DIY cafe-like-coffee @ home

Initially, I did admire myself a little while thinking that I've been very innovative to sort of "invent" my own way to brew espresso-like coffee without the sophisticated espresso machine. (I've written all about it at RM10-for-cup-of-espresso-coffee-is-expensive?) But that didn't last long until I saw this page of a Coffee Book that my sister bought from Taiwan.

Basically the theory I've used is almost the same with what was described and depicted in this book, but the tools I've modified from is quite different from this one... but anyway, to cut to the chase, if it takes only an average mind like mine to thought of this way of brewing the espresso-like coffee, it really didn't take a genius to figure that out. Although feeling a little off the mood, I have to admit that I really do enjoy the process of discovery, the trials and errors, until finally manage to pull something in the form of espresso-like.

Other than getting the right taste to suit my own preference, the other part I enjoyed the most in DIY espresso coffee is the latte art.

It's not as easy as it seem. I used to thought that drawing latte art shouldn't be hard, until I got myself splashed with milk and having to clean the table and floor most of the time for spilling the milk, and still couldn't get a proper art done.

I've tried out a few types of "pitcher" because I didn't know where to get the proper latte art pitcher. So I've got my first "milk pitcher" from Daiso, which is actually a measuring cup...

Which I naively thought could do the same because it got a tip mouth (it took me a tiring way to find out this is very wrong concept).

Then I finally found my second "pitcher" which is actually a milk pitcher from Daiso as well, but didn't quite look like the average latte art pitcher with a nice sharp and long tip, it has instead a short-rounded mouth that slightly bent outward. This pitcher actually gives me a better control than the first one, but still, the milk is going everywhere and beyond my control... but also probably because I didn't know the right technique to pour the milk yet :-P

Having countless unsuccessful latte art attempt as my experience, I finally decided to move from consulting the Coffee Book to consulting the youtube, which is definitely much more illustrative and helpful aid for a latte art dummies like myself.

So I humbly share some of my progress of latte art practices here...

This is the first time I managed to pour a faint white dot then sink the point in to give it a bit of the heart shape head, unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to cut it through to complete the heart shape as I got nervous and lost control of the flow.

As to this art... actually I thought of shaking the pitcher a bit to draw the rosetta art, but unfortunately... it didn't go the way I've imagined it, so instead of the rosetta art, it looks like a christmas tree or a fish bone X-(

Then I've thought of using the remaining foam milk to make some 3D coffee art... so I've created something like a bear's paw and a crocodile... XP

Then I try to move back to pouring latte art, back to the basic heart shape art...

This art was rather unsuccessful because I've used too little milk, so by the time I wanted to cut it through, the milk is literally dripping... so loosing the velocity of the flow means loosing control of the art as well :-(

Then I struggled to finally draw something like heart shape but it's not very neat like I would want it to be :-/

So after some failure, I've decided to go back to the basic, to pour a clean white dot at the center before I attempt any art.

Then after I managed to control the dot at the center, I finally manage to pour a neat heart shape latte art!!! :-D

Then in the first attempt to pour rosetta art... I actually lost control of the milk and accidentally poured something like the totoro or chinchilla :-P

After some trial & error, I finally manage to pour my first rosetta art that at least look something like it. Although it's not very neat and clear, I still think it's some achievement given that I'm not a trained barista nor latte artist :-P

In short... it's really not easy to make your own espresso coffee at home without the sophisticated espresso machine and gadgets, it's even harder to get the milk froth correctly to get the right foam milk to pour the latte art. So I've concluded that paying a cafe for that nice cup of coffee is still really worth it as it will save me from a lot of trouble and effort.

Monkeycup Cafe @ jct ~ Revisit

When I published the first blog on monkeycup cafe a month ago, the kitchen is only at "coming soon" stage, so when I first saw the Menu board outside the cafe, my first thought is "Finally! Food in cafe!". I haven't get to taste all of them on the menu yet, but nonetheless, allow me to share what I've tasted and what mesmerised me this time ( n___n)~b

I have to say, I'm quite surprise to see Thai food on the menu of a cafe in Penang! It's not a common choice for a cafe, but again, like all great invention in the world, there's a first in everything.

When I compare the price of the food with other restaurant or cafe that offer affordable luxury environment, I'm of the opinion that the price is comparatively reasonable.

From personal experience, I used to fill my stomach elsewhere before going to Starbucks mainly because they do not offer meal in most of their store. Normally if I want to get a filling lunch, it would've cost me around RM10. Adding that to the cost of a cup of venti size ADL, it would cost me around RM25 for a meal and coffee. On top of that, I had to travel between the places for food and drinks. Now this package here at this cafe really satisfied my needs at one go.

It's not much variety if you were to compare it with the Startbucks' food display, but you'll need only one poison to be your excuse for revisiting... ;-)

And... I found mine! XD

CREME BRULEE!!!

I'm honestly excited to see so many of them lining up in the display unit :-D

And

These are all non-baked cheesecake... 

Watch out! Moose on the loose!

Just kidding... it's Mousse in the jar!

I really miss the aroma rich peaberry coffee...

So please forgive me for taking the sip before taking a picture of the beautiful latte art...

:-P

I requested for something special this time for my blog picture, and the barista is kind enough to serve this rose art for me :-)

Introducing... my favourite dessert:

Creme Brulee

The well-torched caramel top crust is clean without the burnt polka dots and when you hit it with your spoon, you can hear the caramel glass gives the real nice click sound, certifying its solidness. It's so fun to crack the caramel glass open ^_^

As to the brulee, it's with smooth and pudding-like texture. I'm totally amazed that a creme brulee this good is sold only at RM8.90! If you have read my other blog on creme brulee I found in Malacca, they were sold at RM15 and RM14.80 respectively. 

I would rate the creme brulee at 8.5 out of 10.

But if taking the price into the equation, I would give it a 9.5 out of 10!

Mango Mousse Cake               

This dessert is recommended as coffee-mate if you think the creme brulee is too creamy... well again, not everyone like the same thing, so give the fellas in the display unit a try to find out your own favourite dessert as coffee-mate :-)

You might be thinking "why dessert before meal??"

Well, they need some time to prepare the meal, so I decided to have some dessert first.

Of course, you may request them to serve the dessert after meal...

So now here's the meal:

Phat Thai

It is something like the Penang Char Koay Tiow, but it's actually a Thai style stir-fried rice noodles. You need to stir it up right before you eat so that the vegs is fresh when you eat it.

I would caution those afraid of spiciness to draw in the chilli powder gradually to make sure the taste suit you just the way you like it.

But if you dislike the fresh sprout taste, maybe you can try some other dish as it is part of the original recipe taste of Phat Thai. Or maybe to stir in less of the sprout before you eat if you're still interested to try it out.

Crab Fried Rice

I got to confess, this dish is awesome! The taste is balanced and with enough vegs as most of the time when we order for fried rice, there would either be very little vegs or no vegs at all...

Best thing of this dish is... they serve fresh crabmeat!!!

Som Tum

This is green papaya salad. Its taste is sourish spicy... So do let the chef know if you would like it to be less spicy so that they can tailor it to your spicy tolerance. 

But I would recommend to try it at its original taste, cause it's kinda exciting to feel the spiciness and then water the spicy feel with the green latte :-P (That's my personal preference)

Croissantism

 

So I heard that this is their best selling meal and I know why... it's because the croissant is crispy solid and when you bite into the fillings, the cheesy scrambled eggs will melt in your mouth, and you can feel it snuggle every single taste-buds.

The salad dressing is the secret weapon in this meal, as it stroke your taste-buds well to awaken them to the natural taste of the fruits (mini tomatoes) and the vegs.

Angelababie

The name of this dish is really causing a lot of speculation and imagination... XD

And yes, the dish taste just as sexy as its name. So get tangled with the thin spaghetti or the "angel hair", the mushrooms and chicken ham, and you'll find yourself dancing tango after you down it with a shot of coffee...

Personally I find it very authentic in the sense that the original spaghetti is serve with just enough sauce instead of serving the spaghetti submerged in the sauce like what we're getting from most restaurant these days. So if you would like it submerge in the creamy sauce, perhaps you can ask the chef to prepare it that way...

To put it simply, this cafe has become more welcoming to me. Personally I really enjoy the little corner in the cafe where I can enjoy some privacy and the comfortable coffee space with the soothing background music. So definitely I'll be coming back for more excellent coffee and the yummy creme brulee :-D

To read about their coffee, kindly refer to my previous blog on it:
coffee-experience-monkeycup-cafe

French-pro creme brulee & freshly roasted coffee in Malacca @ Khaki Coffee Bar

This time I've discovered another nice coffee bar with Creme Brulee!!! (It's really my favourite coffee-mate)

The menu is very creative and I would say, it's a very fine piece of handcraft. All of the illustrative pictures were drawn up individually (not printed). However, due to the copyright issue, you may view them when you visit this cafe ;-)

As to the coffee beans, the house barista told me that they use only single specialty beans, ie Columbia or Kenya coffee beans without mixing them with other coffee beans. It's very interesting because they serve different beans every week, so you'll get to learn the different unique taste of the coffee beans with different origin.

Cafe Macchiato

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The coffee beans which was used upon this tasting is the Columbia midroast, the taste is less intense than I prefer, but nonetheless the coffee rich aroma is very pleasant and the nutty flavour is satisfying.

The espresso coupled with the nicely froth milk is so silky that it will slide down your throat leaving the coffee aroma to hover between the teeth.

Creme Brulee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Priced at RM14.80, it really worth every cent! The texture is very firm and you can see the vanilla seeds with every scoop you take.

The top crust of caramel glass is solid and clear, when you tap it with the spoon, you'll hear the nice click sound from the surface. Honestly, I rarely find a cafe that can serve a genuine creme brulee without the burnt polka dots.

I would rate this creme brulee at 9 out of 10.

The technique of eating a creme brulee is to break the caramel glass with the spoon first, then dig to the bottom of the cup and scoop the whole block to eat. That way you'll taste the vanilla flavoured egg pudding with the nice crunchy caramel glass top!

Simply enjoyable~

To be able to enjoy this in the late afternoon after work or class, that is heaven to me XD

Cafe Cappucino                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The coffee art is beautiful as the contrast between the coffee and the milk is very clear. As to the taste, it is more milky compared to the macchiato.

Sitting at the coffee bar really give you a different feel as compare to sitting at the ordinary coffee table as you get to see how your drinks and food is prepared so to enhance the taste of your food.

The best thing I like about this cafe is the coffee library, they got a shelf full of coffee encyclopaedia and latte art, so you can browse while enjoying your cup of coffee (n___n )

It's not hard to find them...

Khaki Coffee Bar

No. 632, Jalan Melaka Raya 10,

Taman Melaka Raya,

75000 Melaka, Malaysia.

+6012-7862591

http://www.khakicoffeebar.com/

Operation hour: Tue~Sun, from 10am to 6pm