IS THIS COFFEE SEASON?

The season is hot. The weather is hot. At least that’s what the folks at the weather department want us to believe. We begin to wonder.

The meteorological (met.) department (the ones that stick a finger in their mouths, pull it out of their mouths, then stick that finger in the air to find out the direction of the wind), say the weather is going to be scorching; the next moment all hell breaks loose with some of the fiercest electrical storms lashing over Subang Jaya.

On the other hand, when they say it is going to storm; bring out the camels, as the weather is going to be parched dry.

Just in jest with the met. people. It isn’t true when they say that the met. people have a dry sense of humour.

So, speaking of dry weather spells, it has been a period of very hot, humid weather temperatures over the past couple of months, though it has not been without rain. There are thunderstorms thrown in for good measure. All this takes place during most days. By nightfall, temperatures start to climb. Most Malaysians aren’t used to the very warm nightfalls.

All this talk of weather makes one thirsty. One of the best beverages to have whether it be morning, afternoon or early evening is coffee. It offers an experience if you are in the right place and setting (very important).

Although I drink coffee almost throughout the day on my own; I do visit the various cafes in Subang Jaya and P.J. mainly for a change of scenery, meet friends and new people and to try something new in the coffee world, wherever possible.

Over the last two days, something new in the coffee world, at least to me, was made possible by Joanne. Yesterday, I walked into the coffee shop and said to her, “Make me something that you like with coffee. I want a cold drink.” She said she would think of something.

This is coffee with whipped cream (I think). What I found most unusual was a big cube of ice to keep the drink cold. Looking at the picture below, it looked like coffee with coconut milk and gula melaka. It was not.

This is coffee with whipped cream (I think). What I found more unusual was a big cube of ice to keep the drink cold.

The coffee was at the bottom of the glass with the whipped cream on top, latte style. The big cube of ice kept the drink at a constant cool temperature throughout, while the drink, was still in the glass. The meant that I could take my time sipping at the drink, knowing that it’s temperature would be constant. I thought it a novel idea.

The next day, that is today, I got into the cafe just before the rain came pouring down hard. This time, I requested Joanne to create a warm coffee of her liking.

The drink took a tad bit longer to make because she was making the perfect coffee. When the coffee arrived, whoa! It did not just look stunning, it was stunning! It was espresso with cinnamon among other ingredients. I could get the aroma of the cinnamon from afar before the drink arrived. When I had my first sip, the coffee was superb.

The perfect coffee while I got some work done on the Fold. I had the Bose buds to keep me company with some of my favourite music. The noise cancellation on the Bose buds is fantastic. Now, this is an experience.

You can see the heavy rain pouring down outside. A great coffee helps set the mood to get some good work done.

A great combination: The perfect coffee to keep me company while I get some work done on the Fold. At the same time, listening to some of my favourite music on the Bose buds.

Like Joanne is to coffee (barista) with her lovely creations; there are many people in their own fields wanting to share their talents with all of us. Invite them. Have fun.

LEMON COFFEE?

The day has come and gone by so quickly, that I’m left in wonder. Is the day and time moving really fast, or are we moving really slow? That is the question. Or are the days shorter now than it was 20 years ago?

I figure if it was, it would probably be a few seconds shorter. The other answer, more likely the logical one (as Spock of tv and movie series Star Trek would have said); is that we cramp too many activities in our daily schedule. Armed with an armament of sophisticated mobile phones, tablets, laptop computers, electronic tracking devices (many of which we pay a premium monthly subscription fee for use of the various apps and software that we have been convinced [unknowingly] to be of high importance to us, and is the only way to go, “moving forward” {sounds sophisticatedly business like}), we feel that we have more time on our hands. And we do.

However, we now do not know what to do with ourselves during this free time. We also may not want to be seen as not doing anything or being lazy. We may ever feel some guilt that we have free time, some free time, that is; time that we earned by paying for the likes of subscriptions, etc. So, we pile more things to do to our schedule. Back again, we are busier than bees. Then, we probably become highly work stressed, efficient people.

Easier said than done, we should be less work stressed and more work fun. My wife, Jeannie and I met my cousin Chris, and his wife, Evelina, at Backyard for coffee. One thing led to another and the next thing was we accompanied them to IPC, popularly known as Ikano Power Centre, where they had a couple of things to do.

On our way out, we stopped at a traditional Chinese tea shop for a drink. I did not order a drink for myself as I am not a tea person. After they finished their drink, while we were walking to our car, we passed by HWC Coffee.

I noticed the “HWC Coffee” brand (1) had quite a few outlets in P.J. and Subang Jaya (2). However, I never ventured to try their coffees. Until now. Since I did not have a drink while the others were yum cha-“ing” (3) their tea; I decided to get a HWC coffee.

I ordered Lemon coffee. Lemon coffee? What’s that? This I had to try. On the menu, it states that this drink is only served cold. This was going to be interesting.

The drink came in a sealed plastic cup; the same type of cup that New Apollos restaurant near my house serves their iced coffees in. It looked like an iced americano with some whitish, yellowish liquid stuff at the bottom of the drink. This I assumed to be the lemon in the drink. It was.

Lemon coffee. Notice the whitish, yellowish liquid stuff towards the bottom of the drink?

I let Jeannie have a sip of the drink. She immediately did not like the drink, saying that the lemon made the coffee more acidic than it already was.

I took a sip. My first sip was the lemon. Then, I pulled the straw up higher so that I could taste the coffee. Then, I stirred the drink so that the lemon could mix with the coffee.

First impressions: This is an acquired taste. Definitely not for the traditionalist coffee drinkers.

I liked the lemon. It was as how lemon should be. The coffee tasted ordinary on its own, in the medium weak-to-strong range. When the lemon was mixed thoroughly with the coffee, the drink tasted just about ok. Definitely an acquired taste, that you need to let it grow on you. The best time to have this coffee is when you come into the building out of the sweltering sun, your throat parched.

Stop by at a HWC Coffee cafe, try their lemon coffee, and let us know what you think of this drink. Nice?

I will have a go at this Lemon Coffee drink again when it is a very hot afternoon and I come across a HWC Coffee cafe in the future.

NOTES:
1. The name HWC Coffee ( Hei Wo) is derived from chernozem or black soil that plays a central role in high-quality bean cultivation. In 2017, HWC Coffee set up a coffee plantation in Panama, that offered full-fledged services from coffee beans cultivation to coffee roasting. hwccoffee.com.my
2. P.J. or Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya are cities in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
3. Yum Cha has Cantonese origins. In Cantonese, drinking is “yum” , and tea is “cha”. It was amongst people chatting in Cantonese where the practice of yum cha flourished. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911), people would stop by small houses to catch-up with each other and drink tea. joyfulhouse.com.au