Are you a caffeine addict?
Let me first admit that I never used to like coffee so much, but what with all the hipster new coffee joints popping all over, I’ve given coffee another chance and concluded that as I’ve aged, I’ve actually grown to enjoy coffee a whole lot more (with sugar please!!).
It’s not just the taste of coffee, but simply the act of sitting down with a hot steaming cuppa, inhaling the fragrant aroma of the roasted beans and its visually appealing appearance (latte art!), and of course, that sense of well-being and perk-me-up a good cup of coffee provides. Ahhhhhhhhh.
I remember the first time I went to McCafe for a small food/coffee tasting and being pleasantly surprised with the quality of their coffee and beverages, so it was no surprise to me that during a blind coffee tasting that McCafe conducted a couple weekends ago, over 90% of people actually preferred McCafe coffee over their regular brew!!
Many of us turn to McDonalds only for the fast food, but really, with the convenience of over 50 McCafe outlets established island wide, McCafe is an ideal choice for affordable and great coffee no matter where you are!
The kind folks at McCafe invited me down to their special event: The Caffeine Challenge, two weekends ago, for an exclusive latte art session with fans and readers!
The logo you should be familiar with!
I really liked the little pop-up cafe created for The Caffeine Challenge, it was really innovative and fun-looking!
Here’s the crew of young and enthusiastic baristas all hard at work!
Did you know that each and every barista at McCafe has to go through 100 hours of coffee making and training before they can “graduate” to become a full-fledged barista? I didn’t know that too, but now I do.
Our agenda for the day: To learn more about coffee and how to make creative latte art with guidance from McCafe’s wonderful talents!
Sleepy-eyed me, still jet-lagged after Spain but first, a coffee to wake up the senses!!
Some of my friends and readers who arrived so punctually! Say hello to Anirban, Joelle, and Li Yao!
Our session started with a little presentation by McCafe’s barista/trainer, Hilmi, who went through the history of coffee, and how to make a good cup of coffee.
Technical mambo jumbo.. Coffee making is indeed an art!
Then it was on to the fun part: Demonstrations on how to make creative latte art! 😀
Here’s a starfish in the making!
And we were also shown various techniques for pouring, to create the signature heart shapes, tulip shapes, and even swan shapes that you see commonly on coffee art.
My chirpy and enthusiastic barista/guide made me a special cuppa!!
Here’s a closer look at it.. It’s a girl face to represent me, lol! So cute 😀
Demonstrating how to create a bear with latte art…
We explored various methods and ways to create latte art, from using pouring (this is by far the most difficult for amateurs) to drawing with chocolate sauce and even shaping 3D latte art out of milk foam. It was so much fun to see how latte art came to life in so many different forms and shapes!
Guiding one of the readers on how to pour in the shape of a tulip. (Super challenging!)
We mostly had a lot of fun playing with chocolate sauce, one of the easiest ways to create latte art. Hahahaha! I gotta say, I was really impressed with how creative the baristas were! It’s not easy to visualise something and create it in coffee art form, because this medium is so unique and hard to control. Kudos to all of you McCafe baristas!
I really wanted to try my hand at 3D latte art, so here’s another barista in the midst of demonstrating a 3D kitty cat for me…
A video posted by Yina Goh (@yinagoh) on
MY VERSION!! So proud of it cos I think I did a rather decent job, no? 😀
Thanks for the awesome afternoon, McCafe! It was tons of fun!
Here’s my lovely team of friends and readers. Hope y’all enjoyed yourselves as much as I did during our session at The Caffeine Challenge!
With two sweet readers! 🙂
And with sweetheart Rozz!
Thanks for having me at The Caffeine Challenge!! Folks, the next time you’re looking for a coffee, look no further! Go give McCafe a try, you might find yourself a new convert 😉
The McCafé brand was brought to Singapore by McDonald’s in 2003 to make espresso coffee accessible to coffee-lovers islandwide. Over the years, McCafé has established a comfortable and laidback approach to coffee, delivering quality in every cup at a great value price, with fast service in a friendly, welcoming environment.
To date, there are over 50 McCafé outlets conveniently located islandwide, and each offers a wide range of quality coffee and a tempting selection of sweet and savoury snacks.
The full list of McCafé outlets can be found here: www.mcdonalds.com.sg/McCafe
xoxo
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