12 Must-try Activities at Singapore Coffee Festival 2016

If you’re a lover of all things coffee, then you should not miss this unprecedented Singapore Coffee Festival 2016 presented to you by DBS and hosted by The Straits Times. Make a note in your calendar to head down to the F1 Pit Building  from 10-12th June 2016. Running from 11 am to 9pm, be prepared for three full days of great coffee, awesome food, engaging workshops and seminars, sizzling entertainment in the form of homegrown musicians burning up the two “live” stages and heartwarming local movies such as 7 Letters.

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With over 100 exhibitors from the coffee and cafe industry, Singapore Coffee Festival 2016 promises to deliver an interactive multi-sensory experience for coffee enthusiasts and coffee noobs alike. Singapore Coffee Festival will provide a platform for local coffee roasters to show off their specialty coffee whilst showcasing Singapore’s traditional kopi culture too.

What makes this exciting coffee-centric festival worthy of first time-goers? Here’s the run down on the 12 must-try activities at Singapore Coffee Festival that will probably keep you wanting for more until the next year’s edition:

1. Eat Coffee-Infused Food

Buona Vista’s Curbside Cafe & Wine Bar, helmed by Samantha Koh will be presenting a very unique and exciting menu to Singapore Coffee Festival goers. Famous for its affordable coffee and Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie, Curbside Cafe & Wine Bar will not only be serving up its highly-praised espresso-based coffee but will also be spicing things up with coffee-infused food. Yes, your eyes did not play tricks on you!

The latter would indeed be a one-of-a-kind experience that you simply cannot afford to miss. Keep a lookout for more coffee-infused food at the festival as we hear that some exhibitors may be planning to serve some dishes specially created for the festival.

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Curbside Cafe

2. Barista 101 Lessons and more! 

Ever wondered how a good cup of coffee is made? Singapore Coffee Festival will be hosting various masterclasses, hands-on workshops, panel forums and discussions in 3 separate spaces, collectively called  The Labs, a must-go for coffee enthusiasts. Admission is free for ticket-holders except for a few e2i Workshops that are ticketed and partially sponsored by the Singaporean Government.

Run by Common Man Coffee Roasters, the CMCR Lab will be holding classroom-styled sessions aim to educate the public about basic barista skills and at-home brewing techniques. Five Senses Coffee’s Green Bean Buyer Jacob Ibarra will be visiting from Australia to conduct a session on the different Brazilian coffee varietals and processing methods.

Food and Beverage industry practitioners can sign up for the e2i ticketed workshops on Thursday during which CMCR will be running a 2-hour version of the Fundamental Barista Skills course for only 12 people per session. The highly popular hour-long Fundamental Barista Skills workshops on public days were snapped up within hours of registration.  

A collaboration between DBS and Bettr Barista, The #LiveBettr Lab will hold seminars and panel forums addressing issues in the coffee industry such as conscious consumption of coffee, women in coffee, the origins and planting of coffee beans, ethical sourcing and will even provide useful tips on how to source for coffee equipment, develop a successful market-leading coffee program and insights into industry trends for aspiring baristas and cafe owners.

Join prominent The Straits Times Journalists at “The ST Reading Room” for discussions on issues such as “Ask Wong Ah Yoke: Which Local Restaurants Truly Deserve Three Michelin Stars?”

Informative and insightful, The Labs sessions has lots to offer to anyone and everyone. Click here for The Labs Schedules and to sign up for workshops that require pre-registration.

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Common Man Coffee Roasters

3. Make your own latte art

Yes, you heard that right! Ever wondered how the patterns on your lattes were  created? From simple leaf patterns to complicated cartoons, latte art is not easy and it boggles people how baristas do it daily. Common Man Coffee Roasters and Bettr Barista will be hosting latte art masterclasses and workshops for Singapore Coffee Festival goers.

I mean, who else better to learn from than the masters themselves? Here is your chance to be a latte artist too!

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Common Man Coffee Roasters

4. Chill Out with lick-worthy Kopi C Ice Cream

In addition to Coffee-Infused dishes at the festival, Chye Seng Huat Hardware will also be selling their uniquely-Singaporean and highly-acclaimed Kopi C ice cream. A product of their collaboration with Creamier, this is a well-executed representation of Singapore’s kopi heritage. Perfect when consumed in Singapore’s heat, you have to give the lick-worthy Kopi C Ice Cream a try!

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Chye Seng Huat Hardware

5. Try Out Dapper Coffee’s Wacky Creations

Known for its gastronomic inventions, Amoy Street’s Dapper Coffee will be bringing a menu full of experimental drinks to Singapore Coffee Festival. From Earl Grey Yuan-Yangsto Camouflage Lattes, we will never know what to expect from Dapper Coffee so visit them during Singapore Coffee Festival to find out what they have up their sleeves. You won’t want to miss this opportunity!

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Dapper Coffee

6. Chit-Chat over Coffee with Cafe Owners and The Straits Times Journalists

Singapore Coffee Festival also aims to make its festival-goers experience an intellectually stimulating one. Join the discussion at The ST Reading Room where established The Straits Times journalists and other subject matter experts will be available to answer burning questions about hot topics such as property, cars, and how businesses can collaborate with social enterprises for success.

This is a superb chance to get to know the people behind the headlines splashed across the newspapers we read every day, and the people behind your dose of coffee. With so much knowledge and inspiration to offer, Singapore Coffee Festival certainly has something to offer to caffeine addicts and avid readers.

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7. Learn the Science behind Creating Good Coffee with Common Man Coffee Roasters

What does Chemistry and Coffee have in common? There are chemical reactions that make coffee what it is! Common Man Coffee Roasters will be explaining how Coffee Science works. From Water Chemistry to how coffee beans are roasted,  this is especially catered to new baristas or  budding baristas who will be signing up for the barista-training classes.

These Coffee Science sessions could also change the way coffee newbies look at coffee so give it a try and learn something new. After all, you never stop learning in life, right?

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Common Man Coffee Roasters

8. Check out Killer Coffee Equipment

For aspiring cafe owners, baristas or enthusiastic home baristas who are interested in purchasing stellar coffee equipment, look no further. Stellar M will be bringing in state-of-the-art coffee equipments from brands like Synesso, Rocket Espresso, Mazzer and Baratza Grinders, Wilfa and Marco Beverage System Coffee Brewers, Bona Vita Kettles, Acme Cups and Cafetto Cleaners.

Other exhibitors such as ToTT and Espressocups will be showcasing coffee accessories such as espresso cups and storage tins for coffee beans. Knockhouse Supply Co and Grind Coffee will also be showcasing their Home Espresso setup and Home Brewer’s setup. It is guaranteed to be an awesome exhibition so come check it out.

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Stellar M

9. Sip on Sweet Potato Latte, Caffeine Martinis, to-die-for teas, draft beers and craft beers 

If the above-mentioned activities weren’t enough to jolt you off your chairs, this eclectic array of drinks—caffeinated and non-caffeinated; alcoholic and non-alcoholic—will. Slayer Coffee will be serving up rare-but-absolutely-delicious Sweet Potato Latte, whilst Orchard Road’s KUVO will also be showcasing a variety of caffeine martinis made by their expert mixologists. 

Oriole Cafe will be selling their signature cold brew Taisho Coffee too. Available in black and white, Oriole’s Taisho Coffee is a must-try. Oriole’s  cold-pressed nut milk cheekily named M.A.D Milk, Espresso and Vanilla Cream drink with a scary name –  Death Cream and Haute Chocolate Milk are also sips worth spending more time working out for.

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Oriole Cafe

If you’re not a fan of coffee or can’t handle more than a cup of coffee, there is always tea. A.muse Projects, a specialty tea company, will have handcrafted tea blends on offer!

And if you need a little bit of alcohol in your system to shake off the work blues, Wunderbar’s drafts and beer ice-cream has your back.

If draft beers aren’t enough, the Tuckshop Edition (lager-style with fresh calamansi juice and hints of gula melaka) brought to you by The Tuckshop will certainly pick up the slack.

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10. Sample Cold Brews and Gourmet Food

Cold Brew, the new ‘it’ drink, is getting quite a name in Singapore’s coffee scene. Perfect for the hot weather, check out the different  versions by The Coffee Connoisseur, Made Cold, Lorgan & Sons and Chye Seng Huat Hardware (just to name a few), will be available at Singapore Coffee Festival for a cool wake-me-up.

 Coffee Paradiso will also be launching a new packaging for their organic Papa New Guinea in the form of drip sachets at this event too.

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As for food, the options are just as abundant and varied. The House of Robert Timms, Australia’s oldest and most established gourmet coffee brand, is set to deliver quintessential Australian bites; Common Man Coffee Roasters’ miniature cafe will be serving some signature menu favourites; and Hungry Heroes’ is set to make some banging and finger-licking burgers.

For desserts, Hatter Street is prepared to deliver artisanal desserts that will please your sweet tooth; PAUL is ready to give you a taste of France with its selection of country-style and fancy bread, viennoiserie pastries, cakes, desserts, snacks and sandwiches; and last but not least, grab some of Killiney Kopitiam’s traditional Hainanese kaya toast for the ultimate kopitiam experience.

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Killiney Kopitiam

11. The Shiseido Parlour & Air-flown Japanese treats

Shiseido is Singapore Coffee Festival’s Official Beauty Partner. This pop-up beauty parlour is definitely somewhere you would want to spend some time at during the festival. Serving special Japanese gourmet treats such as cakes, chocolates, ice cream, cheesecake, ganache and jelly and tea flown from Ginza, the home of the original Shiseido Parlour.

You will not only get to eat Japanese treats, but also try out their new Ibuki skin care range and other Shiseido products. What a perfect way to relax!

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12. Singapore’s Mini Coachella

In addition to all that coffee and food, there will be live music to chill out to. Curated by festival creative consultant Daniel Boey, 14 local up and coming acts will jazz up the festival on two stages, so don’t be afraid to make a mini Coachella out of this festival too. Local movie screenings will also be happening under the stars on Friday and Saturday night!

Look out for Singapore Coffee Festival’s limited edition paper cups that will be used across Singapore’s most happening cafes.

The design on these unique Singapore Coffee Festival paper cups were the creation of a local artist who won -the Design-the-Cup Competition, which engaged local artists and was held in partnership with Detpak. KeepCup’s world-famous first barista standard reusable coffee cup and other sustainable products will also be available at the event –  in accordance with their mission of encouraging the use of reusable cups.

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KeepCup

What other coffee and gourmet big shots to look out for during this festival? The Coastal Settlement, Wheelys Cafe, Symmetry Coffee, Fitnesse Coffee (Indonesian Gayo Coffee, anyone?), Hangar Room (sexy, sexy coffee!), Holah Holdings (exotic Ethiopian coffee!!), Buck Tile St. and its out-of-this world Blue Velvet Cake, TUCK SG and its range of sweet and savoury snacks, The Golden Duck and its famous Salted Egg Potato Crisps, and for the health conscious – HICJUICE’s raw, nutritious, cold-pressed and organic juices will undoubtedly refresh you if cold brew isn’t your thing.

HICJUICE is also the perfect option for vegan and non-coffee goers out there who want to enjoy other aspects of this festival. They will be serving up superbowls, superfood snacks and raw vegan ice-cream too.

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HICJUICE

So what are you waiting for? Get your tickets and event details for Singapore Coffee Festival 2016 now via their official website. The Singapore Coffee Festival Facebook and Instagram profiles are all also being constantly updated so keep a good eye on them. Until then, keep your friends close and your coffee closer!

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Prices (in SGD):

General Public Admission

  1. one-day access $18 (sales end 12th June 2016)
  2. VIP one-day access to festival and VIP lounge with fast track entry $43 (sales end 12th June 2016)
  3. one-day group pass (4 people) $44 (while stocks last)

DBS Card Holders

  1. one-day access standard $15 (sales end 12th June 2016)
  2. VIP one-day access to festival and VIP lounge with fast track entry $38 (sales end 12th June 2016)
  3. one-day group pass (4 people) $38 (while stocks last)
  4. three-days pass standard $28 (while stocks last)
  5. VIP three-days pass $85 (while stocks last)

Singapore Coffee Festival 2016: F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Blvd, Singapore 038975 | Opening Times: 10 – 12 June 2016, 11 am to 9 pm | Website Facebook Instagram

*This post was brought to you in partnership with Singapore Coffee Festival 2016

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