I’m extremely proud of this Yellowbird, as I was involved in the process leading up to the creation of the blend. I have been working at Oriole Coffee as a barista, webmaster, and a roast apprentice under the excellent tutelage of barista champions Keith and John. Like what Steve said, I couldn’t have come to a better coffee university. As a roast apprentice, I’ve been roasting for Oriole Coffee for the past half year, and I’ve learnt more in that short span of time than I’ve gathered in all my 4 years as a home roaster.

Today, I pulled a few shots of this Yellowbird, a 20th December roast and 6 days old. The tasting notes that we got on a La Marzocco GB5 MP were “notes of piped tobacco, rich & intense mouthfeel, bright sweet prunes, hints of umami in the mid palate, lingering notes of pomelo in the finish.” On my Quickmill Anita, I had sweet smoke, hints of umami, and hint of grapefruit in the finish. From here on, I could tell the difference between a Quickmill Anita and a LM machine, the slight lack of complexity in the shot. But no bitters. On a GB5, the new mac yellowbird (as I like to refer to it) yielded the fragrance of shisha and the flavours of sweet tobacco, a definite savoury umami, hints of sweet dark prunes and subtle lemon drops beginnings which gave way to a lingering finish of pomelo or grapefruit. And the looks? Mottling and red brownish specks peppered the surface. Let the pictures speak for themselves.

The LA Weekly article went on to report that Tonx has started a brewed coffee subscription service, US$35 a month for 2 12 oz bags of coffee. An espresso program is in the works. But, what really made this article a must-read were Tonx’s words of wisdom, especially to one who is starting out as a roaster.

“A coffee should have inherent sweetness,” he says, “The roasting process should accentuate that. Clarity and articulation of the intrinsic flavor of the coffee is the role of the roaster. It’s a sacred duty to not screw up the thing that went through some tremendously convoluted supply chain.”

Tonx further sums this up in the article:

“I just want people to taste the coffee, and to experience it as good,” he says. “And if it is good, I don’t want them to look at me as the roaster as being the one that made it good. I want them to understand that it was the producer who grew the coffee, the people who processed this coffee, and all the care that was taken before it got into my hands that made that coffee great. And all I did was just not fuck it up. “

[excerpted from LA Weekly]

P.S. You can sign up for Tonx’s coffee subscription service on tonx.org

Living in this very moment:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” — FB, 1986.

Toby’s Estate Singapore opened its doors on 7th October to the public. The address is at 8 Rodyk Street #01-03/04, Singapore 238216.  Toby’s Estate Singapore is fronted by Alvaro Sanchez as the head of operations (formerly from Boncafe and Society Group) and a relatively well-known coffee personality Suhaimie Sukiman, 2nd Runner Up, Singapore National Barista Championships 2010, 2011 (formerly from CuppaChoice) as the cafe manager.  SNBC 2011,2010 #3 Suhaimie has brought along with him at Toby’s Estate quite a few other familiar faces as well. We have Terence Tan, Singapore National Barista Championships 2011 #4 (formerly from Joe & Dough), Nizam (from Black), and Andy (from Jewel and Starbucks).

As you enter the premises of Toby’s Estate, you are greeted by a huge wall mural depicting exactly what every Third Wave cafe is all about: nitpicking the coffee journey from the bean to the cup. A humungous Loring drum coffee roaster attached to a towering exhaust system lies on the right, and a much-humbled Probatino sample roaster is almost hidden alongside it.  And almost akin to an army canteen, it’s space, space, space. And a very long bench. With a coffee tree growing out from the middle of the bench. On the left, there are nicely back-lit retail shelves with bags of roasted coffee, keepcups personalized with Toby’s Estate logo, Cafetto cleaning products for your coffee machines, Chemex brewers, entire lines of Hario products, Toby’s Estate tea and drinking chocolate. Despite the many jute bags of green coffee lying on the pallet by the side of the roaster, the air is very clean, for a sufferer of sinuses like me.

The espresso machine is a Kees Van Der Westen Mirage Triplette Classic. Alongside it, rests 1 of 2 Clover machines in Singapore. The 2 Clovers spent their history in Intelligentsia Coffee, and I’m quite sure along the way, Deaton had something to do with them being brought into Toby’s Estate Singapore. Toby’s Estate kept one of the Clovers, and sold the other to Loysel’s Toy. Good things are meant to be shared, it seems. Kudos to Toby’s Estate. There are 2 Mazzer Roburs here, along with a Mazzer Mini to grind decaf beans.

On espresso, Toby’s Estate Singapore is serving Rodyk Blend and Guatemala Antigua Los Volcanes. I had the Rodyk blend, but coming from the dentist, my mouth was numb and I tasted only brightness in the espresso. My 2nd cup  was a Cafe De Colombia Cup of Excellence roasted by owner Toby Smith and made by Andy on a V60.  I could taste distinct blackberries. The 3rd cup I had was a Brazil Fazenda Rainha made from a Clover by Nizam. Pecans came to mind as I sipped this very clean cup of Clover.

The CGSG core group was here today too, with the exception of Kai Seng. Steve, Adhe and Sam had espresso, cappuccino and a pour-over. Melvin and Diane had the Guatemala Las Volcanes from a clover and a Chemex. Floral, nutty, and sweet.

My take on Toby’s Estate is that their real gem lies in what Suhaimie calls The Slow Bar, thus named because coffee extraction on The Slow Bar would take longer than the 25 to 35 seconds it takes for an espresso-based drink.  The Slow Bar looks like a science lab filled with Chemex flasks sitting atop digital weighing scales, Hario Syphons, a rare Clover machine, a Tiamo cold brewer, and a Vivreau water filtration system, with sparkling, still and hot water dispensers.  The Vivreau system, as explained by Alvaro, supplies the entire line of coffee machines with filtered tap water. Customers can sit at The Slow Bar and marvel at the different processes coffee can be extracted to the eventual cup in front of you.  There are power outlets every few meters and free wifi so customers can lounge with their devices. There is also alfresco tables outside should customers want to sit by the river.

My verdict:  Clean. Comfort. Clover. Coffee. Coming back.

Craft Coffee is based in New York, and if you pick up a coffee subscription from them, you get a tasting box each month made up of 1 4 ounce bag each from 3 of the numerous artisanal roasters they work with. Past tasting boxes were from Gimme!, Paradise Roasters, Dallis Bros., Four Barrel. Subscriptions are available in monthly, 6 months, or annually. For US, it comes with free shipping, but for international orders, you have to fill up a form and submit to them, after which they will reply you with a price quote. For Singapore, it was $444.44 for a year’s worth of roasted beans. The freshly roasted beans will ship in 6 to 10 day’s time.

I figured this is as good as it gets in the case of getting to try all the artisanal roasters I’ve only read about in my daily blogs.

Note:  The machine being reviewed here is known by a variety of names in different parts of the world.  In the US, it is the Expobar Brewtus, in Europe it is the Office Leva and in Australia it is the Minore.  For the purposes of this review, I will be calling it the Brewtus, as I first came to discover this machine through a US-based Internet retailer and a variety of US-based specialty coffee enthusiast websites.

First introduced in 2004, the Expobar Brewtus quickly found itself considered to be one of the best home espresso machines on the market.  Developed by Expobar in Spain, this machine caught the attention of a popular specialty coffee machine retailer in the US called WholeLatteLove.com.  Right back from the Brewtus I, WLL marketed this machine at the home coffee enthusiast and with the specification on offer and great price point, captured a great deal of interest and recognition from CoffeeGeek.com, HomeBarista.com and David Schomer of Espresso Vivace in Seattle.  Considering that many of the alternative home espresso machines on the market at that time were still only offering a small single boiler, unpredictable temperature control and weak milk-steaming capabilities, the Brewtus has and continues to stand head and shoulders above the competition.

While the first version of the Brewtus generated some excitement in the coffee world, WholeLatteLove listened to customer feedback and worked with Expobar to come up with the Brewtus II, blowing everyone away with an almost perfect specification at the time.  I was using a PID’d Rancilio Silvia and having read numerous positive reviews online, decided to purchase one through CuppaChoice, Expobar’s reseller here in Singapore.  It boasted, amongst other things:

• An industry-respected E61 group-head;
• Commercial quality 58mm portafilter;
• Brew lever control – putting the home barista, and not the electronics, in control of the machine;
• Manual pre-infusion – by moving brew lever half-way;
• Two 1.5 litre boilers – one for brewing and the other for steam and hot water;
• Electronic boiler refill mechanism, with safety shut-off when water supply is interrupted;
• Fully adjustable and stable temperature control;
• User controllable water pressure – via an adjustable pressure relief valve;
• Brew boiler and steam pressure gauges;
• Water reservoir (with integrated water softener) or plumb-in options;
• Vibratory pump – noting that the later Brewtus III offered a much quieter rotary pump as an option;
• Three way brew pressure release valve;
• No-burn steam wand and hot water wand;
• Large drip tray;
• Passive cup warmer.

The Brewtus is extremely well built, weighing in at a respectable 20kg and is easy to use, clean and maintain.  Constructed from copper, brass and heavy gauge stainless steel (very little plastic parts used), the machine fits well under most kitchen wall cupboards.  For home baristas like me, migrating from the likes of the Silvia, the Brewtus feels like a true professional machine.  It quickly brings to an end, frustrating temperature surfing, constant drip tray emptying and the hassles associated with brewing and steaming using a small, single boiler machine.  Try to brew six cappuccinos on a Silvia when guests visit for dinner and you could be standing for more than half an hour, making two drinks at a time, constantly waiting for the machine to hit optimal brew or steam temperature, while running backwards and forwards to the kitchen to refill the small water reservoir and empty the tiny drip tray.

Fast forward to 2011 and I am extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct a hands-on test of the latest incarnation, the Brewtus IV.  Having been a long-term user of the Brewtus II, this has offered me the rare opportunity to do a direct comparison between the two machines and validate (or challenge) the changes and improvements made to the latest model.

The first thing that strikes you when you compare the latest version of the Brewtus to the earlier model, is that it offers two on/off switches to control power to the brew and steam boilers independantly.  This helps to improve warm-up time and reduce power consumption if the machine is only required to make espressos.  I have, on occasion, found myself a little frustrated with this feature, when I had only switched on the brew boiler to make an espresso for myself.  As soon as the aroma of freshly ground coffee hit my wife, she’d ask for a cappuccino and I was unable to oblige due to the steam boiler being stone cold.  Nice idea, but can have its downsides.

One major improvement to the Brewtus IV is that it now boasts an impressive industry-leading Gicar PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) temperature controller, allowing the home barista to demand absolute precision in brew temperature.  Combine this with an already impressive large double boiler system and you have an incredibly stable temperature at the grouphead.

While the Brewtus IV boasts the same rock-solid contruction as its predecessors, I do feel that the drip tray (manufactured by cold-pressing into a mould) doesn’t appear as solid as the one on my Brewtus II.  It is difficult to tell whether thinner materials have been used, but the drip tray does seem to rattle quite a bit – particularly when banging out a spent coffee puck into the knockbox sitting nearby.  While the drip tray construction is not up to the same high quality as the rest of the machine, it is by no means a disaster.  It is easy to empty and clean, showing no signs of wear from regular usage.  The fit and quality of the tray is one of only two gripes that I have with this machine and I would suggest that Expobar look at improvements here in future.

I really liked the steam tip on the latest Brewtus.  It seems to allow for even better microfoam than my older machine and while I am no latte art expert, allows me to produce beautifully smooth steamed milk to create delicious cappuccinos and lattes.  My measure of success (apart from my own personal taste test) has been the constant stream of commendations coming from my family and visitors to my home, who are always delighted with the high quality coffee that I serve – particularly when compared to their regular espresso bar.

The Brewtus IV that I have been reviewing has a rather rare finish, with the sides and rear panel being finished in black powder-coat instead of the standard brushed stainless steel.  This black finish contrasts nicely with the polished stainless steel adorning the rest of the machine and is an option that I really like, and would probably choose if I was in the market for a new machine.

The Brewtus IV that I have been reviewing comes with a rotary pump and plumb-in only specification.  The water supply can come from a water bottle, so you don’t have to install a Flojet pump or hire a plumber to route a water supply to the machine, but you will need to provide a pressurised water feed if you want manual preinfusion.  The rotary pump is silky smooth compared to the much louder vibratory pump of my older machine and has allowed my family to get more sleep in the morning when I’m brewing my daily post-breakfast espresso shots.  This certainly gets a huge thumbs up for overall usability.

The second of my two issues with the Brewtus is that on paper, the machine is supposed to offer the home barista easy access to the pressure release valve, ensuring that the water pressure at the group head is optimal for espresso, which is widely accepted to be 9-10bar of pressure.  There is a small opening behing the trip tray, which is designed to allow access to the OPV (over pressure valve) screw, offering minute adjustments to the water pressure.  Unfortunately, on both the Brewtus II and latest IV models, there is nothing behind the opening.  You have to take the back and sides off the machine in order to access the OPV screw and as this adjustment requires the machine to be switched on to test the change in water pressure, you have to be very careful not to burn yourself.  The factory setting on both machines was higher than the recommended 9-10bar and so even though this process is likely to be a one-off event, there appears to be a construction oversight here.  WLL have a YouTube video introducing the Brewtus IV and the OPV adjustment feature is clearly demonstrated on their model⁽¹⁾.  Annoying, but as with the drip tray quality, not a complete disaster.  Again, a small improvement in Expobar’s quality control department would work wonders.

Getting down to the less important design elements, but demonstrating Expobar’s drive for constant improvement, I am pleased to note that the feet design on the latest Brewtus is much better than its predecessors.  Four very solid feet allow the machine to sit up off the counter by a couple of inches, making for simple and effective cleanup of coffee grinds and the occasional spill.  This also has the advantage that the machine has a very clean look to it, with the power cable, the water feed and drain pipes all coming out from the bottom of the machine.  Out of sight, out of mind.  The Brewtus IV is an attractive addition to the kitchen counter and would fit in with almost any kitchen or dining room design or colour scheme.  It’s certainly a regular talking point for guests at my home.

In summary, the Brewtus IV is a very easy machine to live with.  It looks great, is simple to use, is built as solid as any other machine on the market, makes fantastic coffee and can be tuned to the optimal temperature for any particular blend at the press of a button.  Whether or not you can taste the difference with an espresso shot brewed a few degrees hotter or cooler, this machine will be recognised as an amazing performer, producing more than its fair share of nicely bittersweet and flavoursome drinks.  Expobar is clearly an innovative company and in touch with their customers.  To introduce three notable updates to their original design over the past 6 or 7 years demonstrates that the company is driven to constantly exceed customer expectations, delivering a very high quality and innovative machine at a very attractive price.

What would I recommend instead of a Brewtus IV?  Well, not much at the same price point.  With a significantly higher budget (and I am talking three times more here), I’d suggest that the options to consider would be the respectable La Marzocco GS/3 or the gorgeous Kees van der Westen Speedster (which is what I am personally investing in very soon).

In short … the Brewtus IV comes highly, highly recommended.

⁽¹⁾ For OPV adjustment video, click on this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3IUqHdEkR0,Seach on YouTube for ‘Expobar Brewtus IV’ by wholelattelovetv if the link doesn’t work.  Fast forward to 8.55 mins into the video.  Actually, I’d recommend that you watch the whole video, as it is a very interesting introduction to the machine.

[Update: Ryan Kieran Tan came in at rank #28 of 52 countries for Singapore. Congratulations, Ryan!]

My work day starts at 7.00 am. I open up the Republic Plaza outlet of Oriole Coffee Espresso and Brew Bar together with my colleagues. I get to calibrate coffee that is roasted the week before by a chap who was the Singapore National Barista Champion 2 years running. Never mind the machine I’m pulling espresso on, named by Gizmodo as the barista’s wet dream machine, the La Marzocco Strada EP, the first of its kind in Asia, and the equally stupendous beauty of a grinder, the Mazzer Robur. I get to calibrate espresso on 1 of the 2 supplied naked portafilters. I record tasting notes of the daily brew, having written down words like “sandalwood”, “granny smith apples”, and “blueberries”. I juggle between pulling shots from each of the 3 PID’d groupheads, maintaining a consistent syrupy mousetail pour, taking turns dosing up to 3 portafilters or hopefully making brilliantly foamed milk the likes of glossy white paint, hopefully delighting customers and myself when I should draw a decent looking rosetta leaf or heart, my trainer all the while stressing the importance of the taste of the milk based drink rather than the art, and should anything go wrong with the pour from the use of experimental VST baskets designed with cutting edge technology I’ve only previously read about from coffee newsgroups, then the …. get this, the R & D team made up of not 1, but 2 Singapore National Barista Champions pay us a visit with their bag full of intricate equipment not limiting to syringes, refractometer, a coffee metering iPhone app that can’t be found on the App Store. They spew forth terms like Total Dissolved Solids, Solubles Concentration, Extraction Yields, and take numerous readings using eye-droppers full of coffee, all the while punching in numbers into their iPhones. End of the day, they do make a difference. And the customers. They KNOW and appreciate the effort. My colleagues? They talk more coffee than I do, and make drinks as if they were going about their routines during the barista championships.

Do I mind being a barista trainee at Oriole Coffee? Are you kidding?

Naked pour from a La Marzocco Strada

Of special mention and also an update to this blog post is the coffee to be brewed for the 2 weekends:

Bean:   Sumatran Aceh Takengon
Wet Aroma:  Clean and intense
Body:   Heavy
Flavors:   Licorice, figs
Acidity:   Tartaric
Aftertaste:   Creamy aftertaste that lingers

Bean:   Ethiopian Sidamo
Wet Aroma:   Floral notes
Body:   Light
Flavors:   Sweet red wine
Acidity:  Citrus, more pronounced upon cooling
Aftertaste:  Florals

The coffees can also be found on Oriole’s website.

Freshly roasted and well-rested specialty grade coffee ground-on-demand, 2 Singapore national barista champions teaching a free-for-all class, award winning French presses. What are you waiting for?

Last words: As you all know, dear readers, Bodum in Takashimaya is also located next to Nespresso, which would most undoubtedly be showcasing their newest Nespresso flavor, the Nespresso Onirio, an extremely floral espresso by their standards, and a blend of Ethiopian Sidamo and Yrgacheffe. This is a call out to ALL Nespresso fans. Here is your chance to appreciate the REAL floral notes of Ethiopian Sidamo in an economically priced French Press. The money you save from this, you can get a good grinder. And please, you want good coffee every morning, you have to put in the effort. Scoop the beans into your grinder, freshly ground coffee in your french press and 4 minutes later, it’ll be worth it. It’ll be better than THE NESPRESSO ONIRIO EXPERIENCE.