5 Reasons to Visit Independent Artisan Cafe

Independent café is mushrooming in these recent years, ever since the world is blown with the third wave coffee culture. It was started late here but growing in a very fast pace that almost 2 new cafes will be opened each month. Based on CafeHop KL, there are a total of 129 cafes recorded to-date and majority of them are found in the Klang Valley. That is a huge number! 

There is nothing wrong of being a big fans of Starbucks or Coffee Beans & Tea Leaves, to name a few, but if you are serious about cup of Joe, you would choose not to go back to them after trying an artisan coffee.

Let’s see why you should visit an independent artisan café. 

1. Freshly roasted beans.

Some cafes are equipped with a coffee roaster so that they can roast the beans freshly every time. The green beans are carefully selected and roasted to bring out the distinctive flavour of the beans, and some blend them accordingly for espresso that you can find nowhere. 

2. Right extraction from the coffee puck.

A double shot espresso is pulled from a double dose of ground coffee in 25 -30 seconds to 60ml or 2oz liquid with a beautiful crema on it. The puck is tamped with the right amount of pressure. The nominal doses for a single shot of espresso is 7g and doppio or double shot is 14g, but many cafes have raised the dose sizes to 8-10g for single and 16-20g for doppio. Whatever it is, consistency is the key. 

3. Right temperature of milk 

Milk frothing has really a nice scientific explanation behind a nice cup of white. Milk is foamed and steamed for one reason – to enhance and elevate the sensory experience of coffee. The milk is to be heated to about 65 degree Celsius, anything beyond 70 degree Celsius literally kills the milk in both taste and texture that eventually ruin the final coffee product. So, under a good barista, you hardly get a latte or cappuccino that would burn your tongue.

4. Correctly frothed milk

With the right temperature, properly frothed milk will create beautiful microfoam that tastes sweet and rich. It is never a detergent-like foam. 

5. Beautiful latte art

A beautiful latte art is unquestionably a nice piece of art to be appreciated but it does not mean it tastes better. It simply means the milk is frothed properly in the right temperature and nice microfoam.