However, the origins and process that goes into brewing a cup is far more complex than the menu suggests. For one thing, co-owner and coffee roaster Michael Wilson says he tastes the coffee every hour to ensure that the taste remains consistent throughout the day. “That’s a lot of coffee when you’ve been open from 10am to midnight,” the New Zealander laughs.
Wilson and his wife, Amirah, opened Artisan Roast Coffee (ARC) in Tmn Tun Dr Ismail in late January, their third coffee outlet following Ampang-based RAW (Real And Wholesome) Cafe in Wisma Equity, and a coffee kiosk at Food Haven.
Although the beans are the same, the concept of ARC differs slightly from the previous two. “RAW is a joint venture between us (me and Amirah) and other partners, where we do coffee roasting and wholesaling,” says Wilson. “Artisan, on the other hand, is my style of cafe that has a relaxed vibe, whereas the RAW brand is streamlined, a little more corporate, and has the real and wholesome aspect.”
As with artisinal coffee joints, the couple takes great pride in not only getting the right beans, but also ensuring that the beans throughout the entire process — from the farm to the cup — is handled, treated and stored properly every step of the way.
It’s the beans used for ARC’s filtered coffee that gets Wilson beaming the most. “For the filtered coffee, we choose the top two per cent of beans in the world, which are then roasted in a very detailed way that’s not easy to do.
“It’s important in filtered coffee that we get the volatile aromatic notes, so we have to vacuum-pack the beans, and store them in climate control rooms to preserve their quality,” he says.
Wilson also stresses on the importance that baristas here know how to maintain the quality of a cup of coffee – aside from being friendly and accommodating. “The push-button process just won’t work here,” he says. “There’s a lot of control needed. If the temperature or humidity changes, the way the coffee pours would be different, shifting the balance of the acidity, bitterness and sweetness, and the barista needs to know how to adjust it.”
Hence, the need to taste the coffee every hour. All this technical talk suggests that Wilson might come across as a know-it-all coffee geek. Spend a few seconds chatting with the enthusiastic, scruffy-bearded, sarong-wearing Wilson, however, and you’ll find that he’s anything but.
“I don’t turn my nose up at those who drink the kopitiam type of coffee; hey, people love the taste!” he says, adding that he gets miffed if baristas turn down requests that differ from what they think is an ideal cup of coffee. He knows that what makes a “good” coffee is subjective — some like theirs bitter, some more acidic — and he tries his best to accommodate his customers’ requests.
Scratch kitchen
“I do care about what goes in them, so I won’t touch eggs from battery chickens, for one thing,” he says. “It’s not that I’m a bunny-hugger, I just don’t feel comfortable with it.” “The idea is to introduce sandwiches, and later move it into a full-day breakfast place,” he adds.
For now, the cafe serves a random menu of muffins, cakes, muesli, pancakes and other light and simple dishes — what he calls “Kiwi-style food.”
For those who don’t take coffee, there’s Red Espresso and Chocolate. The former isn’t coffee at all, but Rooibos tea that’s prepared using the espresso machine, providing for a refreshing, caffeine-free alternative to coffee.
The hot chocolate, meanwhile, is made from pure chocolate beans from the Dominican Republic — a fact that you wouldn’t gather from the simple, one-word description of “chocolate” on the menu. Much like everything else served here, it’s the taste that does most of the talking, not the words.
Artisan Roast Coffee is at 4 Lorong Rahim Kajai 14, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. For more information, visit http://www.artisanroast.com.my
