There are quite a number of cafes serving up bottled coffee around the City Hall area, but Berthold Delikatssen’s slow brew coffee line-up is probably the lesser mentioned one of the lot — a cafe that is located at the shopping arcade area of The Capitol Kempinski Hotel; the same area which you will be able to find other F&B establishments such as Broadway American Diner (formerly known as Capitol Milk Bar) and Frieda Restaurant.
Have actually heard about their slow brew coffee line-up quite a couple of months ago — actually had their “The Cool Santa Brew”; a slow brew coffee infused with orange and cinnamon, which was a Christmas special run during December last year when dine-in was allowed. Found myself going for the Veni Vidi Vici and 5pm to-go for the weekend (as with my usual habit of buying bottled coffee to tide over the weekends during the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) where dine-in is not allowed).
To be very fair, the Veni Vidi Vici isn’t quite my cuppa — whilst I generally favour milkier cold brew/bottled coffees that are slightly sweetened (more of a beverage than a serious caffeine booster, the Veni Vidi Vici reminded me of a rather basic brew made using Arabica beans that is infused with milk and toffee cream; that sort of flat, slightly roasty body which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. That being said, while we had the cold brew just a day after it was being bought (and well before the stated expiry), we weren’t fans of how the cream started to congregate and stuck along the side of the mug we are having it from.
The 5pm is one of those flavours that really intrigued me as a black bottled brew — no milk added, but infused with dark rum and maple syrup. Whilst the base note of the coffee is still rather flat and lacks punchiness, I liked how the dark rum here presented a slight balance without being excessively heavy against the lightness of the black coffee; each sip also comes with a whiff of slight sweetness in its finish after the one tastes the body of the dark rum. It carries what it promises — “shifting one’s daytime energy and unwinding the senses to nocturnal possibilities”; a rather mysterious and dreamy concoction.
Berthold Delikatssen also does offer other intriguing flavours for their slow-brew coffee, including variations such as the Local Hero (slow brew coffee infused with Pandan-infused Coconut Milk, Pandan Syrup and Gula Melaka), and the Ready to Matcha (slow brew coffee blended with Matcha, Milk and Sugar). Their range of slow brew coffee, gourmet spreads and food can be ordered via the website of The Capitol Kempinski Hotel (delivery and self pick-up), and also available for takeaway through walk-ins as well.
