 Day 138: Waiting for my double-shot cappuccino |
It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, sometimes a good cup in the morning of fresh, rich coffee is all you want. It adds pep to your step, increases energy and helps to open eyes to the world around you. Or, at least it does this all to me.
Coffee is a spice of my life, and I was excited to get to see what Malaysia had to offer in this sphere of indulgence. On our first trip to the markets back in Penang, I got a taste of the coffee ice, which is a sweetened iced coffee. Luckily, Pat ordered our drinks less sweet than normal because any sweeter would have been too much for me to handle. I have learned the way of the Malaysians: Too sweet is the sweet that they want, so you have to think about that when ordering anything, including coffee ice.
On the other end of the spectrum of coffees has been the watery, unsweetened version. At places, like hotels for example, where there are pre-brewed pots of coffee, it has just been extremely watery with little coffee flavor whatsoever. At the Seremban hotel, there was even a cafe, but it didn’t quite seem like the person working there knew how to work the machine. Pat’s dad tried to order a double shot coffee, but since it wasn’t on the menu, the worker was just confused, asking repeatedly if he wanted one coffee or two. Hmm… the English in Seremban was not nearly as good as back in Penang.
Finally, we thought we found the answer to our problem when we saw a Starbucks at the Seremban 2 mall (more info on Seremban 2 in the future). Starbucks has global standards, right? Or so we thought.
In typical Malaysian fashion, it took 15 minutes to order and be served 3 cappuccinos, those of which tasted merely of hot milk once you got past the half-mug mark of foam. That is just not coffee.
We gave coffee another shot at The Majestic Hotel in Malacca on our arrival, and, although the cappuccino was still on the weak side, we saw there was potential. We ordered a double shot cappuccino before leaving the hotel for Kuala Lumpur and we hit the jackpot! Finally, a real-tasting coffee!
American girl left to travel the world in 2007. Studied languages, slept in a yurt, taught English, met Aussie guy and fell in love. Moved to Australia. Calls Sydney home. Wants a puppy. Still loves to travel. Read more 
I am lucky to say that I am not a person addicted to anything. with an exception. Coffee. I cannot live without it. I do remember living in China it was one of the things i missed the most. You know. this espresso coffee we have in Spain.
Thanks for sharing
Hi Adriana
I agree – the coffee addiction makes travel to places with bad coffee a bit of a problem.
I know what you mean, I can’t wait to get some Starbucks. Okay, not that Italian espresso isn’t fantastic (because it is). I’m just missing a bit of home now.
Sounds like you finally found what you were looking for, although I’ll say those iced coffees *look* tasty!
The iced coffees weren’t too bad because we asked for them with little sugar! It’s the key to getting anything close to normal here
I, too, am missing home! I can’t wait for the USA trip 
I love that last shot! That looks like the beginning of a good time.
Haha, a good time laced with caffeine and a huge sugar hit!
I actually didn’t mind Malaysian coffee – regular or iced. I also had some really nice iced tea in KL, too. Maybe it wasn’t particularly authentic (or maybe it was, I don’t know!) but I had tea or coffee a few times at one of those White House chains and quite enjoyed it.
We’re very spoiled with awesome coffee here in Australia, as I’m sure you’re well aware by now!
We didn’t try the White House Coffee chain, but maybe next time. I’m just not a fan of watery or sweet coffee (or tea), so I was not happy in Malaysia with that feature.
Coffee is such a big deal to me. I need it almost every morning and I’m afraid to head into Central America because they export all their good coffee. <3
Hehe, you’ll quickly acquire a taste for Nescafe, simply out of necessity
Don’t worry — everything else about the region makes up for the coffee downfall!
Hey that Starbucks sounds like the ones in Australia! Absolutely rubbish they are. Too hot and too much milk! Blah!