing their stories, moments of glory, the hardship, understanding the market nowadays. 

from Mr. Van-Lin, 2 times Taiwan Barista Champion, to Mr Tony Tan, Head Barista of Les Amis Group, Mr Ryan, Singapore Champion, Ms. Cheryl Lee, Malaysia champion, Fai from Thailand, Mr Sk Leng, the managing editor of Coffee T&I magazine Malaysia edition, Mr. Tung-wei, co founder of 'F' by Buffalo kitchen and etc etc

Tung-wei from 'F' and Van-lin from GaBee

 Van-lin, who is also the owner of Gabee that have gone through years of hardship to where he stand now today. As what he said, knowing only how to make coffee doesn't determine the success of the business. This is so true, especially in the market nowadays, we see cafe mushrooming everywhere but also vanish at no times. Understanding the correct marketing techniques and branding was crucial in a business. For the past years, GaBee had collaborate with different brands which brings a bigger success to his own core business. I guess the willingness to sacrifice time and effort in his business pays off after all. 'Coffee is not only about drinking but also packaging' (btw, congrats to him for his newborn baby girl prior to this conference)

Cheryl and Ryan demonstrating on making coffee and latte art

 Two main question mention by him was 1. Why do you want to be in this industry?? is it merely for the love of the coffee or for the love of interaction with people. 2. Where do you want to stand in this field?? (i guess i need to find out the ans of this two though i'm not in this field totally)

Latte art by Ryan

 one thing i like that was being mention that day was 生活的态度 (hope this is the correct writing). i guess this is true, our daily attitude in life actually do affects us a lot in all terms, in relationship, in work, in socializing....

grinding, grinding

 For a barista, making good coffee is a basic, is the core job, is the responsibility, no tolerance on not performing the job. So, besides making good coffee, what else is there to be done, to be seen, or to be improve? 

saw how everyone pay full attention on every hand movement of Ryan??

 of course, every speaker share whatever they have done and motivating the young baristas, but at the end of the day, its all about making the first step. I guess i'll never fully understand the hardship they have gone through to reach the spot they are now. Some are just lucky, and some just work their ass off.

another awesome one

 after the sharing moments, we were separated in groups and going through 3 different workshop. On latte art with Ryan and Cheryl, creative coffee and cooking with coffee with Van-lin and Chef Jochern Kern, and also coffee pairing with Tony. I love the food pairing part the most because the chemistry behind the changes of flavor when pairing a simple food with and without the coffee is just interesting. even different coffee brings different changes of flavor for a same food (of course with Canele pralines..hihi..)

always fancy looking at all the swirl when the barista is making the latte art

 is making beautiful latte art achievable just mainly by practicing all day long or sometimes it does come naturally..a born talent..hhhmppp...

macarons from Berjaya college and pralines from Canele, for food pairing

 when it comes to cooking with coffee, the Chef was cooking turkey with coffee that had been reduced and quite heavily sweetened to cut off the bitterness from it and also some acidic ingredients playing the same roll. i would said it's not everyone kind of food but i do remember tasting the coffee flavoured ribs when i was doing internship. sorry to say, i guess the ribs tasted better with coffee than the turkey especially after it had been smoked. the intensity of the coffee with the smokey flavor was a good pairing, the bitterness of the coffee doesn't need to be cut off nor altered. 

thank you so much to all of them for the willingness to share their journey with us

'serve with a promise, serve with a heart'

sinny

double breakfast

yeah!!! Kimmie is back from Romania

and as usual she need a quick fix from her tipsy movement the day before

and i decided to venture to part of the town that i'm not familiar with

to had some kick ass coffee

Coffee Famille

it was a small little cafe chucked at rows of new shop houses

love the exterior of the shop as it was very welcoming, another homey place

i guess it was still early, the place is still pretty empty when we were there

saw the lady behind the bar? a very lovely owner, very friendly

and she is also the Barista, if i'm not mistaken i read some where she was train in Taiwan

they serve freshly brewed coffee, syphon coffee even ice drip

and what's amazing they ROAST their own coffee!!!! YES, they have their own roasted right behind the bar

i guess the coffee trend is really the hip things now

and since there weren't much choice, we decided to have their H.E.Y breakfast

Healthy, Energy and Yummy
i guess it was a pretty balanced breakfast but there is nothing to be shout for
ham was pretty tasteless, but love the scrambled (i requested for scrambled that is bit more wet) and bread..

and coffee is a must i guess

she had a latte, she say it was good, smooth, and awesome aroma

i had my single origin coffee

erm i'm not sure why, but this coffee didn't really leave a good impact

it was short, and i just remember it has higher level of acidity

i guess that's it, i shall try to more precisely next time

it was a pleasant coffee time

and since we are nearby, we'll just visit the highly raved dreamz bakery since its nearby

indeed, this place is fill with love

you can see every single effort of the owners in decorating the place

hand painted murals and decoration, lovely lovely

the cup and saucer set is so English..and we try to speak in English accent too..haha

the place was pretty small and especially when more customers are coming in, the place can be a bit too crowded

they have the layered crepe cake, cakes, the highly raved hello kitty cookies, macarons and cream puff all subject to availability

we tried the crepe cake, vanilla and chocolate crepe

the vanilla was tad too sweet for me and weren't light enough

it was pretty heavy, i'm not a big fan of chocolate but this time i preferred chocolate maybe because its not so sweet and more flavorful..i still prefer Nadeje!!

a great morning spent with Kimmie

Sinny

Dreamz Bakery
No 58-3, The Strand
Jalan PJU5/20D
Pusat Perdagangan Kota Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya


Coffee Famile
6-G, Garden Wing,
Sunsuria Avenue,
Persiaran Mohagani,
Kota Damansara PJU5,
47810 Petaling Jaya

Toh Soon Cafe

it was a windy Saturday morning,

and we decided to bring our barista to have some local coffee at Toh Soon Cafe

this is the place where a lot of Penangnites will have breakfast and this place had established years way ahead of Starbucks

no fancy Frap, Capuccino nor latte 

BUT, the you can find the hidden gem here

one cup of piping hot homemade Hainan coffee o

although i din have it that day, but i remember it being thick, aromatic the last time i had it and my barista was addicted to it at that point of time

but its Robusta roasted with a fat (butter, marjerin, pork lord?? maybe??)

you can always opt for the milk version wan, but she always fancy her coffee 'black'

but we were a bit unlucky that day as they were out of charcoal, so we need to missed out on their famous toasted bread with homemade kaya and substitute it with the steam bread and we had both kaya and the sugar version

i still prefer toasted bread especially when they had it charcoal toasted instead of doing it electrically like most ppl doing it now.. 

and their charcoal toaster was super old as it was modified from an oil drum where you hardly find not even at the heritage state itself..they have three compartments, the top part is for brewing coffee, the middle part is for charcoal burning, and the lower part was merely for toasting bread..don't have a picture of that, as the counter was so busy..

nevermind that, it only give me more excuses to travel back there

having breakfast there was fun, you don't only see old folks there, expect to find quite a number of youngster sipping coffee before heading back to office..impressive..save a lot of money too from fancy fancy frap.haha

ahh..not to be forgotten, half boiled egg in plastic cup, a must have when you have breakfast at local joints right..a dash of soya and pepper..yummyyyyyy....

see, i meant it when i said it was windy..really windy,,

my hair was super messy but wonder why their hair stay so still

and in such a windy day, my face was blushing and i almost look like a roast pig..aiks..not going to post that pic for sure.

lovely morning and we had a very funny and attentive server :)

sinny

photos courtesy of hyuan

Toh Soon Cafe,

Campbell Street,

Off Penang Road

Georgetown, 10100 Penang

open from 8am to 6 pm (closed on Sunday)

Coffee Lane

this place is pretty well known nowadays as it was so packed at the brimmed afternoon

i still remember the first time i was here, the place seems more spacious as there are less people

totally heritage with the deco till the flooring, an behind the counter was Mr. Terry Bay, the barista cum the owner

they only served brewed coffee here and of course, sandwiches, mee sua, cookies, cake and etc etc

they roast their own coffee too and they have pretty wide variety of coffee beans, coffee accessories which you can purchase

but today we are merely here for coffee only

we decided to have a cup of geisha and also the famous pricey Luwak coffee

the Luwak i tasted here was different from the one i tasted at Cheryl Luwak Appreciation class

maybe its due to the high expectation but the cup we had doesn't seem to make an impact on us

i expected to have a bolder and higher acidity in term of taste, but this seems to be pretty mild and at one point, it make me felt like it was diluted. felt bad saying that though

but Geisha which is a Colombian coffee make up to it..it definitely gave us the spices taste..very smooth and it have a long end that linger in the mouth..to compare both, my vote went to Geisha..

when i practically have nothing much to do, i start scribbling and drawing on my sketch pad and newspaper..haha

while my barista enjoyed her homemade ti a kuey made by Terry's mum drizzle with thick thick gula melaka..lovely lovely!!!

don't you love coffee

sinny

10-B, Lebuh King

10200, Pulau Pinang

Full of Beans, Straits Quay

another coffee place mushroom at Straits Quay proclaiming handcrafted coffee

everything are done manually there starting from grinding

and Penang coffee aficionados can get your quick fix here, or coffee bean supply or even coffee accessories

they have variety of coffee

and since we had syphon coffee at another coffee place

we decided to try their ice drip coffee

this was my first ice drip coffee and barely knew anything about it

there is only limited seating at the place

and you can actually sit at this long table to have a close look at the process of brewing and have some interaction with the barista..i guess the maximum number they can only fix 20 pax at their place though

the top carafe is filled with ice cube

and the total time of processing takes around 8 hours

its certainly long enough to get a cup of cold coffee

and the caffeine of ice drip coffee is 4 times more than the normal coffee brew

this is enough to make me drunk in the sea of coffee

of course its cold but totally different from those ice coffee where you filled with ice cubes to make it cold

at the first sip, it was really bitter enough for me

we decided to add some syrup into it

and one things that pop out of our mine is wine

i guess its due to the long dripping just like fermenting wine

it was a pretty strong coffee and smooth to just go down the throat though it didn't linger very long in my palate

and yes we shared the coffee, i'm practically almost overdose that day

they had macaron on sale too and i saw hisako ogita macaron book which i have been ranting to my friend but i didn't pick it up.not on that day i guess

the owner say, the macaron baker is a self learner in making all the macaron.and since its the macaron craze nowadays, i'm not surprise they decided to put in on the menu

however, taste wise..the macaroon was on the soggy side and the filling for the lemon macaron tasted artificial to me.chocolate was also so so..no comment on the berries since my partners wallop up everything..

i guess ill just stick to the coffee for now

do you need coffee ambassaddor??

and this is definitely the professional look when tasting coffee

my teacher cum barista from Coffee Connection

really impress on the amount of coffee she can consume in a day without getting drunk,nausea or tummy upset

more coffee hunting next

and yes this trip is meant for coffee sipping at one of my fav place; Penang

sinny