Coffee Ritual (Balanced Syphon Coffee) @ Publika, KL

It has been more than 2 years since my last visit to Coffee Ritual. Their latest cafe opened at Publika about 6 months ago and they continue to serve some of the most unique coffee in town.
The current menu is similar to their first outlet’s offerings, featuring a number of hot Western dishes, signature crepes and other desserts. Coffee Ritual offers an all-day set menu for a better bang for your buck. Ala-carte main courses could be upgraded to a set meal by adding on coffee or desserts.

Single-origin coffee brewed using Balancing Syphon coffee maker should not be missed here, especially if you’re a coffee lover. This cool looking device sports a beautiful chrome body with dark red wooden board base. It was designed back in the 19th century during the industrial revolution period. The concept is based on syphon coffee but modified to have a counter-weight which helps to automate the coffee making process.

I won’t be going into details on how the Balancing Syphon works but here are the basics:

1. Hot water is filled into the air-tight vacuum flask.
2. Spirit lamp is lit to boil the water in the vacuum flask.
3. Water is pushed up and over to the brewing flask, which contains the ground coffee (Bernoulli’s principle at work here)
4. The brewing flask becomes heavier, counter-weight kicks in and closes the spirit lamp hence removing the heat source.
5. While the coffee is brewing, the vacuum flask cools down and creates a suction which draws the brewed coffee back.
6. Turn the faucet and enjoy your cuppa!

I have to admit the entire process was quite fun to watch and everyone literally had their eyes glued to the device the entire time – anticipating what would happen next. It was a crowd drawer too, as customers from neighbouring tables even walked over to watch and took photos. During our visit, the YIRGzero (zero defects hand-picked coffee from Ethiopia) was the choice for the Balancing Syphon.
YIRGzero is considerably premium in quality and is noted to have a candylike sweetness accompanied by a smooth, fruitiness aroma. I am no coffee tasting expert to tell you how great this fared, but you could really taste a difference in it as compared to the normal stuff.
The first quality I noticed was that there was not even a hint of sourness present, it was fresh, incredibly smooth and easy to drink and leaves a lingering sweet aftertaste. The body is quite light and does not appear as dark as the other blends too.
The YIRGzero brewed with Balancing Syphon is available at a reasonable RM36 as shown above. It could produce about 3-4 cups of coffee – good for group sharing. However, if you are alone, you could also purchase a single cup for RM15.

Food wise, selection is aplenty and while they won’t taste fantastically good; you won’t go wrong with most of them either. Most of the offerings from the menu are comfort Western dishes, prepared with a home-cooked style with a traditional plating style.
The Beef Rissoles @ RM19.80 has two juicy beef croquettes that tasted similar to beef burger patties but with hints of aromatic spices and herbs. The baked potato wedges were quite good too.

The Lamb Stew @ RM19.80 was alright, the lamb was soft and tender but I felt the broth could be much thicker.

Despite its not-so-appealing presentation, the Chicken Snail Sausage @ RM18.80 was quite delicious. Even though the sausage was not made in house, they sourced it from a good butcher hence it does not taste overly-processed.

For desserts, crepes, cakes and ice cream are available. But I usually go for the crepes, as it has always been a signature thing at Coffee Ritual. Even as a dessert, the Mixed Fruit Crepes with Ice Cream @ RM17.80 was not too overly sweet and everything just complemented each other well. The vanilla ice cream topping was also a gourmet one too, as they use only Kapiti brand ice cream from New Zealand.

The usual espresso based coffee is available too and I definitely enjoyed my Cappuccino @ RM9. All in all, Coffee Ritual is still a fresh breath of air compared to the rest which usually focus more on ambiance and cafe decor.
It’s easy to spend a few hours here exploring the world of coffee at affordable prices in a sleek yet cosy atmosphere. A recommended visit for any true coffee lover who hasn’t been here yet.

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