kopi tiam

[dailybean]

hey yall

thought id share a bit of my heritage. i think one of the first experiences of coffee was in malaysia where once upon a time coffee was served up at the kopi-tiam (translated means, coffee shop) (that is, before starbucks arrived). if youve ever been to malaysia or singapore, you wouldve come across them - you can literally find one around the corner. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_tiam

id describe their coffee as thick as in brewed thick. but often served in a glass cup and saucer with a thin layer of condensed milk at the bottom. yum  

i recently went to singapore and this franchise called "Ya Kun" is pretty much the most marketed kopi-tiam proudly celebrating their history of how they came to be. most interestingly, they claim to roast their coffee (how and which beans i have yet to discover). see http://www.yakun.com/ya_kun_genesis.html and see here http://www.yakun.com/index.htm for their posters. hilarious.

anyway, if any of you get a chance to visit msia or singapore, check them out. its quite a different experience. thats the great thing about coffee, its so diverse all over

[lucinda]

Re: kopi tiam

This made me laugh - no idea what it means but I like it

[dailybean]

Re: kopi tiam

hehe. that sock is what they use to place coffee grounds into and brew/steep the coffee in a tall metal pitcher-like pot with hot water. the sock is lifted and coffee grounds filtered out.

their posters are quite novel

[nunu]

Re: kopi tiam

I can imagine how much caffeine it has, not to mention bitter. No wonder they have to sweeten it with condensed milk.

[hazchem]

Re: kopi tiam

I like the look of the Butter Sugar Toast set and the Ice Cream Toast

There is a restaurant around the corner from me called Kopitiam that serves great Malaysian and Chinese food. They have a lot of drinks on the menu, Teh tarik, Kopi-o, Ice Chendol to name a few.

Ive been a fan of the pulled tea - teh tarik for years but have only recently discovered the joys of Kopi and Kopi-peng. Ive never seen them make it though as Im usually too distracted by the food in front of me. Next time i go there ill order one and try to see how they make it and report back.

For my fellow Sydneysiders, the food at Kopitiam is easily the best Malaysian food ive eaten outside of Malaysia. Situated on the block between the Powerhouse Museum and the ABC on Harris Street in Ultimo they are open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week. Highly recomended!

[nunu]

Re: kopi tiam

Similar food is served in the typical chinese cafe or "cha charn teng" Really thick slices of toast with either butter, peanut butter, condensed milk, or a combination of the 3. Chicken wings, and other "sets" make up the majority of the menu. Usually the drinks consist of either tea, pearl tea, milk tea, milk tea and coffee, blended ice drinks, hot lemon coke, etc. My wife and I always frequent these sort of places. As long as you dont mind the decor, the food is excellent, and always good value.

[dailybean]

Re: kopi tiam

yups, the menu is usually quite good. simple fare but oh so good

As long as you dont mind the decor, the food is excellent, and always good value.

the decor adds character i distinctly remember the fans indoors, the sides of the blades would have dust stuck on it

[nunu]

Re: kopi tiam

Just dont look at the floor...

Ive been to places in Hong Kong where the floor was nearly black (white tiles). Brekkie set was awesome though. Think the set was no more than $20 HKD (roughly $5 AUD), and it came with drinks.

[dailybean]

Re: kopi tiam

yups, i would hesitate going there barefoot :|