Three Little Birds Coffee Kuala Lumpur

I don't know how to start this. 

Alright - The coffee scene had grown tremendously in Malaysia, especially in the city centres of Kuala Lumpur. I believe I had this covered in one of my previous entry (click here) and it was this entry I marked the opening of the coffee shop to be highlighted here; Three Little Birds Coffee. The birds in question (sounds wrong) refer to the three 'musketeers' that spearheaded the Artisan Roast movement; Michael 'learned to roast', Amirah 'the capable wife', and Joey 'the valiant'. Please keep in mind I created these terms spontaneously - do not use them! Opened last Sunday (29th December) to the public, this place had a bold mission to eradicate the common perception on coffee by providing education of proper, good coffee. Not just latte art. Seriously.

d7 of Sentul East Design Centre, easily mistaken as a building in Japan.

Nestled in an angular building of d7, which artistically and strategically designed to flood natural sunlight upon the enveloped aviary. The foliage that sprawled around calms the environment, good for a chat, read and/or coffee, or tea. And so happened there is a coffee shop, and if you walked deeper along the stretch, you'll be welcomed with the sight of sacks of green beans, packaging of roasted beans and... the micro-roastery itself! It all comes like an art gallery of which the building functioned as one. I like the building and its neighbouring cousins, it really upmarket the old town along Jalan Sentul (which is pleasing to the eyes, but not to the hearts of the people who preferred otherwise). 

The entrance - please press a touch-strip on the left that slide open the glass to awesomeness. 

Ample amount of natural light - good to have coffee at the aviary.

Back in the days when Artisan Roast HQ just opened, I was told that there'll be a roasting machine on-site, marking an independence from the folks at RAW. Fast forward months later, the roaster is nowhere to be found and the staffs were tight-lipped about this. Then, this news came in about Artisan roastery to be opened at Sentul East Design Centre. And subsequently, the Malay Mail posted about it (click here). Blimey!

(left) Sacks of green beans and packages of roasted beans, (right) the Loring SmartRoast Merlin roaster.

I had an affection with Artisan Roast, regardless of location. I remember the first time I had a cup of latte that left a vivid memory back at TTDI branch. Then, it was at the PJ Section 13 branch where I first foray into the ever-wonderful world of filter coffee. From these experiences, I had an epiphany in pour-overs coffee and never looked back. Do bear in mind I been to other cafés in between. 

(left) The fat bird; responsible for delivering all the madness, (right) the big bird; another mad man of unique magnitude.

I ordered a ristretto forefront, much to the dislike of the baristas, May and Joey (and I'm sure Michael is against this too). This is in an attempt in further differentiating it from espresso (an entry about this will come, someday). As before (click here), the cup of Mandheling ristretto tasted mildly sweet and a notch higher in acidity without the bitter layer subduing it. The reason that the folks at AR are against producing a shot of ristretto is because their espresso beans are calibrated to be bold in acidity, therefore consumers will taste a good espresso without the need to resort to the ristretto. Realising this, I placed an order on a filter coffee. Knowing Joey, he wouldn't let you know which single-origins he poured for you. He just want you to enjoy that good cup without bias on the beans' region profiles. Three hours and three types of pour-overs later, all gave different tastes; salty, sweet and sour all with distinctive clean flavour.

 Filtered coffees are now served in these microservers, convenient?

Hojo non-processed air-dried green tea.

Some chats later at the bar, I found that Joey is mad ever-persistent to clean-taste perfection; single-origin coffee, single-origin tea and even single-origin chocolate! Thanks to a curious question on whether can the Valrhona chocolate baking pellets (for drinks) can be consumed directly, he handed me a bar of Valrhona Guanaja region (single-origin) dark chocolate. Apparently they do have Valrhona chocolate bars for sale at MYR6 each, Dulcey (white, 33%) and Guanaja (dark, 70%). What about the espresso-based milk coffee? Sorry to say I did not order any but rest assure AR's cups are prominent in the industry. 

(left) Interesting coordination and the glossy epoxy-floor! (right) Kees van der Westen Mirage espresso machine.

This place can be easily accessed from many routes. Just head to Jalan Sentul and find for outstanding buildings and you're there. I'll come back for sure, for the Kalita Wave pour-over! Oh, they do source for local-made patisserie - Little Tee Cakes and Tommy le Baker concoctions are here. No meals, this is strictly a coffee shop with an awesome micro-roaster.

Did these attracted the birds?

Please, have a seat.

Three Little Birds Coffee

Currently opens from 10am to 6pm (Sun-Thurs) and 10am to 10pm (Fri-Sat).

G-18, D7,

Jalan Sentul,

51000 Kuala Lumpur.

Email: bigbird@threelittlebirdscoffee.com.my