Gold Kili Traditional Kopi-O Coffee Review

Today I decided to man up and try a straight up black coffee aka the dreaded Kopi-O. 

Gold Kili Traditional Kopi-O Coffee

It's not even a soluble powder! Old skool lah!

Tell me that ain't road tar

While waiting for the brew to steep... I was curious about the instructions and whether it'd be the same as typical soluble instant coffees. Andddd.... well it's kinda the same. Amount of water is similar but they don't state what temperature should be used.

Also the instructions are very universal. Pictures only!

Taste Review

Aroma - 7/10

It's got a good decent strength coffee aroma that is the signature, unmistakable, pure unadulterated smell of a good kopi (aka local coffee if you only speak white people's language). Medicinal & turpeny. This brew is obviously very different from other instant blends that contain milk.

Taste - 8/10

Sweet at first followed by a medium acidity and bitterness which lingers. I was kinda surprised by the sweetness then I realised this is a 2-in-1. Surprise surprise! There was sugar in the pouch. That sweetness really helped ease me in before the other flavors hit. The combination of bitter and sour notes after the sweet is quite characteristic of some local brews. This mimics that well. 

Cost - 10/10

I got mine at $2.55 for 20 sachets. That's $0.1275 per sachet which is 10x cheaper than heading down to the kopitiam! If your kopitiam serves shitty kopi, then this is for you! And yeah I have tasted some really really shitty coffee in kopitiams. Not all are good you know.

Tasting Notes

This stuff usually smells like liquid tar, tastes like liquid tar and I always suspected it to be liquid tar. It's a drink for masochists or old people whose taste buds are long dead. But I gotta say, this Gold Kili's blend is pretty ok. I could drink this.

TLDR version
A gentle introduction to the world of kopi-o, land of the brave and masochistic.

Super 3-in-1 Low Fat Instant Coffee Review

Another ubiquitous pantry favorite, cos you know, it's cheap ass. It's Super coffee mix!

Super 3-in-1 Low Fat Instant Coffee

Nothing special to see here except the packet is a fugly yellow

Nice colour there

Taste Review

Aroma - 7/10

A pretty neat aroma. It actually smells distinctly different from the Nescafe instant coffee. It's got a slightly richer bolder aroma with just the right hint of caramel sweetness.

Taste - 6/10

A mellow sweetness followed by a milky smooth finish. No bitterness at all. Oh wait. The aftertaste does have a little teeny bit of bitterness, like its trying to tell you it does contain some coffee in it. 

Cost - 10/10

At an offer price of $8.95 for 2 packs of 40 sticks each, this comes to $0.112 per stick. This is really cheap.

Tasting Notes

This actually reminds me of Taiwanese coffee. Very mellow. Quite nice if you like a smooth coffee with just a little bit of Singapore kopi flavor.

TLDR version
Very smooth but not much coffee kick.

Nescafe Original Instant Coffee Review

The ubiquitous Nescafe original! Found in office pantries island wide and bane to office workers who don't BYO instant coffee or whoever ran out of coffee. Cos this thing is mofo cheapass.

I am, of course, also a cheapass and I swiped one from an office pantry. 

*cough* Not my office pantry but an office pantry. 

Nescafe Original Instant Coffee

Looks like milo

Brews like milo too

Taste Review

Aroma - 6/10

It's got a pretty standard local kopi coffee aroma. A sweet caramel aroma that says I'm coffee made with a condensed milk base! So yeah it's got a kopitiam kopi smell which is pretty nice except it's not strong enough imho.

Taste - 5/10

The first taste you get is sugary sweetness, then a mild nutty coffee flavor before ending with a very very faint bitterness which then abruptly disappears which is... a bit unsatisfying. It's got a clean taste but it is also sorely lacking in character. The coffee taste just doesn't stay with you and it's really an instant hit. 

Cost - 9/10

$5.75 for 35 sticks when there are no promotions. That's $0.164 per stick. It's surprisingly more expensive than Indocafe but will probably be much cheaper when there's some promotional offer though seriously... who buys this?! Just grab a few from your office pantry! Haha

Tasting Notes

Mild in strength, flavor and aroma, this coffee feels like it's trying not to piss off anyone and would be, I guess, a good place to indoctrinate any non-coffee drinker. Seasoned coffee drinkers would scoff at this.

TLDR version
Wussy coffee for people who have never ever drunk local kopi and needs hand holding for their first drink. 

Melinda's Gluten-Free Goodies Lemon Mug Pudding Review

I've never really tried making a mug cake / pudding in the microwave before so I picked this up from the discount cart in Cold Storage for a steal at ~$1.70. 

It had an expiry of 25 Jan 2017 so its still not expired yet! Cheapskate ftw! lol

Melinda's Gluten-Free Goodies Lemon Mug Pudding

Reduced to clear! Favorite words of mine

Instructions... right. I can do this. 

Mug. Check. The ever reliable Brother

I think this is ~20g... I just kinda loped off a chuck and tossed it in.

Nuked it in the microwave to melt the butter and in goes the mix.

Oops forgot to add milk. Just tipped in some milk. I guess it's about 30ml. lol. Stir to mix.

End result after nuking

Taste Review

Taste - 6/10

As you can see mine turned out all fugly. Maybe that's why they recommend putting a scoop of ice cream on top... Colour is a nice alluring yellow though. I'm not a very good baker too so mine turned out smelling quite buttery and milky. Probably cos I added too much milk and butter lol. The lemon scent is light so that's actually a little disappointing. It was very sweet. Not surprising as its top ingredient is sugar. Gluten-free health food be damned if its chock full of sugar!

Texture - 4/10

It's very sticky, sweet and a bit lumpy. I bit into quite a few sugar clusters which makes it even more cloy. I'm not sure if this was cos I messed up the steps or if the product is just like that. 

Cost - 5/10

I got it at a steal of $1.70 cos it was reduced to clear. It's usual price is $4++ for 4 puddings. I probably wouldn't have bought it then.

Tasting Notes

It's quite fun and easy to make. I think it'd be great for kids plus which kid doesn't like a sugar bomb. I had to start and stop my nuking cause the mixture will overflow if it's a conical mug. This won't happen with bowl shaped mugs. So... extra fun!
Here's a video of the nuking process.

TLDR version
Fun activity for kids or the kid in you. I won't eat this often. Too sweet. 

Killiney 3-in-1 Premium White Coffee Review

You know how Pokemon has different versions. Killiney's White Coffee also comes in two forms. This review will be shorter and more succinct as its essentially the same as the Killiney 2-in-1 Premium White Coffee but with sugar. Previous review here. 

Killiney 3-in-1 Premium White Coffee

Unappetizing orange package lol

The coffee does have a nicer dark brown colour

Taste Review

Aroma - 10/10

Excellent aroma just like its sugarless cousin.

Taste - 7/10

The taste is much sweeter (Duh) and interestingly, its bitterness is more pronounced. The sweetness also does not sit quite well in the coffee. The sweetness kinda clashes with the rest of the flavors swirling in the brew. And this time round, there is that signature nauseating aftertaste which I have experienced before. It's an unmistakable sweet bitterness that sticks to the back of my throat. Urgh.

Cost - 4/10

It's the same as its sugarless cousin too. A box costs about $7.90 for 15 sachets. That's about $0.527 per sachet. Not a cheap brew.

Tasting Notes

It maybe personal preference but I very much prefer the sugarless version. The sugar in this coffee really doesn't sit well with the rest of the brew.

TLDR version
This is like the evil sugared twin of the Killiney 2-in-1 Premium White Coffee. I did not like it. 

Farmland Snow White Corn Review

Another quick fix meal that can also double up as an ingredient! As Alton Brown says, no unitaskers! Heh. I love Alton Brown. :D

*If you're a home cook with even a tinge of science geekiness to you and haven't discovered Alton Brown, go check out his Goodeats series neowwwww!

Farmland Snow White Corn

Atas packaging that promises a sweet sweet deal

If you don't like butter with your corn, you ain't human

Hmmmm not as white as I'd expect...

Taste Review

Taste - 7/10

Tbh I actually expected more out of Farmland's corn. The packaging just shouts SWEET goodness! But in the end the sweetness rating I'd say is about a 7/10. It's not as sweet as another brand of frozen corn which I've had and which has slipped my mind now. A bit disappointing actually. The corn isn't actually bad, it just didn't live up to my hyped up expectations. 

Texture - 7/10
Decent corn texture cos well, it's corn! Corny a not? hur hur hur. Some corns kinda pop in the mouth while most are kinda ok. Good, just not wow.

Cost - 6/10

I got it on offer at NTUC at... I think $2.85 for 400g. Pretty decent price. It can't beat the NTUC housebrand of course but that one... you don't even a smidgen of sweetness. You can find the Fairprice Corn Kernels review here. 

Tasting Notes

Nothing much to add to the above. It's got good taste, texture and sweetness. Its decent, just not super. Like all things white, it promises a lot but delivers ok. (Geddit?! Hur hur hur)
Very handy to have in the kitchen since you can add it to all sorts of dishes like pastas, salads and corn fritters. But if you're looking to make a bowl of steamed corn with butter (Heaven!)... You've to look elsewhere.

TLDR version
Decent corn to keep in your freezer to accompany dishes but not as a main star on its own.

PSA! How to... Made Instant Coffee for Dummies

Public Service Announcement!

How to Make Instant Coffee for Dummies

Did you know you can read instructions?

Did you know most instant coffees have instructions on how to best make that perfect cuppa?

There're usually instructions printed on each stick or sachet and the golden ratio is usually 150ml of water at 80deg Celsius.

Ok End of PSA!