Whats the difference between “Local Kopi” and Espresso based coffee? Part 1

Hi peeps,

Many .. many times, I keep getting these same questions. 🙂

1. How come your coffee beverage is so expensive compared to Kopitiam?
2. How come you coffee beverage is not as “gao” as local Kopitiam?

I think the most frequent asked question is the first one. So I will try to answer it the best that I can.

1. The cost factor.

There are mainly 2 types coffee beans which are commercially cultivated in the world. They are Arabica and Robusta.

Most of the espresso based coffee are prepared using Arabica beans. Where as Kopitiam kopis are using Robusta beans.

Robusta, as the name implies is easier to grow and cultivate on the the farm, has a higher yield and is less sensitive to insects and diseases. It also grows best at lower elevations.

Arabica, on the other hand needs better environmental conditions for it to grow. Ideally, it is usually cultivated between 1,300 and 1,500 m altitude.

 

Generally, Robusta coffee beans are 1/2 the price of Arabica beans. So generally, a coffee beverage made with Arabica beans will definitely cost more than a coffee beverage made with Robusta beans.

Someone will ask… its only 2 times mah.. but how come your cup of coffee is much more than 2 times the price of Kopitiam coffee?

Well the next cost factor is the milk used.

What kind of milk do Kopitiam kopi uses?  Mainly, condensed milk and Evaporated milk. These cans of milk will not require any refrigeration to preserve it. Thus keeping the running cost low.

What kind of milk do Espresso based drinks like Flat White, Latte, Cappuccino uses? We mainly use Full Cream Fresh milk. Full cream Fresh milk will definitely need some sort of refrigeration to preserve it. It also only has a shelf life of 1-2 weeks. But the MOST important factor in using Fresh Milk is that it makes your milk based coffee much more pleasant  and tastier!!

If you compare cup vs cup. An espresso based coffee milk drink is almost 90-95% made of milk. Whereas, for a local coffee, only 2-4 teaspoons of condensed milk/ evaporated milk is used.

So besides the coffee beans itself. Milk is another factor that determines the cost of your milk based espresso drink. These are the basic 2 ingredients that drive up the cost of your espresso based coffee drink.

I hope that you have a better understanding now. I shall end this post here.

Wait for part 2…

1. How come you coffee beverage is not as “gao” as local Kopitiam Kopi?

 

Thanks and enjoy your Tuesday!

Erwin