Geowin’s search for the world’s best kopi continues with coffee number 12: an iced latte from Twenty Grammes Café in Singapore.

This stop brought her to a café known for coffee, waffles and desserts, but the mission remained focused on one thing only. Geowin ordered a takeaway iced latte, tested it exactly as served and then returned for a second tasting after bringing out her mysterious bottle.

The final result was an improvement, although not a dramatic one. Twenty Grammes began with a disappointing four out of ten before climbing to 5.5 out of ten, placing it in the B-tier.

Coffee Number 12 at Twenty Grammes

Standing outside the café, Geowin introduced the next stop in the series.

“Today we are at Twenty Grammes. Let’s see how they perform.”

She headed inside and ordered one iced latte for takeaway. The drink cost S$6.50, putting it in the middle of the price range encountered during the challenge so far. It was more expensive than many traditional kopi options, but still noticeably cheaper than the S$8.70 iced latte from Symmetry in the previous episode.

Once the coffee was handed over, Geowin returned to one of the series’ familiar declarations:

“We got the goods!”

The iced latte looked creamy and generously sized, but appearance alone would not determine its position on the tier list. Geowin moved outside the café and prepared for the first taste test.

The First Sip Was Disappointingly Bland

Geowin stirred the iced latte and took her first sip.

Her reaction was restrained almost immediately. There was no excitement and very little indication that the coffee had made a positive impression. She did not appear disgusted, but her body language suggested disappointment.

“Honestly, it’s quite bland,” she said.

That became the central problem with the untouched Twenty Grammes iced latte. It was drinkable, but the flavour did not come through strongly enough. The milk and coffee created a smooth drink, yet there was little character behind it.

Geowin gave it an initial score of four out of ten.

That score placed it below average and left it in danger of falling into the C-tier. Unlike a five-out-of-ten coffee, which Geowin generally considers acceptable but ordinary, a four suggests that something is missing.

“Can be better,” she added.

Fortunately for Twenty Grammes, the tasting was only halfway complete.

Follow the Search Beyond One Cup

Coffee number 12 is only one stop in a much larger journey across Singapore. Readers can explore more coffee, tea and cocktail stories through The Drink Journal, learn more about the publication through the About The Drink Journal page, and discover the wider beverage work behind Destination Beverage.

Time to Do It Geowin’s Way

With the original iced latte scored, Geowin moved on to the second tasting.

“Now time to do it my way!”

She added the mysterious liquid, stirred the iced latte again and took another sip. The result was better, although the transformation was less dramatic than the one seen at Symmetry.

This time, the drink had a little more flavour. Geowin also found it slightly sweeter, which helped lift the coffee beyond its original blandness.

“A little bit more flavour,” she said.

The addition did not completely reinvent the iced latte. It remained a fairly mild drink and still did not deliver the kind of impact needed for an A-tier position. However, it became noticeably more enjoyable than the untouched version.

Geowin considered giving it either a five or a six before settling directly between the two scores.

“That’s a 5.5 out of 10 for Twenty Grammes.”

Twenty Grammes Lands in the B-Tier

A final score of 5.5 placed Twenty Grammes in the B-tier.

That result reflected a coffee that was improved by the mysterious liquid but remained limited by its weak starting point. The original four-out-of-ten iced latte lacked enough flavour to make a strong impression. After the addition, it became sweeter and more expressive, but only by a modest amount.

Its B-tier placement puts Twenty Grammes alongside other coffees that were enjoyable enough to avoid the lower rankings without truly challenging the strongest entries in the series.

At S$6.50, the price also becomes part of the equation. It is not unusually expensive for a café iced latte in Singapore, but Geowin’s first reaction suggested that the original drink did not fully justify the cost. The second tasting improved the experience, although customers ordering it normally would receive the bland four-out-of-ten version rather than Geowin’s adjusted one.

Readers interested in the role that coffee flavours can play beyond a standard café drink can explore Studio Origin and its work in beverage development. The mysterious addition also continues to point towards the possibilities of coffee liqueur, including Kopi-O and this feature on why Kopi-O is emerging as Singapore’s defining coffee liqueur.

Better, but Not Enough for the Top Tier

Twenty Grammes delivered one of the clearer examples of a coffee that improved without being completely transformed.

The original iced latte was bland, underwhelming and worthy of only four out of ten. Geowin’s facial expression and body language showed that she did not particularly enjoy it, even though she was not repulsed by it either.

After the mysterious liquid was added, the coffee became slightly sweeter and gained more flavour. That raised the final score to 5.5 out of ten and secured its place in the B-tier.

It was an improvement, but not a breakthrough.

Name Coffee Number 13

The search still has 88 coffees left to go. Explore more Singapore beverage stories through The Drink Journal and decide which café, kopitiam or hawker stall Geowin should visit next.