We asked more than 40 people to track their coffee consumption for a week. Here is what we found.

Coffee is a big part of many Singaporeans’ daily lives. For generations, kopi has been at the centre of that routine. Kopi is rich and reliable, the kind of coffee many grow up with.

In recent years, a modern wave of cafes has taken root. Speciality roasters and home-grown chains have introduced new beans and brewing methods, shaping an evolving coffee culture in Singapore. Cafes sit comfortably alongside kopitiams, adding variety rather than replacing tradition.

This means Singaporeans have more ways than ever to enjoy coffee, each in their own way. From our data, we have identified three coffee drinker archetypes in Singapore.

They typically start their weekday mornings with kopi. They value convenience, usually buying their coffee or making it using instant methods like three-in-one sachets or capsule machines.

Here is how Elaine Yong, a Loyalist, consumed coffee over the week, visualised as coffee cups.

The 38-year-old engineer buys and drinks kopi from a Ya Kun Kaya Toast outlet first thing in the morning before she heads to work. To her, coffee is her lifeline. “It’s the only thing I think about when I wake up,” she says.

She enjoys kopi for its robust, bitter dark roast. Kopi feels richer compared with coffees from hipster cafes, she says.

That is the defining characteristic of kopi. It is traditionally made with robusta beans, typically more bitter in flavour. The beans are usually roasted with sugar and butter, then brewed using a kopi sock.

Robusta beans contain more caffeine than arabica beans, usually served by third-wave cafes and speciality coffee shops.

A strong caffeine boost is the most important aspect to her. “Survival, first. Taste, second,” says Elaine, adding that she wants her coffee to “hit (her) in the face”.

Cost is another factor. She is willing to pay up to $3 for her daily coffee, and finds a cuppa from cafes and coffee chains too expensive.

On days when she works from home, she brews her coffee using a Nespresso capsule machine or a three-in-one packet.

Like Elaine, other Loyalists stick to instant brew methods to make coffee for the convenience.

Elaine started drinking kopi in secondary school, following in her father’s footsteps. “As far as I can remember, since I was in primary school, he used to drink two or three cups (in a day).” Even now, she still enjoys drinking her morning coffee with her father, who is in his early 70s.

More than just a drink, kopi is also steeped in cultural heritage. Brought to Singapore by Hainanese immigrants, kopi can also be found in other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. Today, it is still commonly served with the traditional breakfast of kaya toast and two half-boiled eggs.

Kopi has also facilitated the birth of kopitiam culture, where regulars, usually older men, gather in local coffee shops to chat over a cuppa.

Ah Seng (Hai Nam) Coffee, on the second floor of Amoy Street Food Centre, is one such stall selling kopi, having been around since 1964. Opened by the late Wong Lock Seng and his father, the stall has not changed the way its kopi and charcoal-grilled kaya toast are made for the past 60 years. The stall is now run by Wong’s wife, Fang Juat Lan, 77, and her son, William Wong, 47.

While business has slowed over the years, loyal customers continue to visit for their robust and affordable kopi, which starts at $1.20 a cup.

Some customers take along their families, so Fang and Wong have served kopi across three generations – parents, children and grandchildren.

Participants in this archetype typically drink both kopi and speciality coffee, mostly pourovers. They buy the former and brew the latter themselves, typically on weekends.

Here is how Leon Loh, an Explorer, consumed coffee over the week.

The 31-year-old youth worker picks up a $1.60 kopi from a local coffee shop near his place in the morning for its affordability and convenience. This helps him be “functional” for the day ahead. “If they do it well, kopi has a very nice caramelly taste. It’s cheap and easily accessible, so I’ll just have it on the way to work,” he says.

But when he has the luxury of time, he brews his own coffee during his lunch breaks, using equipment he keeps at the office.

He picked up the skill while working in various cafes during his university days. Along the way, he learnt how to appreciate the dark brew, despite disliking it when growing up.

Today, he can identify his distinct preferences. He likes his pourovers and black coffee with fruity notes derived from anaerobic processes, and his milk-based espresso drinks with cocoa and nutty notes.

This is the message he is passionate about sharing — that coffee is not just bitter, but also full of different flavours. He frequently makes coffee for his colleagues at the office and finds it a fluid way to bond with them.

He also holds coffee workshops at his office and church, teaching others how to craft espressos and create latte art.

To Leon, coffee is a way to bring people together. “I find great joy making coffee to serve others, more than I enjoy drinking it myself,” he says.

Explorers in the survey enjoy the variety of coffee that Singapore’s coffee scene has to offer.

On the menu of Coffee Break, a stall at Amoy Street Food Centre, one can find a range of interesting add-ons alongside the usual kopi mainstay. Flavours like almond and ginger were introduced as early as 1999 by stall operator Faye Sai’s father.

Sai, a 38-year-old third-generation hawker, whose grandfather started the stall in 1935 as a pushcart, says: “The reason was because my father wanted to stand out in a hawker centre, where there were a lot of other more established brands.”

Today, she has introduced a plethora of new flavours, including crowd favourites such as sea salt caramel and black sesame latte.

For her lattes, she uses both arabica and robusta beans, the latter to cater to the local palate. “Some people might prefer the drink with more of a kick and mouthfeel,” she says.

Over the years, sales for the flavoured lattes (from $4) have increased, but kopi ($1.90) is still the stall’s top seller. “That’s what people know us for,” she says.

Those in this group tend to drink more espresso-based coffee, usually lattes. They are more likely to make their coffee and enjoy it more.

Here is how Yong Chin Hwei’s coffee consumption looks like over the week, visualised as coffee cups.

Every day, Chin Hwei, 64, brews two cups of coffee using a Profitec espresso machine. The retiree’s mornings start with a latte for him and his wife. He caps afternoons with an espresso, Americano or, occasionally, a pourover. Rarely does he buy coffee; making it himself is part of his routine.

He likes to experiment when making coffee. When restocking his beans monthly, he looks for beans from small plantation plots. He also likes to play around with different brewers to coax a variety of flavours from the same beans.

He has never taken formal barista classes and is self-taught. He experiments with different variables when brewing and takes notes when each cup tastes different.

For instance, he has observed that the flavour of an espresso varies depending on the weather – whether it is cooler or more humid – even when he keeps factors such as the grind size the same. That is how he learnt to adjust his brewing methods accordingly, such as spritzing water onto the beans to reduce static and prevent clumping.

“I’m a bit geeky. When I want to learn something, I will try to seek all the information,” he says.

Aficionados frequently make their own coffee at home.

It is not the caffeine he craves in his morning cup. “I will crave the notes… the aroma… the taste (of coffee),” he says.

“A good cup of coffee should give me a balance of flavours,” he says. “It should give me the fruit, the floral flavours.” He also prefers coffee with a bit of body and a lingering aftertaste. “It will be most heavenly if the flavour profile starts to change as I taste – the first and last sips are different.”

Leon Foo, 43, founder of PPP Coffee and Morning, notes coffee trends are cyclical, with the cycle being around 10 years. Now trending are iced flavoured drinks such as strawberry matcha lattes. “The demographics will continue to change, and the people who drink coffee will still drink coffee – we just have to shift,” he says, adding that staying relevant as a brand is one of the hardest things to do.

With convenience being a priority for busy Singaporeans, Foo’s capsule coffee machine, Morning Machine, developed in Singapore, has been gaining traction with those in their 20s and 30s. These younger customers tend to make coffee at home due to hybrid work arrangements. He has sold more than 18,000 units – each priced at $660 – in 40 countries since its launch in 2021.

Similarly, Coffee Break does R&D frequently, coming up with new items such as coconut milk-infused drinks to attract the younger crowd and initiate them to local coffee. “It’s not always just like an $8.50 Starbucks frappuccino,” says Sai.

Other stores are seeking to set trends instead.

Inspired by the cocktail bars she frequents, Daphne Phee, 34, opened Big Short Coffee in Joo Chiat in the hope of creating a new experience.

“We asked ourselves: What’s the next generation of coffee?” she says. “It’s about combining techniques from mixology and molecular gastronomy with new ingredients to elevate the coffee experience.”

Her cafe releases a menu featuring seven new drinks every season, integrating cocktail and molecular gastronomy techniques in coffee.

It is now brewing plans to expand overseas.

“Singapore is multicultural, from kopi to speciality coffee to the experiential coffee experience. It is known for fantastic coffee, but we want to show the world we can push boundaries and create something completely new,” Phee says.

At the end of the day, coffee in all its forms has a place in Singapore.

“We are so vibrant. We are blessed with local kopi and also speciality coffee,” says Sai. “And the best part is both can thrive, and both can help each other out.”