World’s Best Kopi: Toast Box Lands in B Tier
Geowin’s mission to taste 100 coffees across Singapore continued at Toast Box in City Gate, where Coffee #2 delivered one of the journey’s biggest transformations so far.
The format of the challenge is simple. Geowin visits coffee shops around Singapore, orders a kopi, tastes it as served and decides where it belongs on the World’s Best Kopi tier list. However, there is usually another step: the mysterious liquid concealed inside her small white bottle.
This time, that extra ingredient made all the difference.
Coffee #2 Begins at Toast Box
Geowin arrived at the Toast Box outlet inside City Gate with her characteristically happy and bubbly energy. The drink selected for the challenge was a kopi-c kosong peng, priced at S$3.70.
After collecting the coffee, she celebrated with the phrase that viewers of the series will quickly come to recognise:
“We got the goods!”
It was a cheerful beginning, but the excitement did not survive the first taste.
Geowin tried drinking the kopi without a straw, something that briefly left her wondering how she was supposed to properly mix and taste it. Once she managed to try the drink as it had been served, her reaction was immediate.
“It’s really tasteless.”
She described the kopi as diluted, with very little flavour coming through. Based entirely on that first impression, she awarded the Toast Box coffee just 3 out of 10.
That initial score would have placed it near the bottom of her emerging Singapore kopi rankings.
“Let’s Do It My Way!”
Geowin was not finished.
After delivering the first score, she reached for the mysterious white bottle that accompanies her on the World’s Best Kopi journey. Its contents have not been revealed, although it appears to be something she uses to adjust each coffee to her personal preference.
Then came her second recurring phrase:
“Let’s do it my way!”
She added the mysterious liquid to the cup, mixed the drink and tasted the Toast Box kopi again.
The difference was dramatic.
According to Geowin, the coffee tasted “so much better” after the addition. The original version had seemed diluted and almost flavourless, but her modification gave the drink substantially more character.
The score climbed from 3 out of 10 to 6.5 out of 10.
That was enough to place Toast Box in the B tier, beneath the current A-tier entry but comfortably away from the lowest positions on the board.
Follow the Hunt for Singapore’s Best Kopi
Coffee #2 produced an important early lesson for the series: a single adjustment can completely change the experience of a drink.
Follow Geowin’s full mission through World’s Best Kopi, with additional videos and updates available through Instagram and TikTok.
From Tasteless to B Tier
This was not presented as a formal assessment of every Toast Box outlet or every coffee available from the chain. It was Geowin’s personal experience with one kopi-c kosong peng purchased from the City Gate location on that particular visit.
One commenter suggested that the disappointing first taste might have resulted from the coffee not coming from a freshly ground batch. That remains speculation, but it reflects how dramatically freshness, preparation and proportions can affect a cup of kopi.
Geowin’s experience was especially interesting because the two scores were so different.
Before adding the liquid, the coffee received 3 out of 10.
After adding it, the score became 6.5 out of 10.
The change did not transform Toast Box into the leader of the challenge, but it rescued the drink from what would have been a very poor position. Instead, Toast Box joined the tier list in a respectable B-tier spot.
Those interested in Singapore’s wider drinks culture can explore more coffee stories through The Drink Journal or learn more about the publication through its About page. Singapore’s coffee identity also extends beyond the traditional cup, including locally inspired products such as Kopi-O coffee liqueur.
The Current World’s Best Kopi Standings
After two stops, Geowin’s tier list is beginning to take shape.
Toast Box did not manage to reach the A tier, and its unmodified score suggested that it might initially have fallen much lower. However, Geowin’s mysterious addition brought enough flavour back into the drink to earn it a final rating of 6.5.
The outcome places Toast Box in B tier.
With 98 coffees still to go, there is plenty of room for the rankings to change. Future stops may introduce stronger traditional kopi, more unusual preparations or another drink that responds surprisingly well to Geowin’s secret ingredient.
Join the Search for the World’s Best Kopi
Geowin is travelling across Singapore to taste 100 different coffees, one cup at a time. Viewers can suggest the next coffee shop, compare each new score and watch the tier list evolve throughout the journey.
Visit World’s Best Kopi to follow the complete series and see whether Toast Box can hold onto its B-tier position as more Singapore coffees enter the competition.
