Common Man Coffee Roasters (CMCR) is a unique concept brewed from a partnership between Harry Grover, Five Senses Coffee (Australia), and the Spa Esprit Group. The cafe roots from the notion that great coffee should not be a privilege, but instead available for all to enjoy, hence, “common man”. But truth be told, the prices of the food is not the most “common”/affordable.
Like all other cafes by Spa Esprit Group, there is a lot of effort into the fine details of decorations of the cafe
Located at 22 Martin Road, Common Man Coffee Roasters houses a coffee roaster, a specialty coffee bar, a 60-seater cafe and a retail space that offers coffee accessories. Even though it has quite a lot of seats, they do not take reservations and the cafe was packed when we arrived on Sunday lunch time. However, they reassured me that there is usually no longer than 5-10min waiting time during busy hours for groups of 4 or less.
An 8-metre bar equipped with the latest Marco brew gear and a 4-group Synesso, ensuring great quality coffee @ Common Man Coffee Roasters
I actually find this cafe a smart business partnership for all the partners. This is the first tieup that moves Spa Esprit in the wholesale business, an expansion from retail which they already do very well. As a partner, Five Senses Coffee already has networks all around the world to source for beans, roasting them and also a ready network to sell them. And now, Spa Esprit has given them a shopfront to showcase their best beans. Win-win!
People chilling and enjoying the Sunday. The music is almost like club music though!
The bar makes for good coffee tasting
So after all visual feast of the cafe, time to put the Flat White ($5) to the test. We ordered 2 to go. For me, a real test of whether a cafe is detailed about their coffee is if they bother to do coffee art even on take aways. So opening the cup cover, lo and behold, YES, there is art! Pretty one too for both cups.
The coffee was pretty epic – full bodied Flat White with strong, creamy, milk and pleasant mouth feel. It was a complex triple blend and I believe they mixed dark and light roast to give it differing flavours from sip (acidic) to swallow (milky) to aftertaste (nutty). Finally a decent contender to Nylon Coffee and Chye Seng Huat! YAY!
Flat White @ Common Man
After being blown away by the coffee, now I am very keen to go back to try their “top-notch bistro offerings” especially their Eggs Benedict! Definitely a coffee cafe to keep in town!
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Common Man Coffee Roasters
Address: 22 Martin Road #01-00, Singapore 239058
Operating Hours: Mon – Sun, 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tel: 6836 4695
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