Spinelli Coffee Company at Changi Airport

A few days ago, the Coffee Concierge found himself at Changi Airport seeing off a good friend. So naturally, to blunt the pain of parting, the Coffee Concierge found himself standing at the Spinelli Coffee Company stand in Terminal 1. Spinelli shares this space with Mr Bean and Polar in supplying snacks and beverages to the thirsty travellers and their farewelling entourages.

The barista on hand was better than average, and obligingly looking up where John Ting, the newly crowned Singapore Barista Champ 2008, and Chris Yeo, the runner up, worked. (Turns out John Ting works in Spinelli Raffles Quay branch. Chris Yeo's whereabouts were more elusive so if any of my reader's know please do say.)

He also managed to make the Coffee Concierge a halfway decent expresso. I say halfway decent because while it had a strong smoky aroma and absolutely terrific aftertaste that lingered in bittersweet dryness in my mouth long after, it was still slightly sour. The sour quality dimminished as the coffee cooled to a lukewarmth. This sour quality I have found so far has dogged every cuppa I've had yet in Singapore. It'll be news indeed when I find one that isn't sour. It makes one wonder about the quality of the beans imported into Singapore in general.

I've forgotten how much it cost but I think it was about S$3.00 for an expresso which is average for a coffee chain here.

Overall Rating:
Service: 3 1/2 beans
Taste: 3 beans

Winners All

The second Singapore Barista Championship recently concluded on 25th April and the Coffee Concierge was in attendance but only for the finals sadly enough as work called on the day that the heats were held. So I only got to see the final three in action.

For those of you who were not able to go at all, the test requires the contestant to make a total of 12 drinks within 15 minutes. 4 expressos, 4 cappucinos and 4 signature drinks not necessarily in that order. They are given 15 minutes to prepare their stations and 15 minutes to clean up. They are judged by 4 sensory judges and 3 technical judges.

As an observer only, I was unable to sample their coffee so could only watch their showmanship. I rather liked the way both John Ting and Keith Low presented themselves and their drinks to the audience and judges. Both came across as being able to operate well under pressure. Keith in particular had one of his machines that was supposed to help the cream whip into shape fail on him but keep his cool throughout and talked his way through.

In the photo you see the three winners: Chris Yeo, John Ting and Keith Low from right to left. While they compete as individuals rather than as representatives of their companies, for those of you who may wish to want to sample their coffee and see what the top baristas have to offer, John and Chris work for Spinelli's and John is usually to be found in the Raffles Place branch. Keith works at Whitebait & Kale. I'm certainly going to be showing up at their outlets just to see what a difference a good barista can make.

What I thought was a pity was that the championship was held in the middle of a trade show that was held during office hours and generally restricted to trade visitors only. For an event that has the potential to capture the interest of all coffee drinkers in Singapore, the audience was restricted to trade folk since it was held within the Food & Hotel Asia Exhibition. For this event to grow in future, it would be better off if the organisers can eventually shift it into a more publicly accessible location. This does deserve a wider audience.