Ondeh Ondeh Lattes

I love trying interesting lattes, whether tea or coffee, and ondeh ondeh lattes aren't all that common, so there's a good chance I'll order it if I see it on the menu. I've tried two so far from different cafes - Mellower Coffee (probably only their Singapore and perhaps Malaysia/Indonesia branches would offer this) and Eaglewings Loft. For those not familiar with the region's cuisine, ondeh ondeh is a dessert that features the pandan and gula melaka (palm sugar) flavours strongly. Gula melaka tastes a bit like caramel, but less burnt, somewhat more woody and with a hint of floral sourish tone, whereas pandan is fragrant and comforting, and described as the Asian version of vanilla (only in terms of flavour... it is extracted from leaves instead of bean pods).

I thought both were equally impressive, both in presentation and taste. The first one was by Eaglewings, and as you can see, there's lovely latte art with the normally-white parts made green with pandan-infused milk. I thought this one had strong tones for both the pandan fragrance and gula melaka, overall very pleasant. And as you can see by the cup type, this was the hot version.

The one on the right is by Mellower Coffee, iced version. They put the green pandan milk in a separate cup, which I tried first and really loved it on its own. It was like a very nice grassy vanilla fragrance with a bit of sweetness. The small shot is the coffee mixed with gula melaka, which I poured into the pandan milk. (I didn't take a picture of the combined drink because the coffee colour overwhelmed the green, so it looked like a normal latte.) This version also had flakes of dessicated coconut frosted on the lip of the pandan milk glass, so that was a nice visual effect, although it didn't contribute to the taste. 

Taste-wise, this Mellower Coffee version was quite heavy on the gula melaka, and together with the strong coffee, I couldn't taste the pandan after I had combined the two parts, which was a disappointment. I wonder if it's also the cold temperature of the drink that makes it harder to notice the pandan fragrance. In any case, the colour of the milk wasn't as obviously green as the Eaglewings version, so there's a chance that they didn't use as much pandan essence as they could have.

In any case, the bitter and caramelly taste of the coffee really complements the gula melaka well, and while the gula melaka provides the woody undertones, the pandan provides the high floral notes to make it a well-balanced combination. Both are definitely worth a try, and I'll be on the lookout for these at other cafes.

Found these drinks interesting? Check out more unusual drinks here!