McCafe: The Caffeine Challenge!

Are you a caffeine addict?

Let me first admit that I never used to like coffee so much, but what with all the hipster new coffee joints popping all over, I've given coffee another chance and concluded that as I've aged, I've actually grown to enjoy coffee a whole lot more (with sugar please!!).

It's not just the taste of coffee, but simply the act of sitting down with a hot steaming cuppa, inhaling the fragrant aroma of the roasted beans and its visually appealing appearance (latte art!), and of course, that sense of well-being and perk-me-up a good cup of coffee provides. Ahhhhhhhhh.

I remember the first time I went to McCafe for a small food/coffee tasting and being pleasantly surprised with the quality of their coffee and beverages, so it was no surprise to me that during a blind coffee tasting that McCafe conducted a couple weekends ago, over 90% of people actually preferred McCafe coffee over their regular brew!!


Many of us turn to McDonalds only for the fast food, but really, with the convenience of over 50 McCafe outlets established island wide, McCafe is an ideal choice for affordable and great coffee no matter where you are!

The kind folks at McCafe invited me down to their special event: The Caffeine Challenge, two weekends ago, for an exclusive latte art session with fans and readers!

The logo you should be familiar with!

I really liked the little pop-up cafe created for The Caffeine Challenge, it was really innovative and fun-looking!

Here's the crew of young and enthusiastic baristas all hard at work!


Did you know that each and every barista at McCafe has to go through 100 hours of coffee making and training before they can "graduate" to become a full-fledged barista? I didn't know that too, but now I do.

Our agenda for the day: To learn more about coffee and how to make creative latte art with guidance from McCafe's wonderful talents!

Sleepy-eyed me, still jet-lagged after Spain but first, a coffee to wake up the senses!!

Some of my friends and readers who arrived so punctually! Say hello to Anirban, Joelle, and Li Yao!

Our session started with a little presentation by McCafe's barista/trainer, Hilmi, who went through the history of coffee, and how to make a good cup of coffee.

Technical mambo jumbo.. Coffee making is indeed an art!

Then it was on to the fun part: Demonstrations on how to make creative latte art! :D

Here's a starfish in the making!

And we were also shown various techniques for pouring, to create the signature heart shapes, tulip shapes, and even swan shapes that you see commonly on coffee art.

My chirpy and enthusiastic barista/guide made me a special cuppa!!

Here's a closer look at it.. It's a girl face to represent me, lol! So cute :D

Demonstrating how to create a bear with latte art...

We explored various methods and ways to create latte art, from using pouring (this is by far the most difficult for amateurs) to drawing with chocolate sauce and even shaping 3D latte art out of milk foam. It was so much fun to see how latte art came to life in so many different forms and shapes!

Guiding one of the readers on how to pour in the shape of a tulip. (Super challenging!)

We mostly had a lot of fun playing with chocolate sauce, one of the easiest ways to create latte art. Hahahaha! I gotta say, I was really impressed with how creative the baristas were! It's not easy to visualise something and create it in coffee art form, because this medium is so unique and hard to control. Kudos to all of you McCafe baristas!

I really wanted to try my hand at 3D latte art, so here's another barista in the midst of demonstrating a 3D kitty cat for me...

Had a ton of fun today learning about coffee and latte art at McCafe's The Caffeine Challenge private session hehe! How's my 3D kitty latte art? 🐱🐟 I think I'm getting pretty good at it! 👌 Thanks for having me, McCafe! ☕️ It was great to meet you followers who came down too! 🙆💗 PS. With 52 outlets across our island, you know where to head to for your next coffee fix! ☺️ #McCafeSG #creativebreak #nuffnangsg

A video posted by Yina Goh (@yinagoh) on Nov 11, 2014 at 1:11am PST

MY VERSION!! So proud of it cos I think I did a rather decent job, no? :D

Thanks for the awesome afternoon, McCafe! It was tons of fun!

Here's my lovely team of friends and readers. Hope y'all enjoyed yourselves as much as I did during our session at The Caffeine Challenge!

With two sweet readers! :)

And with sweetheart Rozz!

Thanks for having me at The Caffeine Challenge!! Folks, the next time you're looking for a coffee, look no further! Go give McCafe a try, you might find yourself a new convert ;)

The McCafé brand was brought to Singapore by McDonald’s in 2003 to make espresso coffee accessible to coffee-lovers islandwide. Over the years, McCafé has established a comfortable and laidback approach to coffee, delivering quality in every cup at a great value price, with fast service in a friendly, welcoming environment. 

To date, there are over 50 McCafé outlets conveniently located islandwide, and each offers a wide range of quality coffee and a tempting selection of sweet and savoury snacks. 

The full list of McCafé outlets can be found here: www.mcdonalds.com.sg/McCafe

xoxo

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toffee nut madness!

i've been really lazy with OTDs lately,

but i think i'll try to be abit more diligent!

dress from By-Rovski, a piece that i dug out from my closet because it hasnt seen the sunlight for quite some time now :S
a good piece for accessorising with layered necklaces!

spent my evening at a food tasting session at McDonald's at Aloccasia Apartments,
we're not required to blog about it, but i thought i'd share anyway because it was an interesting session!

i've actually never ordered anything from McCafe before,
so it was a first for me today D:


i didnt even know that McCafe had sandwiches on the menu,
and they're actually really yummy!


don't they look delicious?
i especially like the Chunky Chicken and Pesto Chicken sandwiches ;D
and it's definitely a healthier alternative if you dont feel like macs fast food :P

the food tasting session was actually held for us to sample McCafe's new promotional beverages for Christmas,
and here's the first one,


it's called Toffee Nut Latte, and it's coffee flavoured with toffee nut syrup and frothy steamed milk and yummy caramel sauced drizzled over,
even for a non-coffee lover like me, i really liked the taste of it!

one of the managers conducint ghe session, who was explaining to us how a good coffee should look like.

apparently, the milk froth should settle back over the coffee even if it's been disturbed,
and i never knew there was so much to making a good coffee!

and this is Toffee Nut Frappe, which is ice blended coffee with milk and whipped cream,
topped with crunchy crushed cone bits! definitely comparable to any from Starbucks or Coffee Bean, i was really impressed because i never knew McCafe had such good stuff!

was totally enjoying the crunchy cone bits :D

the third of the trio: Iced Toffee Nut Latte, just as good as the other two!
though my personal favourite is now the ice blended frappe!

decadent goodness topped with whipped cream!

the magic toffee nut syrup used in all three concoctions,
then we had a little demonstration on how the latte is prepared, it's really not as easy as it looks because we all got to try our hand at it, and we were pretty sucky! hahaha


coffee art! such funnn :D but this was the professionally done demonstration by the barista, our own versions were much uglier :(

what we started out with, a shot of coffee and we had to skillfully pour in the steamed milk and spoon the milk froth on before decorating with caramel sauce!




here's our masterpieces :D

and mine! teehee.


group picture of us with our creations!

we were presented with a little token of appreciation each too at the end,
with a little expresso cup and macdonalds vouchers to redeem complimentary items! (woohoo! love. but so bad for my diet)

my little prize for being one of the two "winners" of the coffee preparing competition. hehh. it was a miniature porcelain frappe cup! very cutee. didnt take any pictures of it though.

ended the night with chitchat over cinnamon meltz and more McCafe beverages :)
it was a fun session! thanks to McDonalds and Nuffnang! :)

the promotional menu hasnt been launched yet though,
it will be launched next month if i'm not mistaken! and there are also 4 new desserts on McDonald's menu that i've yet to try!
McCafe Singapore has a twitter account so you can follow them for updates and promotions here :D

HAHA one of the McCafe staff posted up a tweetpic of the event on twitter!
why i look so buay song.

explaining to us how the frothed milk should be poured onto the coffee.

alrightss. i'm really sibei boliao :( 4am liao!
gonna get back to freelance. love my efficiency.

and gonna go do my hair with SK tomorrow! woo. hope it doesnt turn out like shit.
followed by a photoshoot for TVD, gonna be shooting some of the new manufactured items, can't wait :) so many things to do, so little time!