Don’t put the X by the Sugar

As we prepare for our general elections on Monday, I have come before you, dear readers, to bring to your attention a matter of grave importance.


My dear friends, a dark cloud looms over our Nay-tion. This cloud threatens to destroy the taste and purity of our coffees and espressos. It will make redundant the flavours, aromas and nuances of even the finest Arabica coffee beans. Our adversary, ladies and gentlemen, is Sugar.

***

So, Husband and I have been on a quest to find quality coffee in the East-West Corridor. We have been savouring the offerings of many an establishment- some fine and others not so fine. (Found a lovely one in Grand Bazaar). Today’s café was in MovieTowne.


Let’s examine the good points first:


• Clean and welcoming café.


• Very pleasant lady greeted us.


• The cafe uses the Rancilio Silvia Super-Automatic (which is like the big brother or rather grand-daddy to my humble Silvia V3)!


• The cafe uses Lavazza coffee beans (which is the next best thing if you can’t get fresh roasted).


The not so good points:


• The cafe uses the Rancilio Silvia Super-Automatic (which is a fantastic espresso maker) but doesn’t have an actual coffee maker.


• Sugar and milk are not available to the customer to add at his/ her own discretion. You must advise the barista of your preferences.


Husband decided to be today’s guinea pig. He requested a ‘regular coffee with milk and one teaspoon sugar’. As there’s no regular coffee here, what he got was an espresso heavily diluted with steamed full-fat milk… somewhat akin to a café latte.


The major issue lies in the added sugar. Perhaps Husband should have specified that he wanted 1 level teaspoon of sugar rather than 1 heaped teaspoon. What we tasted could no way have been 1 teaspoon! It was like drinking a mildly coffee flavoured milkshake.


Too much sugar is the nemesis of great coffee. Or rather, a sign that the coffee is not so good and the taste must be masked.

***

Sugar Sugar Sugar… billions of grains wasted! Sugar- no concrete plans and policies except to get bitterness out!


This will not do. I vote for better tasting coffee with no need for excessive added sugar! Let us appreciate the true taste of our coffees.


So my dear friends, the next time you order a cup of coffee, sit with it in its unadulterated goodness. As you watch, the steam will rise! The steam will rise and you will savour all the aromatic goodness. And at the end of your cup you will say ‘Great is the coffee. Great is the coffee. The taste shall prevail!’

*This was not a paid political announcement*

P.S. I plan to revisit the café soon. I saw great potential and I’m quite excited to try an Americano and savour the goodness of the Lavazza beans!