I started taking my home-brewed V60 pour over coffee seriously about a year ago.
The first step was to assemble a decent set of equipment, including a good hand grinder, a cheap-but-functional timer scale and a value-for-money temperature-controlled gooseneck kettle.
This was followed by choosing a flexible brewing recipe and using it daily until it became second nature. Along the way, I had fun experimenting with new V60 recipes, hacked out some immersion coffee and made some refreshing ice-cold brews.
But the most important ingredient for a good cup of coffee is, well, the coffee itself. And over the past year, I’ve been trying freshly-roasted beans from different local roasters.
When I first started, I didn’t know exactly what type of coffee The Wife and I actually preferred. So we decided to sample widely across various country origins, coffee varietals and processing methods.
Here’s what we found after trying 33 different coffees from 9 Singaporean roasters.
Excellent
Let me start the list with the ones that we really liked. For us, these four coffees stood out from the others, and reminded us how much we enjoy a good pour over coffee every morning.
| No. | Coffee | Roaster | Origin | Varietal | Processing | Price/250g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uraga Gomoro | Tiong Hoe | Ethiopia (Guji) | Heirloom, JARC 74 | Natural | S$ 29.90 |
| 2 | Altamira | Nylon | Colombia | Colombia | Washed | S$ 21.50 |
| 3 | FST Zorro | Parallel | Panama | Gesha | Natural | S$ 51.30 |
| 4 | Yirgacheffe Aricha | Jewel | Ethiopia (Yirgacheffe) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 18.00 |
Leading the pack are the Uraga Gomoro from Tiong Hoe Specialty Coffee, and the Altamira from Nylon Coffee Roasters. Both are from well-established local roasters that have been in the business for many many years.
The Uraga Gomoro from Ethiopia was a revelation from the very first cup I brewed. The prominent blueberry flavour was unlike anything that we’d ever tasted, and kickstarted our interest in beans from Eastern Africa.
Coming in a close second was the Altamira from Colombia, with its clean but full-bodied red currant notes. It took me a few tries to tweak the Tetsu 4-6 recipe for the best possible cup, but was amply rewarded when I finally did.
Rounding out the list are two coffees that sit on two extreme ends of the price spectrum — S$51.30 vs $18.00 for 250gm, an almost 3x differential!
I would never have bought the Finca Santa Teresa Zorro from Parallel Coffee Roasters, if not for the crazy 50% discount that they were running for a short period of time in August last year. It gave me the chance to try out really fancy (and super expensive!) Panama Gesha beans at an acceptable price.
The Yirgacheffe Aricha from Jewel Coffee was much more modestly priced but still managed to express the lovely fruitiness from naturally-processed Ethiopian beans. We bought this from a department store and didn’t expect much, but it definitely exceeded our expectations.
Good
One thing that struck me about the offerings from local roasters in Singapore was the sheer range of coffee available. We enjoyed sampling widely from different roasters, origins, varietals and processing methods.
Many of them made their way into this list of coffee that we would happily buy again, although some are seasonal limited edition beans that may, or may not, make a repeat appearance at their respective stores.
| No. | Coffee | Roaster | Origin | Varietal | Processing | Price/250g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Musasa Dukunde Kawa | Nylon | Rwanda | Red Bourbon | Washed | S$ 22.50 |
| 2 | La Primavera | Dutch Colony | Colombia (Antioquia) | Caturra, Colombia | Mixed | S$ 22.00 |
| 3 | Kochere Banco Gotete | Dutch Colony | Ethiopia (Yirgacheffe) | Heirloom, JARC | Natural | S$ 20.00 |
| 4 | Ethiopia Sidamo | Caffeine Peddler | Ethiopia (Sidamo) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 21.20 |
| 5 | Kenya Kiriga | Caffeine Peddler | Kenya | n.a. | Washed | S$ 16.20 |
| 6 | Ethiopia Limou | Caffeine Peddler | Ethiopia (Limou) | Heirloom | Washed | S$ 16.20 |
| 7 | Costa Rica Dota Tarazzau | Caffeine Peddler | Costa Rica (Tarrazu) | Caturra, Catuai | Honey | S$ 18.70 |
| 8 | Ethiopia Kilenso | Caffeine Peddler | Ethiopia (Sidamo) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 18.70 |
| 9 | Yirgacheffe | Perk | Ethiopia (Yirgacheffe) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 17.90 |
| 10 | Engagi | Perk | Uganda (Bwindi) | SL 28 | Natural | S$ 22.00 |
| 11 | Bale Mountain | Caffeine Experience | Ethiopia (Oromia) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 20.00 |
| 12 | Lot 5 Sitio Esteves | Caffeine Experience | Brazil (Sul De Minas) | Yellow Catuai | Natural | S$ 17.00 |
| 13 | Suke Quto | PPP | Ethiopia (Guji) | Welicho, Kurume | Washed | S$ 21.00 |
| 14 | Finca La Virgen | Parallel | Nicaragua (Matagalpa) | Rume Sudan | Natural | S$ 30.00 |
| 15 | Haru Suke | Parallel | Ethiopia (Yirgacheffe) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 23.80 |
Four of them deserve a special mention, namely the Bale Mountain from The Caffeine Experience, the Ethiopia Sidamo from The Caffeine Peddler, the Kochere Banco Gotete from Dutch Colony Coffee and the Yirgacheffe from Perk Coffee.
There’s one thing in common among all four — they’re all naturally-processed heirloom beans from Ethiopia. I guess we now know what type of coffee we really like.
Not So Good
For every bag of beans that we liked, there was an almost equal number that didn’t suit our taste. There’s no obvious pattern to the list and none of them were really bad. It’s just that we didn’t particularly enjoy them compared to the others that we had.
| No. | Coffee | Roaster | Origin | Varietal | Processing | Price/250g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don Alfonso | Tiong Hoe | Costa Rica (Turrialba) | Marsellesa, Obata | Washed | S$ 24.80 |
| 2 | Guatemala Antigua Pastoral | Caffeine Peddler | Guatemala | Bourbon, Typica, Caturra | Washed | S$ 18.70 |
| 3 | Bali Kintamanis | Caffeine Peddler | Indonesia (Bali) | n.a. | Washed | S$ 18.70 |
| 4 | Sumatra Mandheling | Caffeine Peddler | Indonesia (Sumatra) | Catimor, Typica | Washed | S$ 18.70 |
| 5 | Altura | Perk | Colombia (Altura) | Castillo, Bourbon | Washed | S$ 17.90 |
| 6 | Muthithi | Caffeine Experience | Kenya (Muranga) | SL 34 | Washed | S$ 17.00 |
| 7 | FST Summer | Parallel | Panama | Gesha | Washed | S$ 51.30 |
| 8 | FST Batista | Parallel | Panama | Gesha | Honey | S$ 51.30 |
| 9 | Shaakkiso Daanisa | Parallel | Ethiopia (Guji) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 23.80 |
| 10 | Nyamasheke | Parallel | Rwanda (Lake Kivu) | Red Bourbon | Natural | S$ 23.80 |
| 11 | Dota Tarrazu | Parallel | Costa Rica (Tarrazu) | Caturra | Honey | S$ 33.80 |
| 12 | Aleto Wondo | Parallel | Ethiopia (Sidamo) | Heirloom | Natural | S$ 15.00 |
| 13 | Kenya Muchagara | PPP | Kenya (Kirinyaga) | SL 28, Ruiru 11, SL 34 | Washed | S$ 23.00 |
| 14 | Finca Santa Isabel | PPP | Guatemala | Caturra, Catuai | Honey | S$ 24.00 |
There are many more local roasters that we haven’t tried, but we can only drink so much coffee in a day. The good (?) news is that caffeine is a life-long addiction for us, and we can slowly take our time to explore the many choices available.
After all, coffee is the most important meal of the day.
