Had been taking away bottled coffee to enjoy over the weekends during this Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) period — perhaps more of an attempt to bring the cafe experience back home considering how we aren’t able to dine-in as yet and there isn’t any cafes offering things like that near me; decided to go to the ones nearer to the workplace since a visit to office has to be made.

Had brought back Curious Palette’s (which mum loves, and is one of my go-to in the immediate area) and The Assembly Ground’s renditions, but the ones from Gather are slightly different because they aren’t cold brews but bottled mochas instead. Came across these on social media but I was especially impressed by the Wicked — the bottled mocha here comes brewed using the same beans roasted by Genovese Coffee as the ones used in their usual specialty coffee, but the Wicked stands out because of how it is sufficiently creamy and chocolatey — that magic ratio of milk, coffee and chocolate that works (since most places don’t do a nice mocha; too chocolate-y, if not too milky). Spiked with mint, the Wicked tasted like as though Christmas really came early with its refreshing and cooling finish that comes after the caffeine and chocolate-y notes — very festive, and a mood booster to all the things that have been happening around.

In retrospect, the Generra would be more for the acquired taste buds. It used the same base as that of the Wicked, but the Generra is an orange-infused version that comes with a slight hint of citrusy and gingery that make work well with some. It is a different kind of “refreshing” when compared against the Wicked — something that is slightly more zingy and zippy which takes away the richness of the chocolate pretty aptly.

While Gather’s bottled coffee selection isn’t quite the usual cold brew that other specialty coffee joints offer, I like how they have seemed to be a little more adventurous on their take on bottled coffee — experimenting on bottled coffee with interesting infusions that may have been tested and proven by others before, but still presents itself as a refreshing change from the usual — probably planning for a revisit when dine-in resume!