Well, someone commented that matching up the Starbucks Christmas blend against 5 Senses blend is like trying to get the Malaysian football team to play against Brazil or something.Well, a shootout is a shoot-out.

Well, in the end, that may be true. It’s 5 Senses by a 4-0 score (and out of 4 tasters too).

Aroma

Pop open the 5 Senses bag and you get immediately hit with that aromatic caffeinated goodness that coffee is all about. The Christmas blend from Starbucks, well, it has that coffee aroma but it doesn’t hit you in the face so much. Pour the beans into the grinder and it doesn’t offer up much aroma either. Grind up a couple of shots worth of 5 Senses and your kitchen is guaranteed to smell like a coffee shop. 5 Senses 1, Starbucks 0.

Freshness

I can’t say when the Christmas blend was roasted but I managed to pull quite a number of shots with crema on it. This contrasts with many of the other Starbucks coffees where pulling a shot with any volume of crema is close to hitting the lottery or something. It’s fresher than their other coffees but against the 5 Senses is like night and day. A friend whom I’ve given the coffee in ziplock bags labelled A and B commented — pull one shot and you already know which one is fresh and they other not. Again, the score is not pretty. 5 Senses 1, Starbucks 0.

Taste

Guess which coffee tasted over-roasted and a bit burnt? Don’t need to say more do I? All four tasters including myself came to the same conclusion. The Starbucks Christmas blend tastes like burnt Christmas pudding or something. Bitter, burnt flavor was prevalent, hiding the generally spicy flavors that the beans had. After a couple of shots, I had to resort to adding syrup to my coffee which doesn’t bode well. On the other hand, four out of four agreed that the medium bodied 5 senses really had that nutty, fruity smoothness that comes from careful blending and roasting of select beans. Again, it’s a 1-0 score.

Finally, let’s talk economics. a 1kg bag of 5 senses will set you back about RM190.  They’re only a week old from roasting though and compared to the Christmas blend which retails for about RM40 for 250gm bag (or RM160 per kg), the numbers don’t stack up well. For only a few more ringgit (18% to be exact), you get coffee that’s guaranteed fresher, more aromatic and full of flavor. If you’re counting espresso shots, it’s RM2.67 per double-shot for the 5 Senses and RM2.25 for the Starbucks Christmas blend. Knockout!

I know that 5 senses is my Christmas coffee this year and years to come. So much so that I’m getting my bag of Yirgacheffe single origin the week before Christmas. If you don’t agree with me, swing by my place and let me pull you two shots and you’ll taste the world of a difference.

If you’re coming in to our Studio for your photography sessions, I’ve got 5 senses for ya!

Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday ever since I was in the US. Minus the black Friday sales, all the commercialization of most festivals in the US, the Christmas shopping season begins and all that.

To me, I love Thanksgiving because it’s a time to appreciate what we have. Most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. That is also one thing I’m always grateful for. I remember my first Thanksgiving as a student in the US having my own cooked steak and mash potatoes by myself as all the Americans had gone home to be with their families.

This year, I’m thankful for the families (my own and my extended) I have – I won’t trade these people for anything. I’m thankful for all that I have, both material and immaterial blessings. I’m also grateful and thankful for the friends I have.

Most of all, I’m grateful to my amazing, one like no one wife for giving me the chance to take risks, to really pursue what I really love and believe in. I’m thankful for each day I have to spend with her and now with little Jayden who’s growing up fast. When I wake up in the morning and as the sun streams through the windows, I am truly blessed to have them as part of my life.

Of course, at the end of all, I give thanks to God, my heavenly father and savior from whom all things come from.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

In one corner, we have 5 senses blend from Australia, roasting date was 7 November and in another corner, we have the popular Starbucks Christmas blend. Unfortunately, Starbucks doesn’t list their roast date so I wouldn’t know. However, since the Christmas blend is usually produced during the year-end period, it’s at least in late October or early November.

Well, our freshness test will tell soon enough. I’ve beans distributed to a couple of friends with espresso machines and who’ve come to know what good coffee tastes like. Results are trickling in and I should be able to have the results tallied by end of this week.

The judging criteria: freshness, aroma and taste. Of course I expect taste to be subjective but at least your home should smell lovely after grinding and pulling a shot or two and you should have some lovely creme on top your pulled shot. My score is done but I’m not telling/sharing until I get the other results in.

Tallying the results now so stay tuned for which Coffee is going to be served at my place during Christmas!

The weather the past week has been horrible and forced me to reschedule a couple of activities, including some photo-shoots…

Oh well, when life rains, take out your camera!

Disclaimer: Be careful when using your camera and driving and preferably have two hands on the wheel and the camera on a tripod in the car!