SEREMBAN, May 3 — The aroma of freshly-baked biscotti is quite unmistakable and frankly inimitable.
The warm, toasted notes of almonds; a gentle hit of nutmeg or cinnamon or both; the sweet scent of baking in an Italian kitchen.
It’s a fragrance I haven’t had the chance to enjoy in far too long. So it is all the more surprising that I am experiencing this twice-baked bouquet in the more-than-half-century old Templer Flats in Seremban.
The refurbished shop front blends in with the rest of the old-time flats. — Picture by CK Lim
Specifically, the biscotti comes with the coffee we ordered at 10 Grams Coffee Lab, located in a corner shoplot facing the inner courtyard of the low-cost housing project, which was constructed in 1966.
Residents, most of them senior citizens, stroll around or enjoy their kopitiam breakfast. Indeed we had stumbled upon the café after one of our regular weekend brekkie trips to Seremban town.
We particularly adore the old part of town from the Lobak neighbourhood, where we relish the homemade spinach noodles with sliced wat gai (poached chicken) from Kedai Makanan Shiang Kang, to the iconic Jalan Kong Sang, where we can indulge in both butter kopi and truly thick butter toast at Kedai Kopi & Makanan Saudara.
Slow and steady: Brewing pour over coffee. — Picture by CK Lim
But sometimes we crave another round of caffeine, a little extra pick-me-up after a heavy, carb-forward morning meal.
Which is where the lovely surprise of 10 Grams Coffee Lab comes in.
The refurbished shop front blends in with the rest of the old-time flats. Some specialty coffee bars can stick out like a store thumb in their adopted neighbourhoods (such is the price of gentrification, you might say) but this is one café that makes a concerted effort to be one with their surroundings.
‘All you need is coffee’ (left). Minimalist vintage décor (right). — Picture by CK Lim
Inside, only the walls are touched up with washed concrete; the original flooring remains the same – retro style tiles downstairs and time-worn parquet upstairs.
Our barista had just opened the shop; we were the first customers today. There is an unhurried tenor to her movements and it is the perfect approach for an idyllic weekend morning.
Slow and steady, she begins brewing our first order of pour over coffee. The beans are by YiLuDou, a coffee roastery based in Cheras. We chose an Ethiopia Sidama; the floral notes were especially evident thanks to YiLuDou’s direct fire roasting method.
Creating latte art with foamed milk. — Picture by CK Lim
While we waited for our coffee, we took in the interior, which was confident and unfussy. The feature wall had a huge neon sign that announced firmly: “All you need is coffee”.
Upstairs, the minimalist vintage décor continued. We could be in someone’s family home in the 1960s. The weathered look of the parquet flooring swells your heart with pangs of nostalgia you didn’t realise you harboured.
Back downstairs, our barista was already creating latte art with foamed milk. Here are our coffees, then: one pour over coffee and one flat white. Filter and espresso based coffees, one of each to sample.
Flat white. — Picture by CK Lim
The highlight, however, was the unexpected dish of biscotti that came with our coffees. We used to have this with coffee years ago but somehow it fell out of fashion as the world grew infatuated with croissants and their increasingly hybridised cousins (cronuts, cruffins, cragels, crookies, the list goes on…).
There is a simpler charm to these twice-baked Italian almond cookies. We have had many wafer-thin ones, which are crispier and shatter in your mouth.
These are closer to the ones my Italian friends would make: sliced thickly, crunchy rather than crispy, very dry and thus perfect for dipping into your coffee.
Which is what we did, dear readers.
Dip the biscotti into your coffee. — Picture by CK Lim
10 Grams Coffee Lab
C5, Templer Flats,
Jalan Tun Dr Ismail, Seremban
Open Fri-Wed 9:30am-4:30pm; Thu closed
IG: @10gramscoffee
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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