Coffee

Being a wannabe coffee afficionado, I had signed up for a course to learn the basics of Espresso. Made my way to Highlander Coffee, the only safe haven in a row of rather sleazy looking shophouses along Kg Bahru Rd. The moment I entered it was a sensual delight - the invigorating aroma of freshly roasted coffee greeted my nostrils, the ch-ch ch sounds of milk being steamed and textured... beautiful swirly patterns of seemingly impossible latte art.. Tasting will have to wait till we had made our own cups of coffee.
The ever enthusiastic instructor duo brought our class of 10 through types of beans, roasting, grinding (GOD=Grind On Demand!), the correct temperatures... and then we were at the machines creating our own Espresso, practising steaming and texturing.. We admired and drank our first creation with gusto but after the 2nd and 3rd ones we became rather "latte-ed" out! We even learnt some basic Latte art! I have never made or drunk so many cups of espresso, latte, cappucino... The next day, we were introduced to the concept of coffee tasting or "cupping" and appreciated the similarities with wine tasting. A little quiz rounded up the course - good instruction, lots of hands-on - a well spent 1.5 days.