most of the cafe will sell you beans...can just ask them and see. sometimes they may decline because they have limited stock, if you like it, can always ask if they can order for you. i've done this to shops and food trucks

You can also try Mister Coffee. If you order more than RM 60 they will deliver for free.

You should really consider a grinder. It will up your quality by an order of magnitude as you can grind just before you brew, and even adjust the grind size to tune the brewing to your preferences.

what machine did you buy? unless its using a pressurized portafilter...nobody will be able to grind it properly for you



anyways best is quickly save up for a grinder...

btw, sometimes i visit cafe with expensive grinders and machines, drink their coffee and buy their beans...reason is now i have a benchmark...i know how it taste like at the shop and then try to replicate and improve my shots at home.

Mine is from Mister Coffee each pack is 500g. The cheapest one is Espresso Classic. But IMHO, I did not like it much. I prefer Espresso Bar.

Beanshipper is a start, lots of options there
Our own ymeng85 also sells at Reframe
The past few rounds I've bought from fmarketing on Shopee

These are all online, but many of the roasters listed above have physical stores too

Mister Coffee got a lot of different roasted coffee. One of them is Espresso Bar.

Beanshipper is a start, lots of options there
Our own ymeng85 also sells at Reframe
The past few rounds I've bought from fmarketing on Shopee

These are all online, but many of the roasters listed above have physical stores too

They are quality beans, I've tried only the Brazil, Colombia and Mexico single origin, all medium roasted, paired with milk

starbucks is too cliche (we did get a bag from it once before.. long time ago  )..
underwhelming... hhmmnn.. i'm guessing you're looking for some robusta in the mix?

there're 2 groups of coffee beans that you may come across... single origins and blends
depends on your taste/palate.. in general, blends may have stronger taste as opposed to single origin. this arise from adding(not all occasion) robusta beans into the blend, hence the "kick"..

mister coffee has good offerings on blends.. the cheaper blends do have mixture of robusta in it.. if you can take the additional caffeine, why not?

if you can consider a 1kg bag purchase... there're some choices for your consideration;
1. lavazza's gold selection (the best we tried on lavazza)
2. coffex coffee's primo quattro (blends consist of 4 types of beans, hence quattro)

over time, your taste/palate may change... moving from blends to single-origin (or vice versa)... or from darker roast to a lighter roast.. enjoy the taste 

Just wondering, what do you mean by Starbucks beans are 'safe'?

I used to buy collective bold 1kg rm129. But i already subscribed beanshipper for half year during 11.11 promotion period. Every month will receive 500g bean. 😂

I see. IMHO, improperly roasted beans e.g. uneven roasting is something that is a definite no-no. However, as you mentioned beans with 'holes' in them, I think that is still pretty acceptable as long as very little in number. Hand sorting, which will have a high probability of eliminating such beans, is time-consuming and labour-intensive, so not all producers and/or roasters will be willing to do that. If they do, the extra effort will of course be reflected in a much more expensive retail price. Besides, when I was just starting out I also bought beans from Coffee Bean & Starbucks. Mostly because they were cheap, and also because I didn't know any better. But...I found that they were more often than not roasted too dark as to completely eliminate all of the subtle tastes and nuances that we all strive for in the coffee beans itself. Plus, I found a fair share of beans with 'holes' and also cracked beans inside those bags of coffee from CBTL & Starbucks. So...I wouldn't categorically say that beans from CBTL & Starbucks are 'safe', either.

Have you noticed that those bags of roasted coffee at CBTL & Starbucks have expiry dates? Who knows when they were roasted. Thus, there is a high chance that they have indeed been sitting on the shelf too long. Good specialty coffee roasted by a reputable roaster will have a roast date imprinted on the packaging, not an expiry date.

TL:DR: try any beans from beanshipper.com or Reframe Coffee Roasters (webshop, also an active member here on this thread) or arkib.kl (on Instagram). Prices are higher than Starbucks but you're paying for quality, skill and knowledge...things that don't come cheap by themselves. Your coffee brewing & drinking experience will most likely improve as a result.

Of course, this is just my dua sen. YMMV. Hope this helps.

Actually regular fresh milk is the best unless you're looking for a really really creamy taste

Over fatty/creamy milk is not that good for delicate single origin coffees as it will have tendency to overpower all the flavor notes of the coffee and all you're tasting is just the milk and remaining bitterness of the coffee. No flavors

what do you mean by pale? i am using dutch lady

You're comparing UHT milk (Good Day above, Dutch Lady) with fresh milk?
The ability to foam may be similar, but the taste is very different at least to my taste buds. I've tried Good Day UHT and if anything it's for backup only, I will try my best to get fresh milk.

I've been able to source Farm Fresh (in Giant) and Farmhouse (Tesco) so far.

all the uht milk...latte foam not stable breaks down very fast

dutch lady got strong cow smell...ban

99 speedmart carries goodday fresh milk...

I typically don't buy Farmhouse as I prefer to support the local farmers. Having said that there is a huge difference between pasteurization on fresh milk that kills bacteria and UHT that changes the texture and flavor of milk. I'm quite sure the fresh Farmhouse goes through pasteurization and their UHT goes through the UHT process

I was on UHT as well, it definitely works although getting micro foam is a bit more hit and miss I think