🏝️ chapter eight : summer 2026 - start of something new

this summer, we’re leaning into bright colours, bright flavours and drinks that feel light, expressive and refreshing in the heat. this is a menu shaped by contrast, where fruit, florals and coffee meet in new ways. we’re also bringing back a crowd favourite from last spring, because some drinks just don’t feel finished yet.

🏝️ summer 2026 : this season’s coffee

for this season, we spent time looking for coffees that could sit comfortably across the entire menu while still having its own character.

🇧🇷🇨🇴⁠ ⁠big short blend (brazil x columbia)

dark grape jam : muscovado : milk chocolate we decided to keep the same ol’ big short blend 3.0 since it still felt right for the kind of drinks we were making. it brings together fazenda rio verde from brazil and el indio from colombia in our usual 50/50 split. 

the brazil component gives a fuller body with a smooth chocolatey base, while the colombia introduces a gentle fruit lift with a deeper jammy sweetness running through the finish. nutty and comforting on one side, bright and expressive on the other.

we’ve also continued with natural processing for this blend, where the beans are dried inside the fruit before processing. this allows the blend to carry a softer lingering sweetness and fuller texture, whether you drink it black or paired with milk.

fazenda rio verde, brazil

planadas, columbia

🇧🇷🇨🇴⁠ ⁠castanhas brazil

toasted nut butter : milk chocolate : cacao nibs : black tea

from minas gerais, this bean is grown in the higher regions of brazil, where slower growth helps develop more sweetness and structure.

it opens with a toasted nut butter richness, followed by layers of milk chocolate and cacao nibs that give it a smooth, rounded sweetness. underneath, there’s a subtle black tea note that keeps the profile lifted and prevents it from becoming too heavy.

also naturally processed and dried inside the fruit, this coffee develops a deeper, syrupy body with a soft fruity sweetness. it is the balance that makes this bean work so well across milk and espresso-based drinks.

minas gerais, brazil

🇷🇼⁠ ⁠inzovu rwanda

hawthorn : lotus paste : red currant

inzovu rwanda is a washed coffee from western rwanda, produced by rwanda trading company at the inzovu washing station near lake kivu. inzovu, meaning “elephant” in kinyarwanda, reflects the strength and consistency of coffees selected from smallholder farms in the surrounding region.

grown at high elevations on rwanda’s volcanic soils, the slower maturation of the cherries allows for greater clarity and sweetness to develop in the cup.

this lot is built on red bourbon, the country’s most prominent coffee variety, and is processed using the classic washed method. cherries are carefully sorted, pulped, fermented, washed and dried slowly on raised beds, resulting in a clean and structured profile.

in the cup, it opens with a distinct hawthorn-like aroma, followed by bright red currant acidity and a soft sweetness reminiscent of lotus paste. it is clean, vibrant and finely balanced.

lake kivu region, western rwanda

👑 king of chendol

first in our line up, king of chendol. it began as our national day special last year but somehow grew into something that took on a life of its own. we kept getting asked when it was coming back, so we decided to bring it back this time for the entire season.

inspired by the iconic southeast asian dessert, this drink is our tribute to the nostalgic flavours many of us grew up around in singapore.

chendol is traditionally made with pandan jelly noodles, coconut milk and gula melaka, usually served ice cold. we loved how playful and textural the dessert already felt on its own, and wanted to reinterpret that experience through specialty coffee.

the base uses our inzovu rwanda cold brew, bringing notes of hawthorn, lotus paste and red currant. this is layered with a mango pandan infusion made by sous vide-ing fresh pandan leaves, lemon and mango for two hours, creating a tropical sweetness that feels bright and aromatic without becoming overwhelming.

on top sits a black thorn durian french cream. rich, creamy and surprisingly approachable. we test-ran it in our kitchen, and even some of the strongest durian sceptics around us somehow ended up going back for a second sip.

to finish, the drink is topped with handmade pandan chendol noodles made from scratch using fresh pandan, tapioca starch and mung bean flour, before being lightly dusted with pandan powder.

we actually recommend not stirring this drink. try the durian cream first, then use the straw to reach the chendol noodles. each layer reveals itself slowly as you drink it. you have to try this before it goes away for the second time!

🐉 mole dragon

mole dragon actually started with a flavour combination we’ve always loved, chocolate and banana. we had been exploring ways to elevate those flavours into a clarified drink when an unexpected source of inspiration appeared.

while watching culinary wars on netflix awhile back, we came across a challenge featuring mexican mole, a traditional sauce built from dried chillies, spices, nuts, chocolate and aromatics. the more we learned about mole and its incredible complexity, the more we became fascinated by how all these seemingly different ingredients could come together in balance.

naturally, we started wondering how we could turn that same idea into a clarified coffee drink.

this starts with our big short blend espresso, combined with freshly steeped earl grey tea, ripe banana blended with chocolate milk, smoked chipotle chilli and spiced cinnamon syrup. the mixture is then clarified using a milk wash technique, where milk proteins bind to tannins and fine particles before being strained overnight. the result is a crystal clear drink that carries all the flavour, but none of the heaviness.

rather than letting the chocolate live only within the drink itself, we decided to express it in two forms. in the cup, it appears warm, smooth and gently spiced. on the side, dragon puffs arrive frozen with liquid nitrogen, transforming chocolate into something light, airy and almost explosive.

we recommend biting into the dragon puffs and breathing out through your nose for a cold smoke "dragon breath" effect. it mirrors the smoky spice running through the drink and makes the whole experience a little more playful! 

🐰 white rabbit

white rabbit is inspired by a flavour many of us grew up with. growing up, white rabbit candy was always around, whether at home or tucked into a bag on the way to school. for us, it brought back memories of condensed milk spread on bread before heading out to school in the morning. 

that memory became the starting point for this drink. drawing from those familiar flavours, we wanted to explore the creamy, milky notes we associated with it and build something that felt a little more grown up, with layers of tea, coffee and black sesame.

our version is built on our big short blend espresso, steeped with aged liu bao tea and wildflower honey in soy milk. liu bao is an aged post-fermented dark tea from guangxi, china, known for its smooth, woody character and natural sweetness that develops over time. paired with the coffee, it adds an earthy backbone that balances the sweeter elements of the drink.

at the base sits a soft black sesame soy panna cotta, bringing a deep nutty richness and gentle texture. on top, our white rabbit cream floats over everything, light yet still indulgent. it’s then finished with a dusting of ground black sesame for aroma and some contrast.

use a big straw to go for the panna cotta at the bottom first. then drink it as it is, without stirring, and let the layers unfold on their own. enjoy! 

🫐 blueberry “umeshu”

fourth in our line up, blueberry “umeshu” traces back to a trip to taiwan. while visiting jiufen, a friend insisted that we make a detour to a tiny shop known for its plum wine. naturally, we had to see what the fuss was about. what stood out wasn't just how good it was, but how different it felt from the commercial umeshu we were used to. it wasn't overly sweet. instead, it was smooth, fruity and very clean.

the memory stayed with us long after the trip and became the inspiration behind this drink.

rather than recreating umeshu itself, we wanted to capture the feeling of drinking it. something bright, jammy and fruit-forward, with a sense of balance and complexity to keep you coming back for another sip.

the drink is built on our inzovu rwanda cold brew, shaken with blueberries macerated in a cherry blossom sake lees base. the sake lees are dissolved into our cherry blossom and red shiso tea, creating a wine-like brightness and gentle fermented character.

finished with a dried sakura flower, this might be one of the most deceptive drinks on the menu. it drinks like a cocktail, with layers of fruit and soft fermented notes, but it's entirely non-alcoholic. don’t let its name fool you!

🪷 lily pad

with summer approaching, we knew we wanted to create something refreshing. during a recent trip to china, we spent a lot of time exploring different teas and kept finding ourselves drawn back to mi lan xiang oolong. its name translates to “honey orchid fragrance”, and we remember how naturally expressive it felt, carrying floral, fruity and honey-like notes all on its own.

to build on that, we paired the tea with lychee and fresh lemon juice, creating something bright and refreshing while still letting the oolong stay at the centre.

sitting at the bottom is a bright blue butterfly pea and chrysanthemum jelly, adding a soft texture and a gentle floral finish as it slowly breaks apart while drinking. to finish, the drink is garnished with fresh lily bulb pieces, an ingredient commonly used in chinese cuisine that brings a mild sweetness and delicate crunch.

visually, the drink almost looks like something out of a chinese painting. soft blush pink from the lychee and oolong sitting above a bright blue butterfly pea jelly, finished with delicate white lily bulb pieces floating on top like flower petals. elegant, dreamy and almost too pretty to drink.

we’d recommend gently stirring the drink first to break up the jelly before drinking!

🍊 mont blanc 8.0

what got big short coffee started slowly turned into one of our most requested drinks to never leave the menu. and lately, it feels like more and more people are discovering mont blanc for the first time with us!

this is now the eighth iteration of mont blanc, a drink we’ve continued refining season after season because neither we nor our regulars seem ready to let it go.

this version uses our castanhas brazil cold brew, bringing notes of toasted nut butter, milk chocolate, cacao nibs and black tea. it’s topped with a silky french vanilla cream layered with fresh orange and subtle nutmeg undertones, giving the drink a richness that still feels light and aromatic.

to finish, we use a rotovap, short for rotary evaporator, to distil a mace hydrosol that is sprayed over the drink just before serving. the aroma hits first before the coffee even reaches your palate, adding warm spice and fragrance that ties the entire drink together.

it’s then garnished with a dehydrated orange slice and a light dusting of nutmeg. the orange helps brighten the deeper nutty and creamy notes in the drink, and yes, feel free to bite into it, we highly recommend it!

🍚 pulut hitam amazake

last but not least, we end the summer menu with pulut hitam amazake. growing up, tau suan was always our go-to hot dessert. but somewhere along the way, we discovered pulut hitam and never really looked back.

whenever there was a pot simmering on the stove at home, there was always one request: extra coconut milk. it was never the fanciest dessert on the table, but it always disappeared surprisingly quickly.

traditionally, pulut hitam is a dessert made from black glutinous rice and palm sugar, finished with coconut milk and enjoyed across southeast asia. it is usually served warm, making it an unlikely source of inspiration for a summer drink.

that was exactly what intrigued us. we loved the idea of taking something so deeply rooted in everyday southeast asian food culture and giving it a completely different expression for the warmer months, while still keeping its soul intact.

at the same time, our r&d team had been exploring how fermentation could reshape sweetness in a different way. pulut hitam typically carries an iconic rich sweetness, but we became curious about creating that same sense of depth through fermentation rather than simply adding more sugar.

so we made our own amazake.

amazake is a traditional japanese sweet drink made by fermenting rice with koji, where enzymes slowly break down starches into natural sugars. the process creates a sweetness that feels softer and more rounded, alongside deep umami notes that almost resemble milk or cream despite being entirely rice-based.

in our r&d lab, black glutinous rice is fermented overnight with japanese koji at 55°c to create our own pulut hitam amazake. the fermentation draws out a natural earthy sweetness while preserving the nutty depth of the rice itself.

we combine this with our big short blend espresso, bringing notes of dark grape jam, muscovado and milk chocolate into a churned crema base alongside fresh milk and gula melaka. the result lands somewhere between dessert and coffee. rich yet refreshing, nostalgic yet new at the same time.

finished with a quenelle of black glutinous rice for added texture and a drizzle of coconut cream, it feels like a frozen interpretation of pulut hitam, reimagined through specialty coffee and the science of fermentation.

start by scooping up the granita with the rice, and feel free to ask for a straw as it melts so you can switch to slurping it like a slushie as everything comes together!

🏗️ something big is otw

we hope you enjoy our summer menu. each drink is a small expression of the ideas we’ve been playing with in the background, brought together through flavour, memory and a bit of curiosity along the way.

this season is also part of a larger chapter we’ve been working on quietly, and we’re excited to finally start sharing it in different forms. follow us on socials to stay close 💙