4
2
0
Level3
31
11
A much preferred choice is its iced coffee jelly
2016-12-28 190 views
A pioneer in the drip coffee bar in Bangkok that is revered by lots of local coffee people, the “institution” for drip coffee of sort. What I recommend here is not its drip coffee program but a rather ‘innovative’ coffee drink called iced coffee jelly that focuses more on its cold, creamy and sweet attributes in the cup than the coffee itself.Gallery Drip Coffee (GDC) is the pioneer of drip coffee in Bangkok. In the past, when anybody asked about coffee in Bangkok, this café made it to the list
Read full review
A pioneer in the drip coffee bar in Bangkok that is revered by lots of local coffee people, the “institution” for drip coffee of sort. What I recommend here is not its drip coffee program but a rather ‘innovative’ coffee drink called iced coffee jelly that focuses more on its cold, creamy and sweet attributes in the cup than the coffee itself.

Gallery Drip Coffee (GDC) is the pioneer of drip coffee in Bangkok. In the past, when anybody asked about coffee in Bangkok, this café made it to the list that I told those who are after drip coffee in Bangkok. 
52 views
0 likes
0 comments
 Once I asked these people how this place is, often times, they don’t give out any meaningful comment, let alone mentioning about how the coffee is which is not a good sign no matter how you play it, IMHO. I begin to understand why any comment is not easy to come by with this visit. 
39 views
0 likes
0 comments
 The strength of GDC is in its location that is very convenient as it’s very close to one of famous shopping centers in Bangkok, think Causeway Bay in Hong Kong or Orchard Road in Singapore, making it easy to find an ‘excuse/diversion’ from other regular things most tourists do for their trip to this café. 
43 views
0 likes
0 comments
 I think I can say GDC is fully loaded with gears for drip coffee. Brand named hot water tower, induction stove to further regulate the temperature, the wooden drip rack that shows off various coffee funnels, be it manufactured by known corporation or hand made pieces, likely by themselves.
40 views
0 likes
0 comments
 The rows and shelves of hand cranked grinders in the shop easily reveal how obsessed owners are with this type of grinder. An artisan of sort? 
43 views
0 likes
0 comments
 I’m not sure whether the “passion” for everything hand grinding carries itself well over to the main grinder used in the shop, the $$$ and famous Lyn Weber HG-1. While I saw HG-1 and drip coffee before, the burr of this grinder is from Mazzer Robur which is designed largely for espresso.  Lyn Weber own website doesn’t even mention anything on drip coffee and chooses to splatter the HG-1 webpage all over on how good this HG-1 is on espresso. Espresso burr for espresso coffee, of course; espresso burr for drip, well...  
51 views
0 likes
0 comments
 Not only the dubious choice of grinder but also the way they brew coffee is rather fascinating. I rarely see barista fill up the coffee ground almost to the rim of the funnel for hand drip. Most suggests the coffee ground about half the funnel and that’s why there are various funnel size just to suit the volume needed. 
27 views
0 likes
0 comments
 The coffee menu is not what we are familiar with these days for third wave café. The tasting notes are mostly not there on the menu board and when they provide some, it’s rather cryptic. Throwing one of the important aspect of the transparency away or just trying to be mysteriously chic? Somehow, this feels almost an anti third wave movement in this age of sprawling seriously good coffee that is known for promoting transparency to the core on the way they run a business.  
44 views
0 likes
0 comments
 Putting those ‘unique’ aspects of this café aside, let focus on the coffee. As I don’t want to bother the barista with questions on tasting notes on each and every coffee they have on the menu board to choose the coffee, I finally ended up with its pick of the day offering which is Ecuador La Conventina Typica, hoping for less chance of disappointment from its recommended coffee of the classic varietal like Typica. Coming from a lesser known country for coffee, the coffee bean itself doesn’t disappoint me. I am very happy with its sweetness and cleanliness that are all over the cup and makes a lot of sense as the coffee is of Typica varietal. 
27 views
0 likes
0 comments
 The coffee is roasted darker than what I typically find in Hong Kong of local and international third wave roasters but manages to deliver quite a juicy cup. I can venture to say the drip brew skill is okay but it reminds me of yesteryears drip coffee which is too muted.
Hand drip of Ecuador La Conventina Typica
39 views
0 likes
0 comments
 Barista even goes extra mile to aerate my coffee a lot after finishing his brewing process which seems to contribute to the smoothness in the cup. Nevertheless, this smoothness seems to put an emphasis back to the weakness of that cup in the form of the dryness and astringency in the cup, particularly when the coffee is cooler. I didn’t have this type of dryness in drip brew coffee for quite some time; it’s probably stopped by barista that spot-checked the coffee by sipping some of them before it is served to me these days. 
Iced coffee jelly
41 views
0 likes
0 comments
 But all is not lost for this visit. I was impressed by a coffee drink here which is far and away from being a coffee focus but earn its place being a good drink, particularly in the Thai concept of everything ice in the name of cooling down thing. To me, the claim of Thailand is such a hot place so we all need cool drinks doesn’t jive well with a hotter place like Singapore of which hot coffee not only survives but prospers. Nevertheless, what seems to be a national obsession with sweet and creamy thing results in the innovation in iced drinks that seems to go far beyond what I heard of from various countries, even those with hotter weather. I suggest all to be open minded and try various iced drinks offered down there i.e. as long as you don’t think of it as coffee, it will be perfectly fine. 
Iced coffee jelly
32 views
0 likes
0 comments
 GDC has been showcasing its iced coffee jelly drink for quite some time. The coffee jelly part is at the bottom while the milk drink on top is spiked with sugar/syrup to add the sweet and creamy tone that Thai seems to fall in love with. The coffee jelly part by itself doesn’t have any distinctive taste of good coffee; don’t ask me about its aroma, acidity or sweetness as I couldn’t sense any. While I am ok having the drink separately ie the coffee jelly part first then a sip of sugar spiked milk, I was told by the shop it can be had together i.e. you should stir and break the jelly part to mix with sweetened milk drink. You can order the milk part to have no added sweetness too but I don’t know whether the creaminess in the milk will be enough to cover a rather staled coffee in the jelly.
Iced coffee jelly
29 views
0 likes
0 comments
 In all, this ‘institution’ on drip coffee seems to garner its reputation more as a pioneer in drip coffee in Bangkok than the drip coffee itself, IMHO. If you want to learn a history of the drip coffee in Bangkok and, maybe, to understand the state of drip coffee in Bangkok, drip coffee at GDC which is looked up by lots of local coffee people could help explain some of those things. 
43 views
0 likes
0 comments
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
  • Recommend
    Recommended
  • Report
Post
DETAILED RATING
Taste
Decor
Service
Hygiene
Value
Date of Visit
2016-08-19
Dining Method
Dine In