30/3/15

Growing up in Singapore one will probably drink 3 kinds of coffee in his or her life. One happens to be the coffee served in open air coffee shops or hawker centres. Another is instant coffee. The one you make by pouring hot water into a cup containing the powder. The last is the kind the barista at Starbucks hands to you.

The one served to you at coffee shops comes in a small cup, usually on top of a saucer and accompanied by a small spoon for you to stir it with. It tastes rather sweet, due to the condensed milk in it. It's almost cloying. However if you don't like it you can have it without sugar or milk. Such black coffee tastes a lot different from an espresso shot, mostly because this coffee is made by pouring water through a filter (usually a long cloth cone) containing coffee grounds, while an espresso shot is made by blasting water at high pressure through a filter containing coffee grounds. In my opinion black coffee has always tasted like hot water mixed with something. It's almost medicinal. Espresso shots taste like they're an individual fluid, not one fluid mixed with another poorly. But that doesn't mean I prefer espresso shots over black coffee. Truth to be told, I prefer neither.

Instant coffee is the one I usually drink, because it's easily available and easy to make. There are many options on the market, ranging from low sugar to low creamer ones. I usually go for the regular. Instant coffee tastes a lot like coffee shop coffee, except perhaps a little less sweeter. There's not much special about it. It just tastes like coffee mixed with milk and sugar. Manufacturers have to make sure their product can be enjoyed by the largest amount of people, after all.

Finally we come to Starbucks coffee. I usually order cappuccinos. I add some sugar syrup into the cup before I take one of those long thin sticks at the table and stir it into the coffee. I like cappuccinos because they have a lovely layer of foam. I never stir the foam into the coffee. I have no idea if that's appropriate, but whatever. After the coffee is finished there is usually quite a bit of foam left in the cup, so I scoop it out using the stick, if I haven't thrown it away. Starbucks coffee is the most expensive, thus I tend to only have it once or twice a month. Do I feel it's worth the money? Maybe. I can't tell good coffee from bad coffee. As long as it stops me from falling asleep, I'm happy.