The Lion City of Asia serves the best of Specialty Coffees.

Asylum Coffeehouse, Singapore

Asylum means a form of protection available to anyone at risk of serious harm in their home country who must leave in search of safety in another country.

While it sounds like a strange name for a Coffee place, the thought behind is to check into Asylum Coffeehouse, Singapore for some amazing hand-crafted brews with the best of the coffees from around the world.

Tucked inside an iconic blue and red heritage building along Jalan Besar, Asylum Coffeehouse serves as refuge and shelter for guests to escape the hustle and bustle of the world.

While I was already familiar with some of the best in breed specialty coffee places in Singapore such as Apartment, Lucid, Kurasu & Dawn, I came to know of Asylum via April Coffee, Copenhagen. Their Founder Patrik Rolf was on Asia Pacific Coffee tour few months ago and did an amazing coffee appreciation workshop at the very place which I visited multiple times over couple weeks of stay in Singapore. It actually became my sanctuary for Pour Overs (Patrik Rolf Way)– a calming respite from running around the city nation.

Asylum’s design aesthetic is very Nordic inspired – bright & white minimalist space with accents of wood and grey. Flanked with wide and expansive windows on two sides, this place isn’t actually a big space— but the high ceiling and ample daylight make you feel so giving it an airy, uncluttered atmosphere.

The coffee counter-island is surrounded by seats made for guests in pairs and was intentionally done so to facilitate communication between the baristas and staff. Besides the tables surrounding the counter, there are several seats outdoors as well, facing the street Asylum is on.

You’ll have to place your order and make payment at the counter, which is right at the main entrance. This could be a little tricky especially during weekends when coffee aficionados start popping into this place!

The Coffee Farm:

Jairo Arcila is a third-generation coffee grower from Quindio, Colombia. He is married to Luz Helena Salazar and they have two children together, Carlos and Felipe Arcila. Jairo’s first job was at Colombia’s second-largest exporter, working as their Mill Manager for over 40years until his retirement in four years ago.

Jairo has received great insights and guidance from his sons who are now experts in producing Specialty Coffee. With their help, Jairo has greatly improved the picking, sorting, and processing of his coffees. The guidance from his sons has empowered Jairo and gave him the tools needed to produce fantastic coffees with amazing flavour profiles one of which I put it on my coffee loop.

The Coffee: Castillo - Roasted specially by Asylum Coffeehouse

This coffee was exposed to a dry anaerobic fermentation period of 72hours with the pulp on. During this fermentation stage, strawberry and wine yeast were added. Afterwards, cherries were pulped and then left to dry on raised beds with ripe strawberry placed amongst the coffee until the ideal moisture content was achieved. This micro-lot is 100% Castillo.

• Producer: Jairo Arcila

• Region: Armenia Quindio /Santa Mónica

• Process: Honey + Wine Yeast / Strawberry

• Varietals : Castillo

• Altitude: 1450 -1500 masl

• Tasting notes: Mango | Strawberry | Orange Blossom | Cacao Nibs

Thanks to Raji(wife), Ramya(sister-in-law), Vikash(bro-in-law), James (Amigo) & Mrs.James aka Tes for posing happily :-) for this eponymous post.

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed scripting it. Happy Weekend!