It's a Grind Coffee House @ SS15, Subang Jaya

Melbourne taught me a thing or two about coffee. I don't know what force on earth drove me to consume coffee nearly every day and by the time I had my nth cup, I had a pretty decent idea of what constitutes a good cup of coffee. I learnt how to put sugar properly in my cappuccino, I observed the texture of the foam residue on the walls of my cup, I paid more attention to the after-taste and how long it stayed on my tongue for, etc etc etc. and those are such tiny details I've been taking for granted in a cup of coffee.

Not everyone likes the standard way of presenting certain coffee types. Take a cappuccino for instance. Some prefer a wet cappuccino, having less foam and more milk (might as well order a latte) or a dry cappuccino, having more foam and less milk as opposed to a traditional cappuccino. Another example can be my dad who prefers his black coffee with more "body" (I'll explain below).

This new coffee place, an American franchise, may be pretty good to try for those who like their coffee customized to their preferences.

Proudly displaying all the types of blends they have to offer.

Opened only about two weeks ago, It's a Grind offers a wide variety of coffee beans to choose from.

Take your pick.

They usually make their coffee with the espresso blend, their specialty. It's not exactly the sweet type but rather one with a relatively compelling aroma.

Setting

With every coffee place must come a display of cakes and pastries. Oh, and they do have Snapple! 

Can't miss out on this board as you enter. Take a read at their history!

A snapshot of their indoor seating.

Another snapshot of their indoor seating with their Christmas tree.

Their outdoor seating.

... and it has an interesting wallpaper.

I won't be surprised if this place gets flooded with students on a study camp sooner or later.  

Menu

I must say they have quite a wide variety of food and beverages. Also, boy am I glad to see that they do not charge for soy milk or decaf. Naturally, I was curious at such a delight so I asked the barista. His reply went, "... because fresh milk is more expensive so we do not see why one has to pay extra for soy." A bliss to my ears indeed.

What went into our tummies

While walking around the cafe, I spotted the brand of soy milk they were using in their storage. To my surprise, it was one in which I had before and was relatively sweet. I thought, okay maybe they know what they're doing, so I decided to sit back and wait for my cappuccino.

This was meant to be my drink but we all thought it was mom's. So I didn't manage to capture its first look and mom already had put some raw sugar into it. Still, on top of the taste of the coffee was the extremely overpowering flavour of the soy milk which was horrifying. It tasted like coffee-flavoured soy milk rather a soy cappuccino. 

Of course, I asked for a new one and it was much better. Unfortunately, the sweetness and the strength of the soy milk was very noticeable.

The baristas and I had a long chat on the type of soy milk they were using. Apparently theirs was a local brand and knowing how Malaysia is with their drinks, it was really sweet and not appropriate for coffee making. They did say they were new in making coffee with soy and I'm not surprised because I think Malaysians rarely have coffee with soy milk; probably the primary excuse for coffee places to charge an extra Ringgit or two for replacing fresh milk with soy. As of now, I hope the franchise will be scouting for better soy milk brands to use.

So this is the Americano dad ordered and his comment on it is phrased as such: "It has a skeleton but no body." In a way, even though the aroma may be beautiful, the liquid itself doesn't have much density to it. Hence, the after taste doesn't last very long. 

The Mocha Java Rush.

Their super dry cinnamon roll I wouldn't order again. 

Extras

The cafe was quiet and there were no other customers but my family and I. So, I got to experience a little BTS on coffee making.

The barista demonstrated the use of a naked filter and how to use the coffee machine. 

This was the highlight. I immediately fell in love with how the coffee comes out of the filter. 

He also explained how to pour the milk depending on what drink you wish to make like how the milk foam in my cappuccino has to be the shape of a 3/4 full moon. That presentation style is actually new to me because I never viewed cappuccinos having any art on it at all. Foam texture > perfect art (: 

They have a Cyberjaya branch as well if you wish to visit them there. Have a go at it and let me know how it goes! 

Note: All their beverages are handcrafted. 

Information

Address: 19, Jalan SS15/8A, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/v/its-a-grind-ss15/52a9433511d2a8a1ea7d93c0

Website: http://www.itsagrind.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/itsagrind.my
Email: custserv@itsagrind.com.my
WiFi: Available

Melbourne 22.0

I hereby present to you the twenty-two places in which created an impression on me during my 5-month stay in Melbourne. In no particular order of favour ...


1. Seven Seeds, Carlton

This was one of the first few coffee places I visited in Melbourne. I remember the latte being fairly satisfying but that ain't the highlight of this place...

Australian Journal #3

There are typically three reasons I'd head to the Central Business District (CBD):

1) Food; mostly brunches and dinners.
2) Shopping; I'd visit a Typo store every time.
3) Clubbing; partying, partying, yeah!

Today went a little different towards the end.

* * * *

Brunch

I met up with Delia for a catch up, girl talk brunch session at Fandango. I was contemplating between heading there and Auction Rooms which was a couple of doors away. However, I've been hearing from people within my social circles that visits to Auction Rooms weren't very memorable which was why I decided to cross it out of my list; leaving me 6 more coffee places to visit before I depart to Malaysia in a couple of days.

My regular coffee: soy cappuccino [AUD4.10]

It was their house blend espresso they used. Unfortunately, it wasn't very memorable for me. Sure enough, it's a good cup of coffee but I think Axil Coffee Roasters at Hawthorn made me the best soy cappuccino I've ever had using their seasonal espresso blend (which has coffee beans from El Salvador, Costa Rica and Ethiopia). I guess I'm the type that prefers a more fruity and sweet touch to my coffee.

As for the meal, both Delia and I ordered the french toast. Most french toasts I've had are very flavourful by themselves or they'd usually come with a scoop of ice cream alongside some fresh fruits. Often enough, they'd serve either only two pieces of toast the most or one huge toast on a plate. With little expectations in mind, I was served this:

French toast [AUD17.50]

Four pieces of fluffy french toast with the right amount of eggy-ness in each, probably half a cinnamon baked apple with maple syrup alongside was already held so much happiness for me. But imagine this: perfectly fried bacon strips placed right at the top of the stack of toasts; in between lies a cube of maple butter slowly melting and making its way to the bottom of the plate through the stack. I cannot further emphasize how absolutely sinful and gorgeous that whole thing sounds. Also, as I'd usually take certain little details into account, I love their little green garnishing that gave the dish a bit of colour.

I'm not too sure if adding ice cream to the plate would do more justice to the dish or put the consumer in a chaotic situation from the many competing flavours but as for now - best french toast so far!

Delia.

Myself.

* * * *

Walking around the city

After a little shopping at Melbourne Central, I decided to take a walk to Flinders Station in hope that I would find a couple of gigs or magic performances on the way. Unfortunately for me, I chose the wrong day to look for them as the sun was scorching and I started to sweat even in that sleeveless top, shorts and thongs. I believe it was about over 30 degrees that afternoon. Melbourne is clearly trying to prep me up for the Malaysian weather. Not a very kind thing to do.

Anyway, I spotted two performances:

Brandon Lewis.

Brandon, who was playing jazz music and teaches, has been playing the guitar for "a very long time". I was about to ask for how long has he been doing so but he refused to give me a number of years as he said it would give away his age. Of course, I respected that. I was very much taken by his skills despite the scorching Melbourne sun he was playing directly under.

I didn't stay long and as I continued to walk, I spotted a violin duet playing Christmas songs for a good cause. Unfortunately, I did not approach them personally.

Violin duet.

* * * *

An experience perhaps better than what I expected to discover

I was about to give up knowing that the unmerciful weather was a huge contributor to the absence of the performers and walk straight to Flinders Station when I spotted a man sitting at the corner of the building with a card board next to him which said something along the lines of "please spare me some change as I would like to stay in a room tonight". I don't know about you, but I was taught to ignore these people as some of them are said to be very dishonest and what not. However, I ignored that thought of mine and went with my gut. Instead of walking to the train station, I headed to the 7-eleven store nearby and bought a bottle of cold water. I then approached the man and bid him hello as I handed him the bottle and sat down on the pavement right in front of him being partially exposed to the sun. After introducing myself, from there he began his story.

His name is Trevor* and he lived in an area not far from the city before he was sentenced to two months in prison due to a fight with his mom and dad. His parents never supported him and I didn't ask precisely why as I didn't want to go too deep into that side of his story. Trevor went to school till Year 11 and has been working from the time he was 16 years old till his jail sentence. He has been out of jail for about a month and has been living along the streets for that same amount of time as he was basically released with no money on hand. Life has been hard with his drug problems still existing and also, most especially, when it comes to looking for jobs when he has to fulfill other basic needs first. To my surprise, he said he has been eating well. Only today Trevor was taken to Maccas by a very kind soul and had a few apples. He also told me that he'd often head to Queen Victoria Market and buy food from a food truck which is always there from Sunday to Sunday. Trevor then introduced me to Frosty, a snowman doll someone gave to him. I suppose that's the only company he'll be getting besides with the cops whom hopped into the middle of our conversation. I assumed I had to leave but one of the officers said it was okay for me to stay. I wish I did stay though. The officers were asking him plenty of questions in which I mostly did not understand. It seemed as though it was going to take a while so I decided to leave them to run their errands in peace. I said "bye" to Trevor and left for the train station, passing by a man who was looking at us the whole time as he gave me a weird stare. I wish I was given the opportunity to say more to Trevor like telling him to have hope and that all will be good soon.

* * * * 

Chatting with Trevor was probably one of the priceless experiences I will always remember as a part of my semester in Melbourne. Of the many days I've been spotting people like him sitting by the streets in the city with card boards of their stories next to them, I never once approached them as I was busy carrying on with my daily activities. I guess this experience serves as a reminder for me to always be thankful for the things in which I often take granted for and to always give back whenever opportunity knocks.


Thank you for reading and have a great day.


* name changed to protect identity