Harlan + Holden is a lifestyle brand that’s expanding its reach from being a creative but simple and modern fashion brand to investing in the food and beverage industry. This branch, in particular, is called the Rockwell Glasshouse by Harlan + Holden. It’s a cafe in Metro Manila known for its magnificent play on interiors and its surrounding environment; comfy chairs paired with marble and wood tables, floor-to-ceiling glass windows enveloped by trees and plants, and natural light streaming from all corners. It was built to cater to the locals on the posh side of Makati City in the Rockwell area. Their best selling coffees—the cream and brown sugar lattes—are both on the sweet side of the spectrum. They have notes of molasses and milk chocolate that flood your tastebuds. People who don’t like a particularly dark coffee taste should appreciate them.
Tucked away on a quiet Taipei side street is this beautiful cafe with a very simple concept: we serve coffee. No bells or whistles and barely a chair to be found, the barista and owner made very consistently delicious drinks in either their La Marzocco Linea or via hand-brewed pour overs. An interesting observation we made is that the barista was not using a scale for the pour overs. “I know this coffee,” she said when asked why. “I will make 40 more cups just like this this afternoon.” The brews were indeed perfect. This is a great place to come to even if you are alone. People who visit this cafe are as friendly as the staff is, so have a chat with them!
Sandwiched between city buildings, you’ll find Congrats Cafe on the second floor of a brick building that looks like it’s almost falling apart but it’s so much of the charm of what makes Congrats Cafe a truck hidden gem. The hand painted gold signage on the glass and vintage furniture that’s seemingly piled up all around the shop send a very clear message. It’s offbeat but it’s welcoming and warm — which is unusual. Often times, eccentric concepts just come across as strange, but the way that they pull the experience together by embracing the vintage nature of their surrounding architecture and expanding on it into the food and beverage service makes for a comfortable vibe.
We really like how the interiors connect seemlessly with the culture of the baristas. How they make their coffee, and how they talk to all sorts of people.You’ll also end up meeting all sorts of people too. When you go in and out of this door, you’ll feel like you can spend the whole day here. And that’s something really special.
The only thing missing from this photo is the immensely comforting aroma of freshly ground and brewed coffee. In Congrats, every cup is made individually, adding that extra personal touch to an already very personal — though still very welcoming — space. Striking an excellent balance between inconsistent furniture and seating sets, the cafe feels both like a home and like a coffee shop. It’s the sitting room you always dreamed of, with the cup of coffee you always crave.
Imagine having bags and bags of fresh, unroasted coffee (which are called greens) lying around in your room. That’s Plainsight on any given week. We recently joined the roastery for a cupping session and got to try their current offerings. It was an interesting table of selections, including beans from South America and Africa. There was a spectacular roast originating from Burundi, which stood out even next to the Gesha from Ethiopia, which is usually the star of things. It’s a reminder to see beyond the name of origin. It’s also why it’s a good idea to occasionally do blind cuppings, in order to focus on the taste of the coffee and not its reputation. The Plainsight cupping revealed the high level of professionalism of this young micro-roastery.
At 22 Martin Street in Singapore is where you’ll find the headquarters of Common Man Coffee Roasters. Here’s also where you find their roastery and barista academy, a trusted source for coffee education. However, one needs only to order from the regular menu to start learning more about coffee. Where to start? A good first step is the signature espresso blend, which shares a name with the cafe’s street address, “22 Martin.” It has dark chocolate and hazelnut flavor notes, opening up into a toffee taste when served as a latte.
The coffee bar at Common Man is arguably the best spot you could choose to sit at. Their baristas make and serve coffee after coffee directly in front of you, but are never too busy chat with customers.
The Ardi roasted here can be found across Asia, including in the Philippines and Malaysia. It’s a very fruity Ethiopian heirloom with notes of orange and berries. Ardi was named after a 4.4 million old human fossil discovered in the same African nation in 2009, but the coffee obviously tastes better.
There’s a lot about specialty coffee that can be confusing. It takes an understanding of different tools, origins, and the identity of flavor notes. What we like about Klasik Coffee is that the baristas are super open and friendly, offering a deeper relationship with the cafe. For them, it isn’t just about serving a cup of coffee. It’s about helping us to understand the preparation process, where the coffees come from, and ultimately why they taste so good; that final point being a key detail too often left out.
Fans of Cartel Coffee Deli, rejoice. What started as a single deli with a coffee bar in Salcedo Village now has a second location. Just across a main strip in Makati, this new Legaspi Village branch features a slightly different menu and vibe, but should still appeal to longtime customers. Salcedo is full of rough, unfinished surfaces and painted in orange and black, while Legaspi is purple and white with smooth wood finishing. Yardstick Coffee will continue to handle the coffee bar duties, and they still carry high end, specialty groceries—so you can be sure to expect the same standards of quality at both.
Tip of the spear for specialty coffee in Hanoi, we chanced upon Gau Coffee almost immediately after arriving in the Old Quarter. We almost missed it, but shot a double take when we saw the La Marzocco Linea MP and collection of metal V60 cones. Right in the heart of the old quarter was this fantastic little roaster, bakery, and cafe run by champion barista, Sang, who had moved up from HCMC to spearhead the concept. It’s an effort to grow the high-end coffee scene in a traditional style coffee-saturated Hanoi.
Sang himself says that the shop serves “premium coffees,” but is hesitant to refer to his own shop as Specialty Coffee. “Specialty Coffee is hard to achieve” he said, though the espresso itself was a better pulled shot than many others this writer has personally had in places claiming to be “Specialty Coffee.” I think that this form of healthy dissatisfaction will drive this shop for years to come.
The coffees we had were from their house blend that used honey processed coffees from Ethiopia, Panama, and their own farm in Vietnam. The blend was balanced and with fruit-like sweetness.
Adelphi and Co might be our favourite coffee shop in Kota Kinabalu. A multi-roaster cafe, they were serving Papa Palheta coffees on espresso when we visited. Also featured were single origin pour overs from Finnish roastery, Kaffa Roasters and Koppi from Sweden. Between these options, you get a nice sampling of expressions from Europe, Africa, and Asia. There is an obvious high amount of attention paid to quality here, and an even higher amount paid to culture. The staff is friendly and this attracts a friendly bunch of customers too. And even though Adelphi and Co is very much coffee-forward, the dining menu and other beverages — such as a healthy wine selection — are equally excellent.
So simple, so complex. Adelphi & Co’s coffee soda starts with a cold brew concentrate to which soda water is added upon every order. The soda water really opens up the flavor of the cold brew revealing inherent sweetness and spacing out the layers of flavor without any additives. The result is a pretty healthy version of an energy drink in the middle of the afternoon.
Maybe you’ve noticed, we’re actually waffle enthusiasts. Probably because they always go so well with coffee. We look for that crispy texture with a proper dollop of butter and little syrup pockets. Ella and the Blackbird passed our waffle criteria with flying colors. We tried it with their version of a mint mocha. If you don’t like mint on anything, this cup might actually change your mind. If you plan to visit Ella and the Blackbird don’t forget to pair your coffee with food, or you’ll miss out.
Having graduated from its original concept – the first franchise of Craft Coffee Revolution – Ella and The Blackbird has kept most of the interior of its predecessor. The quaint and cozy university town coffeeshop vibe. The collection of artwork made by loyal customers over the years covering their walls. It’s all still there. What has been upgraded is the food and beverage experience. Most noticeable is their switch to a coffee blend that has more complexity, without losing those familiar deep chocolate notes that the café has been known for. There’s also a well curated selection of food now. Have the burger!
A fully analog experience. Vinyl records for sale, coffee is served in hand stamped take out cups, and in this building, you are surrounded by creatives. Tactile is a good word to describe the experience when visiting Choice Cuts; a vinyl store/cafe. You’ll find them at The Mox in Singapore, which is a creator’s hub/co-making space. As a result, the building is full of creative professionals: bakers, makers, graffiti artists, or software developers. Fittingly the cafe has a great spot in the back corner of the ground floor. Each take out cup is hand stamped with a different design, an interesting parallel for all the different kinds of people who go there. On the exterior everyone is different, but on the interior, they’re chasing a more creative existence.
