Brown Rice Tea Dirty Coffee by Hanco Coffee

This is a Singaporean cafe, but it is apparently inspired by Korean culture. They have a menu for "Dirty Coffee", which seems to refer to the Chinese concept of pouring hot espresso shots over cold milk. The Brown Rice Tea Dirty Coffee comprises cold brown rice-infused dairy milk, topped with a shot of hot espresso and salted milk foam. The brown rice tea is also known as genmai tea or genmaicha in Japanese, so the tea used would be green tea or sencha, although this is presumably inspired by the Korean version of that, which is called hyeonmi-nokcha (현미녹차). The powder they sprinkle on top of the salted foam is genmaicha powder. And if I remember correctly, they make the genmaicha milk by soaking the genmaicha powder in the milk overnight. In the second photo below, you can clearly see the layer of coffee floating on top of the milk. Because of this formula, there is no iced or hot version, even though the drink is overall considered a cold or chilled one. 

There were some confusions I had to clarify. In the menu, the drink I tried was listed as simply "Brown Rice Tea", so I was at first confused if it had coffee inside. There was also no proper description of the drink found online or on their menu, so I clarified the contents by asking the staff. Finally, I would say that this drink is a "dirty" drink also in the other sense of the word, whereby tea and coffee are mixed (as in matcha dirty), although this may not be true for other drinks in their "dirty coffee" menu section which do not involve tea.
Brown Rice Tea Dirty Coffee by Hanco Coffee
Setting the confusion aside, I have nothing but praise for the taste review. Although the coffee floats on top, the first sip did not come across as bitter or too intense at all, because the salted milk foam evenly coated every sip of the coffee. 

My first sip was a very intense and very fruity but smooth espresso, which gives way to a mild but sweet genmaicha. It seemed more like a medium, or even light roast, due to how bright and fragrant the fruity coffee was.
Brown Rice Tea Dirty Coffee by Hanco Coffee - coffee layered over genmai milk
I thoroughly enjoyed these first sips because of how smooth the coffee was with the salted foam, but it was the subsequent sips with less coffee that shone, because I felt that the pure coffee on top was too intense that it drowned out the other more nuanced flavours from the genmaicha milk. 

As the coffee became more diluted by the genmai milk, the grainy and malty notes became more prominent, which made for a very bright yet earthy and complex pairing with the original fruity notes of the coffee. 

At this point, the salted milk foam became a bit of an odd pairing between the malty genmai and fruity coffee notes, but I wouldn't say that they clashed. It just became super complex and interesting without being particularly complementary. 

Towards the bottom, when it was mostly milk, the grainy, toasted rice became more distinct and prominent, and this is when the salty milk foam began to blend well again, complementing the brown rice flavour the way a savoury-sweet and creamy rice cracker or granola bar might taste. 

Overall, it was a top notch gourmet experience, completely worth the S$7.90 for the relatively small cup. I especially loved the different layers, and how the taste evolves and dances with each other across each sip.

Discover other "dirty" coffees and grain-based drinks

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