Located in a cosy little corner of Bras Basah Complex, hidden among a row of bookstores, Narrative serves up a number of cakes and specialty coffee. I came to check out their filter coffee ($6) before an appointment.

During my visit, the filter coffees on rotation were sourced from scandinavian roasters, with a roast coming from the renowned Coffee Collective of Denmark and two roasts from Koppi roasters of Sweden. I opted for the Kenyan Single Origin from roasted by Koppi, which was brewed with finesse by the barista (whose name I didn’t manage to catch) and delivered a full mouthfeel with flavour notes of plums and raisins.

What’s worthy of noting is that the brewers at Narrative use the Clever coffee dripper, allowing them to switch between immersion and drip brewing. This makes the coffee more complex and layered, developing a body while retaining the fruity, nuanced flavours.

The service was great, and the ambience of the place was nice and minimalist. You could see the love the brewers have for the coffee as you watch them brew your coffee. Their precision and attention to detail about the time of extraction reflects the amount of TLC they put into each cup, and I highly recommend paying them a visit. I’ll be back soon to try out other coffees and their cakes!