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.

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.

Nespresso Pixie launches in Singapore

I just got back from Red Dot Design Museum where Nespresso has just launched their smallest Nespresso machine named the Nespresso Pixie. Read this post for the Previous Nespresso Experience.

A new limited edition Nespresso capsule called the Onirio accompanied the Nespresso Pixie’s launch as well. Before I tasted the Onirio, I was introduced to the coffee by the Nespresso staff, who explained the Onirio is made up of a blend of Ethiopian Sidamo and Yrgacheffe. They also reassured me it’s espresso.

Tasting Notes of the Nespresso Onirio
Bitter. Thin bodied. A bit hot on the tongue. Zero florals, opposite of what would have been expected from a blend of Ethiopian Sidamo and Yrgacheffe.

Verdict:

TCBE. Again. This Can’t Be Espresso.  If any nespresso fan is reading this, please head to the nearest Oriole Cafe, either the Somerset outlet or the Republic Plaza outlet and order an espresso. If Nespresso is reading this, do all of us a favour and stop marketing it as espresso. It gives Ethiopian Sidamo and Yrgacheffe a misrepresentation.

As bad as the espresso tasting went, fortunately, the decor for the launch was done up tastefully by Weber Shandwick, Nespresso’s PR agency and the people who invited me to this Nespresso event. I also have them and Nespresso to thank for a wonderful set of espresso demitasse cups. One of the highlights of the evening was the presence of Swissotel The Stamford’s Beverage Operations Manager and Mixologist, Richard Gillam who crafted a whole slew of signature Nespresso beverages. I tried his Oniru-zu made up of Onirio with ginger liqueur served in a champagne flute topped with a cloud of yuzu foam. Because of the thin bodied Onirio, the dominant taste went to the fluffy yuzu cloud. I could not discern the ginger liqueur.  I also tried another creation of Gillam’s – Nescesity, made up of Onirio with cranberry juice and orange water. Again, the dominant flavours were the cranberry juice and orange water. There were also some canapes made by Chef Janice Wong from 2am Dessert Bar, but I didn’t get the chance to try any. What I really wanted to try was another Gillam creation called D.N.A., made up of “a strand of Arpeggio espresso in a clear cacao and hazelnut suspension flecked with gold.”

An interesting fact brought up this evening was that there is a staggering amount of 12,300 cups of nespresso consumed every minute, or 17.7 million cups of nespresso consumed every day. Most of these Nespresso people obviously took the upgrade path from that of a Krups / Braun to a Nespresso. That is not an upgrade. It’s more of a downgrade, especially if they were buying freshly roasted beans for their Krups / Braun and then taking the misinformed jump to a Nespresso pre-ground coffee capsule. The Dark Side of Convenience.

While attention was focused on the latte art competition on the floor, I stole away to try my stint at the Rancilio Classe 6 unit at the door. A few points in summary:

My Rancilio naked portafilter locks in at 6 o clock

The Ditting-Mahlkoenig clumps to high heaven because of the lack of a doser to help in some unclumping. I had to use the digital thermometer to unclump the grounds in order to perfect my pour. I had spritzing in most my pours no thanks to the doserless grinder.

The Rancilio Classe 6 rapidly loses heat in the grouphead. I read initial temps of 205, and then it steadily decreases to a range between 165 and 175 degrees 20 seconds in. I’m sure past competitors would miss the PID’d temperature stability and machine build of previous SNBC sponsor who brought in La Marzocco. Even Nuova Simonelli had their WBC machines specially customized with a PID to ensure temperature stability.

The Spinelli roast worked very well with the Rancilios. I managed to test out one pour at the competition machine with the Boncafe roast, intended for the latte art comp, and it tasted inferior to the Spinelli roast. I would think Ross had tailored the roasts to suit his machines. Despite the temperature instability and the clumping, Spinelli pours from the Rancilio were all within a good degree of tolerance in body, flavour and acidity. Point in note, if all else fails in this year’s SNBC, be sure to use Spinelli roast. I’m sure it’ll taste quite fine to please the judges’ palates.

Updated with new photos:

Matt Riddle and Shari Bagwell from Intelligentsia Coffee, USA;

Tim Wendelboe and Tim Varney from Tim Wendelboe, Norway.

The following few points are some factors to look out for when buying freshly roasted coffee.

1)     Whole beans
When whole roasted coffee beans are ground and broken down into tiny fines, it results in a significant increase in surface area from which a rapid deterioration of the coffee occurs. And if you are buying freshly roasted coffee, you would want to buy whole beans instead of ground coffee.

2)     Roast Date
I am quite particular about the freshness of my coffee and I tend to discard beans which are older than 14 days. In Singapore, most roasted coffee packaging I’ve come across do not have roast dates. Instead, they list expiry dates which should be ONE YEAR from the roast date. Next time you pick up a bag of locally roasted coffee, just subtract a year from the date of expiry to determine how fresh the coffee is. I asked both Intelligentsia Coffee and Tim Wendelboe on the window of consumption on an opened bag before discarding the coffee and their replies were:

Matt Riddle, Intelligentsia: “2 – 3 weeks would be the top end of optimal storage time.”

Tim Wendelboe: “3 – 4 weeks, when coffee is packed in a one way valve bag flushed with nitrogen or CO2 then vacuum sealed. In an open paper bag maximum 4-5 days. We operate with 3 weeks on our bags that are vac sealed and flushed with nitrogen.”

3)     Proper Treatment and Packaging
Coffee is highly volatile and prone to staling upon roasting. The roasted coffee beans begin to degas carbon dioxide and deteriorate the moment they are being roasted. Proper packaging and treatment of the coffee as they leave the roastery are very important to prolong the freshness of the beans. The following are some features roasteries use on their packaging of coffee:

a)     Opaque one way valve Bags

b)     Resealable or Zip-loc

c)     Nitrogen flushed before sealing bags
Tim Varney mentioned that “When the bag is flushed, then sealed, the bag is sucked tight – but is designed to be able to stand up. Also, there is a one way valve on the rear of the bag to release the CO2 over time.”

d)     Immediate packaging of the beans upon cooling after the roast

The following are prime examples of coffee bags from the 2 aforementioned roasters.

FYI, the roast date for Tim Wendelboe Espresso is found on the lower right corner of the label.

Last but not least, I asked both roasters the following:

“I’ve come across a few roasters in Singapore who fib on the actual roast day. A good way to tell is the smell and the oil on the beans. Am I correct? What are other ways to tell you’ve been had?”

Matt Riddle stated “Really, just by looking at coffee it’s hard to tell when it was roasted. So much would depend on the level of roast, age of the (green) coffee and other factors. The best way to tell if the coffee is fresh is to grind some,  and pour a little water over it. if it blooms, it’s fresh. If not, it’s probably getting up on the window if not past it. You can most certainly smell old coffee…it’s hard to describe, but you know it when you smell it.”

Tim Wendelboe’s answer was “It depends on the roast and the cooling technique. If you cool the coffee with water quenching the shelf life is max 5 days and the beans will get oily the day after roast if they are dark roasted. Lighter roasted beans have longer shelf life and air cooled coffee has longer shelf life. However a good indication whether the coffee is stale or not is by looking, smelling and tasting. Oils is a good indicator of stale coffee as oils oxidize and turn bitter when in contact with oxygen.”

Incidentally, both coffees in the photos are legendary and you can order them online below:

Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso

Tim Wendelboe Espresso

Enter the i-Roast 2. The i-Roast 2 is a fluid bed air roaster like the popcorn popper. It can roast up to 150 grams of beans per session, which is double that of the popper. The i-Roast 2 has 2 pre-set programs plus you can customise another 10 more programs into the i-Roast 2. Each session can be programmed up to 485F, up to 5 stages for a total roasting time of not more than 15 minutes. The 2 pre-set programs were of little use to me as I drink espresso. Pre-set Program 1 roasts at 450F for 10 minutes, while Pre-set 2 roasts at 455F for 6 minutes, 400F at 4 minutes, and 435F for 1:30 minute. All programs end with an additional 4 minute long cooling, which is enough to bring the roast down to near room temperature.

Being a noob, the first inaugural roast was a batch of Zambia/Brazil blend using Pre-set 2 and well, that was more suited to making americanos for house guests.  to be continued…