Caffeinated yet?

July is a good month for getting lazy at finding places to eat dessert - thank you Aroma Festival! Besides, it's always a great day, amazingly for since 1998, it only ever rained once. All the other times, sunny.

And busy. Deservedly so, who wouldn't love a good cuppa on a lovely day, at the best location in the world?

This year, to mix things up a bit, we decided instead of starting breakfast at our usual spot, we forgo La Renaissance and stroll the stalls, followed by a sumptuous French lunch and desserts, then more coffee, if so desired.

Part of the Aroma Festival was a series of coffee appreciation workshops. This year I attended one on cupping - the international standard in determining quality of coffee beans, which goes something like this: 10g coffee coarsely (and freshly) ground, in round-shaped glasses or ceramic cups with a 7-8cm diameter and hold about 150-200ml volume; pour water in at 93C; steep for about 5 minutes - do not stir - then, carefully spoon away ("break") the 'crust' of coffee grinds on top, smell, remove the crust as much as possible, then slurp spoonfuls of coffee like wine tasting, so you get the flavour throughout your mouth. This is done for all the coffees you're tasting, so you can directly compare without bias.

(For details please google ... I'm not that familiar with this technique!)

It's scary though, see this colour wheel of all flavours and aromas? It's just like wine tasting. I can't pin point the flavours so more training is required....

Three single origins were provided for tasting: Kenya "Barichu Gatomboya AA", Panama "Camilina Geisha" (lovely story about its discovery), and Colombian "Rodrigues Ospina". And one other nondescript coffee sitting at the end of the table... which we discovered as something "that couldn't be much worse when it comes to coffee". Reminded me very much of Starbucks, actually.

Which one did I like best? The sharp Colombian, followed by the refreshing Geisha; the Kenyan was smoother but in comparison, flatter.

Learned heaps, will keep trying this for future coffee purchases.

The actual Aroma Festival was, once again, a gorgeous day out. Mild and fresh morning, I got a few coffees in my system before the massive queues started: A single origin pour over batch brew - Kenyan, sharp, but a tad bitter to taste; second coffee unfortunately was a "lowly espresso" so I got a skim flat white - mild and sweet tasting, some considered it weak and tasteless, but this is how I enjoy my flat whites. Then the last coffee purchase which I didn't have until later - a cold brew Geisha which I will enjoy for a few days to come.

LUNCH! Yes yes it's a dessert tour so I will skip describing the delicious dishes at Ananas.... and skip straight to dessert. Not many to choose from but everybody who had the creme brulee was absolutely in love with this creamy vanilla'y goodness. Oh and that scoop of raspberry sorbet ... and hidden underneath, a small pile of hazelnut praline. Yum.

I had to be different and went for a not so classic tarte tatin: Not classic as in the apple wasn't cooked with the pastry baked upside down, but the pieces of apple was full of caramelisation and sitting on a flaky pastry. Vanilla ice cream adorned the plate, smooth and creamy that was.

More strolling later, we found ourselves bouncing to live music  while wolfing down a classic French crepe, sitting opposite the Opera House, enjoying the last of the afternoon sun before it got a little too chilly to be out and about.

Thanks again for a lovely day, Aroma; we shall return!

CS