Are We Drinking Coffee the Right Way?

Singaporeans love their coffee and their cafés. It is not uncommon to see them flocking to the newest coffeehouse and sipping on their Americano or latte. In addition, as a Starbucks Barista for 5 months, it is apparent that many Singaporeans go to Starbucks to get their coffee fix as Starbucks is their choice for coffee.

Yes, we love coffee. We love that bitter & bold flavour profile. However, do we know how to appreciate it? Unfortunately, I would say no.

The fact that many Singaporeans choose to go to Starbucks as their preferred coffeehouse and view it as the standard for good coffee shows a lot. Starbucks is great. We do offer first-class service and a “third place” for people to connect and unwind. However, our coffee is not the best. This is because of two main reasons.

Firstly, Starbucks coffee beans are usually over-roasted. Even though Starbucks is going for dark roasted coffee, the beans used here are often roasted too long. The end product is coffee that tastes very bitter and smokey. A good cup of dark-roasted beans coffee should be bold in flavour while still retaining certain acidity to the coffee. Try a cup of coffee using dark-roasted beans from a coffeehouse like Nylon next time! Trust me, there is a notable difference in taste.

Secondly, the coffee beans Starbucks used are usually stale. This is because Starbucks is a very big organization with thousands of stores globally. Thus, most of their beans are pre-roasted months before actually using them. Hence, the beans we serve are usually a couple of months old and their flavour profile won’t be as good as compared to freshly roasted beans.

However, many Singaporeans still prefer the Starbucks taste. Perhaps it is more familiar as its flavour is closer to our Nanyang coffee. And to be frank, it does not matter as what matters is whether the coffee tastes good to you. This simply shows that Singapore’s coffee culture is still developing.

Even with the rise of cafés that specialized in coffee, many of us still can’t appreciate it. We often go to the cafés because of their environment and vibe instead of the coffee itself. I have been to a couple of coffeehouses like Nylon coffee, Alchemist and Glasshouse. I realized that many Singaporeans are ordering drinks like Matcha Latte or Ice Chocolate instead of trying out filtered coffee (using light-roasted beans) which brings out the true flavour of the bean.

Ultimately, what matters is that you like the coffee you are getting. With that being said, I highly encourage individuals to try out light-roasted beans coffee as their bright, acidity & fruity taste will make you “look” at coffee in a different light. And most importantly, please drink in moderation!

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Previously Published on medium

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Photo credit: by Jakub Dziubak on Unsplash