Singapore Roaster Forum 2022

Photo by Mervin Lee

At the invitation of Marian Aguilar of Cata Coffee, I attended the 2nd supposed-to-be-annual Singapore Roaster Forum. I spoke at the 2019 event, and would have happily joined the past two years had some globally significant circumstances not prevented otherwise.

Part discussion panel, part roasting competition, the SRF is designed to stimulate both the mind and the palate of the coffee professional. It is a testament to the open, inclusive, and collaborative nature of the Singapore specialty coffee scene that the competitive portion of the event was actually the least vital component of the day.

Photo by Mervin Lee

Far more interesting were the panel discussions and presentations. My favorite by far was given by the 2019-2020 Indonesia Barista Champion, Mikael Jasin, who blew everyone’s minds with a completely novel processing methodology that helped producers with whom he collaborated to gain higher cupping scores and, therefore, prices for their coffee. He also walked us through a fascinating new way to categorize coffees by flavor profile rather than type or processing method. This benefits the coffee drinker as much as the coffee buyer — which is a bit of a shift away from the industry’s habit of putting distinctions on retail bags like “honey” or “washed,” which often doesn’t translate easily to the everyday consumer’s lexicon. 

We also heard from a panel of women in the coffee business, moderated by Marian. Like much of the other discussions that day, the focus was on the people, not the coffee. My old friend Pamela Ng from Bettr Barista humorously pointed out that if you’re in the specialty coffee business to make a lot of money, you’ve made a terrible mistake. What keeps us engaged in the business is the reward of seeing careers develop, community grow, and the benefits of good coffee proliferating.

Photo by Mervin Lee

Finally, Kel and I had a chance to stand up and introduce Building Coffee and our ongoing work in Vietnam. We stressed the ability for any of the professionals present to be on a coffee farm within a matter of hours, with the hope that such easy connections could be made in the region between suppliers and buyers.

The coolest part was that the SRF folks made room for Building Coffee samples on the cupping tables before competition tasting began. They also batch brewed our single origin blend Early Morning, a blend of honey and natural processes of a coffee from Lang Biang. We saw a lot of interest in both robusta and arabica samples.

We also had a chance to socialize with new friends and old, including Aslam and his wife Inez. Aslam is an old school homie from my time living in Singapore, and he’s the founder of SRF. Humble maybe to a fault, he calls himself a barista, even though he’s an owner of Community Coffee with two locations in Singapore and an excellent reputation as a serious specialty destination. Over frozen custard at Shake Shack, we commiserate about being small business owners in an industry hurtling toward consolidation and big business.

Photo by Mervin :Lee

Photo by Mervin Lee

The next morning I was a judge at Community’s home brewer event — So You Think You Can Brew? Targeted at consumers insteads of professionals, these were specialty coffee customers and home enthusiasts competing head-to-head with one another for the title of Best Non-Professional Brewer. It was a very Singaporean experience, as I’m not sure there’s another city on earth that would have so many highly skilled entrants with no business in the coffee business.

I had one more day in town, and was lucky to spend it with Mark Akiriza from Second Mile Specialty Coffee, one of Building Coffee’s suppliers of green beans. Our conversation ranged from the personal to the professional and where the two overlap. He’s got a fascinating history, from his time growing up in Uganda all the way to finding himself in Singapore. He’s an incredibly authentic and wholesome human being, and one of my favorite types of coffee people to have in my network. He’s going to do great things with Second Mile.

I got home and crashed for an entire 24 hours, evidence that the three-day trip was full. I have to admit, sometimes I really miss living in a community like Singapore, where there are so many specialty roasters, all of whom just want the other to get better at what we all love doing. I see the beginnings of that kind of community here in Saigon, and I think it’s only a matter of time before we have similar community vibes.