The list

Menu

Short on purpose. Everything on it is made in front of you, and the coffee changes when the bag runs out. Prices in MVR, service included.

How we buy it

One roaster, one bag at a time

Everything here comes from a small roastery in Colombo that sends us green lots they like and roasts to our profile. Twelve kilos a week, no more, so nothing sits around going flat in the heat.

Coffee

Roasted for us in Colombo, rested ten days

Espresso

MVR 45

Pulled short, 18 grams in and about 34 out. Dark cocoa, bitter orange peel, thick enough to leave a line on the glass. Served with a small soda water unless you wave it off.

Cortado

MVR 55

Equal parts, in glass so you can see where the milk meets the shot. The one most of the bar staff drink at four in the afternoon.

Flat White

MVR 65

Six ounces, steamed to 60 degrees, no dry foam sitting on top. Sweet enough that people stop asking for sugar.

Cappuccino

MVR 65

The old proportions, with a proper finger of foam. Cocoa on top only if you ask for it.

On the pour-over this week

Kayon Mountain

Guji, Ethiopia. Lot 14, harvested January.

Producer
Ismael Hassen and 60 neighbouring smallholders
Altitude
2,050 metres
Process
Washed, 36 hours in tank, dried on raised beds
Varietal
Heirloom, mostly 74110 and 74112
In the cup
Bergamot, white peach, jasmine, a black tea finish
How we brew it
V60, 22 grams to 360, three minutes flat

It arrives with the acidity forward and settles into stone fruit after a fortnight of rest, which is where it sits now. We pour it black. When the bag is finished the card changes, usually every three weeks. Ask what is coming next, there is normally a sample bag open behind the bar.

Single origin pour-over, MVR 85
Espresso running amber through a bottomless portafilter

Everything gets tasted before it leaves the bar

The grinder moves twice a day, once when the room warms up and once when it rains. If a shot runs long we pour it out and start again. It costs us about four kilos a month and it is the only part of this we refuse to negotiate.

Other Drinks

Made behind the bar, nothing out of a bottle

Matcha Latte

MVR 70

Ceremonial grade from Uji, whisked thin, milk poured cool so it never turns bitter. Unsweetened by default.

Citrus and Cardamom Tonic

MVR 65

Our cordial, made every Sunday with green cardamom cracked that morning, lime and orange peel. Tonic on top, one big cube, a twist of peel across the surface.

Ginger and Lime Soda

MVR 55

Ginger steeped hot for an hour until it bites, cut back with lime and a little raw sugar. Soda over ice. Good in the humidity.

Hot Chocolate

MVR 65

Seventy percent dark, melted into milk rather than stirred from powder, sea salt across the top. Thick. One cup is plenty.

A cup of matcha on dark planked timber
Whisked thin, poured over cool milk
A tall glass of ginger soda with cut limes on a warm wooden bar
Ginger steeped an hour, lime cut to order
Cardamom buns cooling on a dark tray

From noon

Ainy bakes in the back

The oven is on from eleven, which is why the buns come out at the wrong hour and are gone by four. What is left at closing goes home with whoever is on the last shift.

From the Kitchen

Baked here, sold until it runs out

Croissant

MVR 45

Laminated over two days with a butter we bring in frozen. Best before ten, honest about it after that.

Cardamom Bun

MVR 55

Knotted, brushed with syrup, heavy on the cardamom because Ainy grinds it whole. Out of the oven at noon.

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

MVR 85

Black on top, still loose in the centre, baked in the morning and left to sit. One slice per person while there is any left.

Banana Bread

MVR 45

Dark and heavy, a spoon of rum in the batter. We will toast it on the flat top with butter if you ask.

Gulha

MVR 35

Tuna, coconut, onion and chilli, rolled small and fried to order. Six to a plate.

Afternoons only, from three

Two croissants on a dark plate on a worn wooden table
Two days of lamination, gone by ten
A loaf of banana bread in its tin on dark wood
Cut thick, toasted on request

Come and sit down