You ain’t had good coffee, if you ain’t been to Brew Culture..
So what makes a great cup of espresso?
Up till this point, I didn’t even know that there’s a big difference between ‘brewing coffee’ and ‘extracting espresso’.
Then I met the good folks at Brew Culture.
Brewed coffee is steeping ground beans in hot water, but making espresso involves the use of a high-pressured machine combined with a good technique to extract that concentrated cuppa.
You see, the espresso is a small cup of just a smidgen of coffee. If I didn’t know better, I’d scream blue murder that I was being ripped off.
That’s right, a tinsy weensy bit of deep-brown liquid, at the bottom of a tinsy weensy cup – just a couple of sips, and it is gone!
But make no mistake, the aroma and flavor is rich, complex and lingering, which endures on your tastebuds for 10-15 minutes afterward.. one singular, perfectly extracted shot of high quality espresso. Even for a non-hardcore coffee drinker, I can appreciate how smooth and fragrant the coffee is.
So why is the espresso so insanely good at Brew Culture – I dare say, best in town at the moment?
We figured that it’s for 3 reasons:
1. They start with good coffee.
Unlike what many people think, coffee beans roasted for espresso should not be ultra dark-roasted, which would obliterate any of the subtle flavors that emerge when roasting. Coffee beans destined for espresso should ideally be medium-roasted.
2. They Understand their Espresso.
A good espresso isn’t bitter nor burnt-tasting and should have a layer of crema on top, a bit of foam which baristas tell me should support a spoonful of sugar atop for 2 seconds before disappearing under the surface.
3. They know how to extract that Perfect Cuppa.
In order to make good espresso you need 3 things : good beans, good water, and good grinding. A perfect espresso should take 20-25 seconds to extract, i.e. espresso should also be made fast.. chop chop!
My buddy decides on the Ristretto, which is essentially a short shot of Espresso coffee (also called ‘Corto’ from the Italian word that means ‘short’). Ristretto is made by forcing the water through Espresso selection beans faster and at higher pressures than Espresso coffee. Due to less dilution with water, the Ristretto yields higher concentrations of Caffeine than that of an Espresso and Americano. It also causes the ratio of coffee oils to arise. The Ristretto flavour is more bold, more aromatic, and less bitter to compare with Espresso.
The ristretto shot of espresso is one of the most fiercely debated and favourite topics amongst coffee lovers. It is the purists pour. The cutting edge of espresso extraction. There is hardly any place to hide with a shot of espresso, and even less with a ristretto shot. Any weakness in the blend or in the preparation of the coffee will be brought to light immediately.
Here at Brew Culture, the Ristretto is so good, my buddy drinks a few rounds before calling it quits.
After a while, we move on to other forms of coffee. Cup after cup, we keep going till we’ve hit our limit.
Make no mistake that the barista only serve espresso when it is extracted perfectly – the milk-foaming is exact and gorgeous.
With a nice buzz we leave the building feeling like we could take on the world.
[Olympus logo]
Thanks for the FB love, luv!
Add: Brew Culture,B-01-06 Plaza Damas 3,
Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, KL Tel: 03 2857 0181 Website: http://www.facebook.com/The.Brew.Culture/ Opening times: Closed on Tues, 9am-9pm
Hey…I took the ristretto here while on my Christmas Coffee Crawl last year…pretty strong stuff. At the end of my crawl…my eyes were like bulging out…a case of over-caffeinated lar….hahaha 😛
Yeah I know the feeling! I can’t have coffee past 3pm or something 😛
Haha…I got no problems drinking coffee at 12 midnite n going to sleep 1 hour later…hehe =)
My bulging eyes were caused by one cafe latte, one ristretto and one flat white…all taken within 3 hours…hahaha 😛
OK la.. u better than me then. threshold higher! 😛
ooo, coffee used to have no effect on my ability to sleep, but now it does! if i’m drinking, say, caffe latte during dinnertime, two cups are the maximum, otherwise i’d be awake till 4am. but i daresay brew culture is worth losing an hour of sleep for (kind of, heh) 😀
tsk tsk.. join the club sean. old age is catching up with us .. hurhur 😛 but yes, good coffee is worth losing sleep over i agree.. but not bad coffee 😛
not a coffee person, but will come here for the quirky decors 😛
nice place! reminds me of a kindergarten 😛
Love a good espresso:D Though most days I will enjoy a flat white while I catch up with my daily reads.
me too!