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