Shipping to:
There's always something special about beach-side grub. It takes away all the stress from the hustle and bustle of a city, and it's a holiday that we wished would never end. The Sunny Side Cafe have been making people happy for many years now at of Boracay, Philippines. We asked Nowie Potenciano, one of the proprietors of The Sunny Side Cafe, some questions about beach life.
How’s the scene like in Boracay? How has it evolved over the years?
Boracay is slowly emerging as a culinary destination, I think. This is definitely helped by the constant influx of tourists and settlers to the island from all over the world. Tastes and standards are evolving so we have to constantly keep up. I feel this is a good direction as it was going the way of fast food chains for a while. I’m hoping that the scene continues to grow and become more diverse.
What were you doing before you got into F&B? Why the change?
I used to work in Marketing for a consumer goods company but I’ve always wanted to have a restaurant - and specifically have a place by the beach by the time I retire. We were fortunate enough to be able to reach that goal earlier.
What should people expect during the pop-up in mid-November?
Visitors to The Sunny Side Cafe’s pop-up with Morning will be treated to some of the best items on our menu. We’ve also selected items that showcase the best Filipino dishes that we have - we’re hoping that it will be fun weekend of discovering new flavors for this who aren’t familiar with Philippine cuisine. But as we always try to push things forward, I think even Filipinos who grew up with these dishes will happily find something new.
Sign up for the Morning x The Sunny Side Cafe collab Weekend Brunch here. Limited slots left.
Most of us start our coffee journey with one of the sweeter options of coffee on the menu, with the Cafe Mocha being one of them. They're great to drink hot or iced anytime of the day. If we could improve on the Mocha we all know is to make the beverage 'everyday friendly' a.k.a. healthier. Most of the chocolate or cocoa powders out there have some form of dairy in them via butter oil, milk powder, or milk fat. So for this recipe, we had to source an alternative which is free of dairy and we paired a capsule that would compliment the chocolate base.
Ingredients:
Chocolate Syrup:
To start this off, prepare your chocolate syrup by mixing equal parts of the powder and water. Give it a stir until the powder dissolves and let it cool. For this recipe, we used our favourite Original Drinking Chocolate from Grounded Pleasures. Apart from being dairy free, it's also vegan and gluten-free! That was the 'hard' part. Now it's all about putting it together - add the chocolate syrup into the base of your mug, then pour as much hot water depending on your preferred drink strength. The brew one coffee capsule on top of the chocolate and water mixture. Garnish with some of that cocoa powder to make the first sip extra delicious.
If you’ve been to an Asian city, chances are you’ve stumbled upon the combination of tea and milk in its many forms: Bubble Tea, Teh Tarik, Masala Chai, Nai Cha, and countless others. Not as common, but equally as delicious, is adding coffee to the mix. Malaysia has Kopi Cham, Singapore and Hong Kong, Yuenyeung. Our iced Coffee Milk Tea is inspired by the latter, where the name of the game is striking a balance between strongly-flavoured ingredients. We used easy-to-find Lipton Black Tea, but feel free to experiment with similar teas like Earl Grey or Ceylon. An optional addition to this recipe is coffee-flavoured grass jelly, which takes some effort but really boosts the drinking experience!
Ingredients:
Coffee Milk Tea:
- 240ml or 1 cup water
- 3 bags of black tea (4g per bag, 12g total)
- 120g or ml espresso (brewed from 2 capsules, around 60g or ml each)
- 4 tbsp or 80g of sweetened condensed milk
- half a cup of shaved ice (or three ice cubes)
- 3 tbsp coffee jelly (optional, recipe below)
Coffee Jelly:
- 120ml water
- 120g or ml espresso (brewed from 2 capsules)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 packet of gelatin (we used one 7g envelope of Knox)
The coffee jelly will need a bit of time to set, so we will start with that. Pull two long capsules, and add an equal volume of water to a sauce pan. Add the sugar and stir. Follow your gelatin’s instructions to make 1 cup (or 240ml total) of gelatin. Our particular brand called for bringing the mixture to a boil before adding the gelatin powder, then simmering for five minutes. Transfer the mixture to a wide but shallow container (a small food storage tub works great), then allow to cool to room temperature. Placing this in the refrigerator for a couple of hours should speed up the setting process. Once firm, run a bread knife through the set jelly in a cross-hatch pattern to create half-inch cubes. This recipe makes enough for three servings of coffee milk tea.
Onto the main recipe! In a sauce pan, bring your cup of water to a boil. Cut the heat, then brew the teabags for five minutes. Once brewed, remove the bags, add the condensed milk, then the espresso pulled from two capsules. Stir well to combine. In a 16oz glass tumbler, put three tablespoons of coffee jelly (if using) and the crushed ice. Slowly pour in the sweetened coffee-tea mixture. Stick in a straw and start sipping away!
Recommended Capsule: House Blend by The Coffee Academics
Words & Photos by Jonathan Choi (@theheadbean)
The scene: You’re strolling past the aisles at the supermarket, you see all the different types of milk. “Soy?” “Oat?!” you ask yourself as you contemplate making the jump to a plant based alternative. You decide not to as after all, you stick to what you know - the fresh cow udder stuff. You’ll go home, and you’ll never know what might have been.
So here I am trying to make with a non-exhaustive list. The coffee I used was the House Blend from The Coffee Academics. I was pleasantly surprised that the coffee punched through the milk so well. Often, milk tends to drown the flavour of coffee from capsules - it’s an intensity problem and it’s because the capsules can only hold so much coffee. That wasn’t the case with these capsules, great job!
To make everything as consistent as I could... I programmed the machine to dispense 30ml of coffee into a 170ml cup. All milk options were frothed using the “Flat White” program of the Nespresso Barista (amazing piece of kit). This usually translated into roughly 150ml of final beverage, the foam takes up a bit of volume at the top.
So let’s get to it, here are the options I had the pleasure of trying:
Meiji Pasteurised Fresh Milk
This was my benchmark for the review as it’s the most relatable product on the list.
Milk does what milk does, it’s creamy, buttery and toffee was a prominent flavour. The milk foam by the Nespresso Barista was impressive. It was super silky and it got sweeter as it cooled from “hot” to “kinda hot”.
This cup could really be summarised as comforting. It was something that I could drink without having to think too much. It’s the taste that signals the brain that it’s ready to start the day, if that makes sense.
Meiji Pasteurized Low Fat Milk
I was once obese and the dietitian told me to drink low-fat milk instead of regular milk to lose the extra pounds, it worked because I stopped drinking milk altogether. Nevertheless, I tried to be objective.
Chocolatey. In fact, the coffee became rather floral. It wasn’t as creamy, this was expected but the milk foam was good. This was a pretty delicious coffee.
The lack of fat became pretty obvious, it was more watery in the mouth. There wasn’t much of an aftertaste. You know how you can still taste milk after you’ve finished the drink? This didn’t happen with the low fat milk, it finishes really clean, too clean… an indicator that I’m not being naughty.
Oatly Organic Oat Drink
There is a “Barista” version of this milk which I wasn’t able to procure and I’ve been told the barista version is better. I fear that I made a mistake. To be fair, this was the most accessible one.
I prefer the Oatly when it’s hot. It becomes sweeter! With coffee, Oatly gave me the earthiest cup of coffee out of the bunch along with notes of burnt sugar. The mouthfeel was definitely lighter than milk, it didn’t froth very well either.
If you like the tasting notes above, oatly is great! Personally, I would have preferred something less earthy for a daily drinker.
Minor Figures Oat M*lk
This is a product that’s not as ubiquitous as Oatly, so if you’re keen to try it you may have to do some digging.
Funnily enough, I prefered this M*lk cold. On its own it has some pretty tasty natural sweetness. It’s got a really long finish, it is ironically milky.
This was probably the most interesting cup I had from the whole session. It started out really nutty and it became straight up milk tea. The sort where you add evaporated milk to black tea; absolutely wild! In terms of texture, I found it to be the closest to fresh milk.
What an interesting coffee (tea).
Pacific Barista Series: Soy Beverage
Growing up in Malaysia, I’m very used to a different kind of soy beverage. I also don’t drink alternative milks very often; a combination of those meant that this soy beverage tasted funky to me. Is unique a better way to put it?
Thankfully, it tasted much more like the soy I know when it was hot. I let out a sigh of relief and tried it with the coffee. It was very nutty, and had a sugary sweetness to it. It frothed well, as expected of the “Barista” series. The texture was good, the soy aftertaste may not be for everybody but I am fine with it. It’s a very safe dairy alternative.
Verdict
My primary takeaway from this exercise is that the same coffee paired with different milks could yield such drastically different flavours. So I guess I’ll have to end with a real cliffhanger answer: there is no best milk for coffee capsules. It’s all about what flavours you like in your Flat White.. It’s really about choosing the best Robin for your Batman.
Words by Jit Weng Kok (@si_tiger)
Coffee capsules are arguably the most accessible avenue for the layperson to enjoy Speciality Coffee at home. Did you know that the cleaning and maintenance of your capsule machine is essential in keeping your coffee delicious and your machine going strong for longer?
Coffee oil and residue tends to build up particularly in the brewing chamber (where the pods go) and the delivery spout (where your sweet brown nectar comes out). If you’ve done any sort of washing before, you’ll know that oil simply doesn’t come off with water alone. Simply flushing the machine does provide some cleaning effect but it’ll take more than that to thwart the fat.
Give it a bit of time and coffee oil will go rancid. You’ll know this as it’ll come across as a sour, funky flavour… Yuck! What’s the point in buying amazing coffee if you’re not giving it a chance to tickle your tastebuds in the right way?
Coffee residue will build up inside your machine and it could cause a blockage somewhere. This will make the machine work harder than it should need to and one day it’ll have the capsule machine equivalent of a heart attack. Like your water kettle, scale can build up in the machine and shorten the lifespan of certain components.
Here’s a guide to keeping your machine running the way it should:
Daily:
Weekly:
Quarterly:
Words by Jit Weng Kok (@si_tiger)
Our recipe for this week features our Flavour of the Month - Colonna’s Laderas Honey. This coffee is so complex that we decided to pair it up with ingredients that would take it up a notch. We didn’t want to overpower the inherent flavours of the coffee, but instead contrast it with the flavours and aromas of lavender and just a bit of organic honey to round up the beverage. This Honey Lavender Oat Milk Latte may take some time to whip up though it’s so worth it!
Ingredients:
Lavender Simple Syrup:
Prep the Lavender Simple Syrup first before you assemble the drink. Boil the water and lavender buds together then stir in the sugar and honey to dissolve. Simmer for 15 minutes and then drain. While that syrup is cooling, pop one capsule into your capsule machine and brew a 60g liquid of espresso over 20g of lavender simple syrup. Stir. Top it up with your steamed and textured Oat Milk depending on how strong you like your coffee to be. Feel free to garnish with some dried lavender buds for the aromatics, and dress with a bit of honey if you like things sweeter.
Recommended Capsule: Laderas Honey by Colonna
Nicco Santos (@niccosantos) has been pushing creativity in Manila and abroad in a couple of ways - in the kitchen and behind the lens. Most would know Nicco from his recent success in introducing progressive southeast asian cuisine into the Manila food scene. Others would have found out about his other skill, photography, via social media. We sit down with him to find out how he juggles between the two.
With your cooking and photography, it requires a lot of creative thinking. Are there ways where you are able to transfer knowledge and skills from one to another?
Nico Santos: Yes a little bit but more like my way of being, or who I am at that moment while I’m directing which inspires new ways of thinking and working when I’m in the restaurant.
In general, what do you to get inspired? Are there people and places that inspire you?
Nico Santos: I get inspired by a lot of things and right now I’m very inspired by random acts of kindness that take place inside a restaurant between guests and staff. Those small glimpses and gestures always brings me back to why I started this career in the first place.
We’ve seen you collaborate with other chefs locally and abroad. What purpose do you look for whenever engage in such events?
Nico Santos: I have an affinity with people and places with complex histories and culture. More than techniques, flavors and ways of working – the biggest thing I get from collaborations is really a deeper sense of understanding and listening from the conversations that take place from the brief time of working together.
How similar or different is it working in a team of cooks and servers in a kitchen from working with a solo subject for your photography?
Nico Santos: Both I think. Similar in context of trying to make my subject or kitchen team get how great they are but different in ways of being on how to get that done. Haha does that make sense?
Does coffee play a role in any of your creation process? Or work? How does it?
Nico Santos: I would say a whole lot. Other than the jolt of caffeine that helps gets me present, I love it because it’s something that brings us together a few hours a day may it be with family, friends or my restaurant team. That brief time together makes us show up for one another during service.
If there’s one person in the world who you would have coffee with (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
Nico Santos: Keira Knightly because it’s freaking Keira Knightly.
What is next for you? What should people be looking forward to?
Nico Santos: I’m currently working on a couple of ideas that eventually and hopefully will transform into concepts and sustainable businesses.
The cream soda is a drink with a muddled history, and countless variations around the world. Early recipes contained egg whites, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar, and lemon oil to create fizz and mimic the flavours of cream. Real dairy cream was a welcome ingredient, but was used sparingly due to the lack of refrigeration techniques and pasteurisation at the time. Soda fountain purveyors of the mid-18th century had to be creative, from using the aforementioned cream-like ingredients, down to using “dirty pond ice” to indirectly chill cream to use in the beverage. These days, cream soda is made with carbonated water, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, artificial flavours, and colouring. Today’s recipe however, is more an homage to the cream sodas of old, infused with a variation that is befitting of The Morning Journal. Ladies and gents, we present to you, the old-fashioned Coffee Cream Soda.
Ingredients:
Cream Syrup:
- 100g of refined sugar
- 100g warm water
- 5g vanilla extract
- 5g cream of tartar
Dissolve the sugar in warm water, stirring constantly until the crystals disappear. Stir in the vanilla extract. We’ve had good results with imitation vanilla essence, but feel free to splurge on a real extract or paste. Finally, carefully add the cream of tartar and continue stirring. The cream of tartar adds a bit of zing to the syrup, as well as a creamy mouthfeel that you’ll appreciate in the finished drink. This batch makes four sodas to share with friends, and will keep in the fridge for about a week.
Coffee Cream Soda:
- 60g or ml espresso (brewed from 2 capsules, around 30g or ml each)
- 50g Cream Syrup
- 150ml soda water (canned or bottled is fine)
- 1 scoop of your favourite vanilla ice cream
For starters, we’re serving it the old-timey way today, so no ice cubes! This means chilled ingredients are a must. Keep your cream syrup and soda water properly chilled, and your ice cream, frozen. Pull your espresso ahead of time, allowing the shots to cool down.
In a pre-chilled 16oz tumbler or milkshake glass, slowly pour the first 100ml of soda water. Gently stir in the cream syrup and espresso. You should still have two inches of space from the rim of the glass. Carefully float the ice cream, and top with the remaining soda water to create a nice frothy layer on top. Stick a straw in for maximum sipping enjoyment!
The transparency of the cream soda mixture allows the coffee to shine, so feel free to experiment with your capsules. Using the recommended coffee made the drink taste like melted butter pecan ice cream. Fun!
Recommended Capsule: Butter Pecan Cookies by Yardstick Coffee
Words & Photos by Jonathan Choi (@theheadbean)
Juggling two different start-ups is no easy feat but Rifeng Gao makes it look like just another workout at the gym. Rifeng has co-founded two start-ups out of Singapore, namely Grain and Cabin. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to pick his brains through our engagement with Cabin. For our latest Breakfast of Champions, Rifeng shares his thoughts on coffee, start-up life and the future of food delivery platforms.
Thank you for making time to partake in this week’s Breakfast Of Champions and congratulations on the recent round of funding! How did your team feel when they found out about the news?
Rifeng Gao: Everyone was feeling excited. Our Series B fundraise was very timely. It provided resources to fuel the next phase growth. And equally important, some breathing room where we do not have to worry about our runway constantly!
Can you tell us more about what Grain will be focusing on next?
Rifeng Gao: Expanding to Bangkok - we found a strong Thai partner in Singha (our Series B lead investor). And a series of new food products and brands to look forward to.
Previously, you were working as a consultant. What motivates your shift to venture into a startup and also co-founded another business called Cabin?
Rifeng Gao: I was quite clear that I will eventually want to start something. Had that thought when I was in university. So when I met Sung, Ernest, and Isaac (co-founders of Grain), it felt right and the next thing I knew we were building Grain from the big red bus (our makeshift office) in Orchard.
Being in a high growth startup like Grain and also managing Cabin tends to have a lot of pressure and sometimes can be challenging. What keeps you going at work?
Rifeng Gao: Things eventually worked out. I guess the world works in mysterious ways.
We noticed that you’re a coffee drinker as well. Do you recall your first time drinking Specialty Coffee?
Rifeng Gao: Wow it's been so long that I don't remember. But my current favourite is The Alchemist (their roaster is just beside Grain HQ). Have had some of my best espresso experiences there!
Coffee is considered as fuel to get you moving throughout the day, especially in the morning. What is your daily morning ritual like?
Rifeng Gao: As much as I love coffee, my TCM doctor disapproves of me taking it first thing in the morning. I have a bowl of hot porridge every morning. Waiting for a bowl of piping hot porridge to cool down is quite therapeutic and meditative.
If you get that one chance to have your morning coffee with anyone in the world, who would that be? and what would you be talking to this person about?
Rifeng Gao: Morning coffee with one or two close friends - I wish I do that more often actually.
Starting up companies is not easy and many of us know this but for the hopeful entrepreneurs out there, any two cents you’d like to share on starting up a companies?
Rifeng Gao: If there is one thing to get right, build a team with complementary skill sets and the journey becomes a lot less daunting. Enjoyable even.
What are your thoughts on the local food landscape and how it is evolving? What piece of the puzzle does Grain fit in?
Rifeng Gao: The rise of delivery platform (like Grab Food and Deliveroo). On the surface they are competitive with Grain's delivery service. But this creates a new market for virtual /cloud kitchens and brands that plug into these platforms. Producing amazing delivery-first food products at scale is something that Grain has gotten quite good at over the last few years. Grain is very well positioned to launch a series of delivery-first brands that plugs into these platforms.
In celebration of autumn, today’s recipe is another mish-mash of two popular coffee shop drinks. The Pumpkin Spice Caramel Macchiato is a sweet and comforting treat that’s easy to make. There is some effort involved in cooking the caramel sauce, but feel free to prepare it in advance as the sauce lasts up to two weeks when refrigerated. Each batch makes six servings, so if you were looking to host a fall coffee party for friends, this recipe might be perfect for you!
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Spice Caramel Sauce:
Add the water and sugar to a medium-size heavy-bottomed saucepan. Turn up the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly with a wooden or heat-proof spatula until the sugar dissolves. Once the mixture begins to boil, about one minute in, turn the heat to medium. At this point, cease stirring and watch for changes in colour. It may take up to five minutes for the boiling sugar mixture to stay clear, after which the colour change happens rapidly, so you won’t want to leave this process unattended! Once the mixture turns a deep orange colour (past golden, but before dark brown), remove from the heat. If you are doing this for the first time, err on the side of lighter - you can fix undercooked caramel, but burnt caramel cannot be saved. Still off the heat, add your butter, swirling it in with your spatula until it melts fully. Watch out for splattering – melted sugar is very hot! Next, carefully add in the cream, stirring well to combine. Finally, stir in the salt and spices. The finished caramel will look dull brown and should be runny enough to flow around in the pan.
Allow your sauce to cool before transferring to a spouted container or squeeze bottle. Storing it in the cold will thicken the consistency, so if using from the fridge, submerge the caramel vessel in hot water and stir to make it runny once more.
Pumpkin Spice Caramel Macchiato:
Line the bottom and sides of a 12oz mug (glass looks best!) with 30g of your caramel sauce. Froth up the milk using a blender or hand frother. If you do not have access to any of these, simply transfer the milk to a covered jar and shake hard for 30 seconds. Next, take your frothed milk and microwave on high for 30-45 seconds, or until pleasantly warm. Pour the milk into your mug, leaving about 1cm of space from the rim for your espresso. Brew two capsules directly into the mug, right on top of the froth. Squeeze or pour thin ribbons of caramel sauce on top of the froth. We like a simple zig-zag pattern, but feel free to pour any design you fancy. Garnish with some cinnamon powder, and enjoy your beautiful handiwork!
BONUS: Have it iced!
Just because it was recently International Coffee Day, we’re throwing in a cold version of this recipe. Skip the microwave and use 100ml of milk plus three large ice cubes. Shake the milk and ice until frothy, and build the rest of the drink the same way. That easy!
Recommended Capsule: Balanced by Volcano Coffee Works
Words & Photos by Jonathan Choi (@theheadbean)
Coffee is an essential life-giving liquid that jumpstarts our mornings, but there’s more to it than simply a caffeine delivery system. There are thousands of compounds in the coffee bean, and we often taste distinct flavours that remind us of food. Inspired by the sweet and fruity notes of a high quality coffee, this week’s recipe is going to be something edible! Our Coffee Apple Jam is built on a standard formula of three parts fruit to two parts sugar. Feel free to play around with varieties – we especially like mixing tart Granny Smiths with Red Delicious apples for a tangier result. The finished jam is packed with fresh fruit flavour, candied sweetness, and bittersweet toffee notes from the espresso. Perfect on toast, or as an ice cream topping. It’s a classic example of having your coffee and eating it too!
Ingredients:
Peel and core the apples first, before dicing and adding to a bowl. They don’t have to look perfect, so a rough chop is perfectly acceptable! Add lemon juice to the same bowl, and toss to combine. The acid is essential to the jam-making process, and will also keep your fruit from browning.
Now, let’s cook some jam! In a non-reactive saucepan on medium heat, add the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Once the sugar starts to liquefy, stir in the three espresso shots. Let the mixture boil once, then turn down the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, then mash down the softened apples with a wooden spatula, or better yet, a heatproof potato masher. Some chunks are always welcome in the finished jam, so don’t fret if you aren’t able to mash everything to a pulp! Continue to stir, scraping down the bottom and the sides of the pan to prevent burning. After 10 more minutes, the mixture will have reduced to half its original volume. To test for doneness, put a small amount of liquid onto a pre-frozen spoon and place back in the freezer for two minutes. If it comes out gel-like when you touch it, then the jam is done! If not, continue simmering for 5 minutes and repeat the spoon test.
Once the jam is ready, transfer to a clean heat-proof glass container (an 8oz mason jar is perfect!) and leave uncovered for an hour, or until the mixture has cooled. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow it to fully set. Kept chilled, this jam can be enjoyed for up to a month!
Recommended Capsule: Comet Danny by PPP Coffee
Words & Photos by Jonathan Choi (@theheadbean)
So history was made over the weekend when James Hoffmann and Square Mile Coffee simultaneously cupped with thousands of people from around the world. They provided 5 coffees, a sample grind size, a sachet of Third Wave Water and some instructions to guide everyone with the setup. So what did we learn throughout this experience?
1. Coffee enthusiasts are highly engaged individuals - seeing everyone who tuned in to James' livestream to cup and share their thoughts was a remarkable sight. In a typical public cupping session, it may be difficult for some to share their thoughts as it may be their first time cupping. The livestream was the exact opposite and the chat room was full of activity showcasing the engagement of James' community, which he has continued to build for many years.
2. Consistency is extremely challenging with coffee - we applaud the effort by the Square Mile Coffee team to provide all the necessary tools to give everyone around the world almost identical experiences. Despite their efforts, it was still a huge challenge to replicate the exact parameters all over as grinders, bowls, and capabilities differed. In our case, we noticed that our Third Wave Water sachet was cut open, which we attribute to an inspection done by local customs. Some experienced no 'crust' on the coffees, while it was perfectly fine for us.
3. There is no such thing as the 'best' coffee on the table - this was a great exercise as it pointed out the fact that coffee is very much a personal choice. Specialty coffee professionals might have instantly singled out the Africans on the table, but from what we saw during the livestream, everyone really had their own favourites. Our picks on the table were the Guatemalan (B) and Ethiopian (C) coffees!
Like everyone else out there, we can't wait for the next one! Thanks to creating an event that was both inclusive and enriching at the same time. Kudos to James and team!