Apr 16, 2022

Coffee Connection

It was a nice sunny afternoon when the Coffee Connection event was held last Wednesday at Kaffe 16. The private event was organized by Squared Space and sponsored by yours truly. A gathering of key players in the local specialty coffee scene, the intimate session was also attended by like-minded individuals who share the same passion for coffee.

Judges for the brewing throw-down from left : Sylvia Tan, Edward Choo, and Shaun Liew.

The event began with an opening speech from the organizer, Ting, followed by a brief sampling session for the contestants to familiarize themselves with the coffee they were going to work with. The beans that were used were roasted by the judges themselves: Shaun Liew from Curate for the first three rounds and Edward Choo from Toothless for the final round. Sylvia Tan from Discover Coffee was also invited as a judge for the brewing throwdown.

The contestants proceeded to draw lots that determined their rounds. Three groups of three were formed, and they were to compete for the final round. The first round commenced with our very own Fu Jun competing as well. Some contestants preferred to use their own personal grinders, while some went as far as to carefully choose each bean for their brew.

The EK43 by Mahlkonig remains the grinder of choice for most participants.

To everyone’s surprise, the first three rounds ended up with a unanimous decision each! It was apparent that the finalists from each round went above and beyond in order to make it to the finals. They were Fu Jun from Lamarsa, Cherry from Provision, and Kwan Lik Peng from Toothless. It was also apparent that the Acaia Pearl scale stood out as most of the participants opted for its accuracy over other scales.

Fu Jun opted for the Fellow Stagg EKG Pour Over Kettle for his final round.

Victory began with a couple of drops of water, as Fu Jun with his Fellow Stagg grabbed the throwdown title with a score of 2-1! For the closing ceremony, we had a prize giving session to the champion and other participants. The champion got himself a Fellow Stagg Kettle while the other participants earned a consolation prize of Fellow Mugs.

It was definitely a day to remember for all of us, as this was the first coffee gathering since the pandemic started (Can you believe it's been 2 years?). It was truly gratifying to see familiar faces after so long, and catching up with them, and of course meeting new ones as well! A photo session was then held before the event was finally concluded. Here's to hoping for more coffee gatherings, throwdowns, and events in the future!