KOPI, LATTE AND ME

Coffee is a big part of Singaporeans' lives and, over the years, consumers' tastes have moved from traditional kopi to speciality lattes to custom home brews. STFood online editor Eunice Quek and digital graphics journalist Hannah Ong track the coffee evolution

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Calling all coffee drinkers. Do you identify as a coffee Loyalist, Explorer or Aficionado?

Loyalist: Someone largely fuelled by inexpensive and convenient caffeine options such as traditional Nanyang-style kopi typically brewed with a coffee sock or via capsule machines and instant three-in-one coffee.

Explorer: Someone who does not choose between kopi and speciality. He or she enjoys both styles - kopi for a quick caffeine kick and latte for a leisurely weekend sip.

Aficionado: Someone who geeks out over the perfect cuppa and relishes a meticulously brewed pourover, preferably with the option to choose single-origin coffee beans.

The Sunday Times has identified these three archetypes after conducting two rounds of surveys to analyse coffee consumption patterns and how they have evolved.

SURVEY RESULTS

Data collection started in March, with about 250 respondents aged 17 to 65 taking part in the first coffee survey (see graphic on facing page).

Over half of the respondents drank a minimum of two cups of coffee a day, and took coffee with milk.

At least once a week, more than 90 per cent bought coffee, while 86 per cent brewed coffee at home.

Of the home brewers, over 30 per cent used a capsule machine and another 31.7 per cent took instant three-in-one coffee. The rest used a range of equipment such as the V60, espresso machine and French press.

Other findings: More than 30 per cent choose to have hot coffee, almost 30 per cent preferred it cold and more than 61 per cent did not take coffee with sugar.

Following this survey, another 43 participants volunteered to track their coffee consumption for one week and they drank a total of 413 cups.

Espresso-based coffee such as lattes and Americanos were the most popular, making up 25 per cent of the coffee consumed, while local kopi and instant coffee accounted for 17 per cent each of the total consumption.