Due to overwhelming requests for food recommendations, the team at EB has put together a selection of our most popular main courses into a value for money set dinner so that you, our valued customers can enjoy the best we have to offer while saving some $$ at the same time! Do check out our newest offering that will be official launched this Monday, 21st January, and available Sundays to Thursdays, from 6pm to 1030pm.

PS. To save even more money, you can always make use of the arrangement we have with Purple Valet Services to enjoy FREE parking at the Holland Village Carpark!

This is the season to be jolly! Yeah! Christmas is here once again!

There’s no hope of fluffy white snow falling on our shores, as the only thing we have falling on our heads is just rain and more rain in *hic* sunny Singapore! However, a little of wet weather is never going to dampen our christmas spirit isn’t it? We’re still going to throng down Orchard road for the very last minute xmas shopping for gift exchange, as well as meet up with friends and family for the yearly get togethers to indulge in the jolly festivities!

Here’s wishing everyone an early Merry Christmas from the team at Essential Brew! =)

P.S. By the way, we’re on facebook too! Come join our cosy group!

More likely than not, a layman’s idea of brewing good tea would be to dump a teabag into a cup and then pour hot water on to it, and voila, a few mins of immersing the teabag later, you would have of cup of hot tea! However, if you consider the fact that what is usually contained in a typical teabag are actually tea fannings(the tiniest pieces of broken leaves usually of the lower grades), you are really losing out on the enjoyment of savouring quality teas that can only be brewed from loose leave tea!

Granted, I’m not saying that all teabag teas are made from poor quality teas as some excellent teas can also be found in teabag form, but nevertheless, there are other mitigating factors that makes tea brewed from loose tea leaves superior.

One factor I can think of is that the brewing of good tea require space for the tea leaves to expand. If you have ever brewed Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea before, you would have witnessed the tiny rolled balls of tea unfurling in the hot water, which allow all surfaces of the tea leaves to steep and release its essential chemicals and oils, the basis for the enchanting flavour of tea. However, in the constricted space of of a tea bag, the process of expanding of the tea leaves is largely restricted, hindering the release of its full flavours!

Other than missing out flavour-wise, brewing tea from teabags also means that you miss out on the experience of watching poetry in motion as the tea leaves unravels in a beautiful dance. There are many kinds of quality chinese tea that are rolled into various forms(some are even handcrafted and tied up into various interesting shapes), and viewing how the different tea leaves unfurls can heighten the experience of enjoying quality tea as much drinking the tea itself!

Also, in a typical tea bag, although quality tea might be used, it would usually contain broken up pieces of tea leaves rather than whole tea leaves due to the size of the teabag. This increases the likely hood that the tea leaves might be stale as there is greater surface for the essential oils found in the tea leaves to evaporate leaving the tea lacking in taste and nutrition when it is brewed.

With the above factors in mind, next time you think of relaxing over a cup of good tea, try brewing from quality loose leave tea rather than settling for just a tea bag. Check out our premium loose leaf teas once, and I’m sure you’ll never go back to your usual teabag teas ever again! =)

Yes, we all know it’s terrible finding parking at Holland Village with the closure of a couple of carparks for the MRT Circle Line construction. But that hasn’t stopped us from heading down to ‘Singapore’s little Bohemia’ and that hasn’t stopped many of our wonderful guests from supporting us either!

Well, since you guys have shown us all the unfailing support since 2004, here’s a little treat we’re throwing in to take out the hassle of parking (or should I say waiting half-an-hour just to get a parking lot) when you visit us!

So, we’ve made a special arrangement with Purple Valet Services at the main Holland Village carpark! Now, not only do we solve your parking problem, we’ve got some nice guys to provide a hassle-free Valet Parking service just for you. No need to fear the aunties (or uncles) with umbrellas and nifty little gadgets who add little strips of paper to your windscreens yeah!

Ok, what do I have to do to enjoy
FREE Valet Parking Services? (Usual price: $8/car!) Just follow these simple steps:

1) Pass your car to the guys from Purple Valet Services at the main Holland Village carpark and collect a valet coupon. Congrats, you’ve just saved 30mins of waiting time.

2) Head to Essential Brew to chill out or grab a meal.

3) Order at least 4 set lunches or 4 main courses or spend at least $50 in your bill and keep the receipt.

4) Pass your valet coupon and Essential Brew receipt to the valet to retrieve your car. Congrats, you’ve just saved $8 valet parking fees!

For the full promotional details, click here!

If you’re booking a birthday party, corporate function or wedding solemnization with us, we offer special highly discounted rates for an Unlimited number of cars for your guests only! Contact us to enquire about this special offer!

Oh no, we’ve sold out our very very very last Plateau Serenade Ice Cream Bombe! Coz our Hazelnut ice cream has finally run out! (Read this post if you did not know why)

Amazingly, we’ve managed to keep it on the menu for much longer than expected and seems like everyone was glad we did yeah!

So, who were the lucky ones who had our very last Plateau? Well, you’re looking at them right here! Of course more than 10 other lucky customers enjoyed it that busy Fri evening of 29th Sep… but you girls earned the bragging rights of having the very last one!!!

…& of course, this was a pic of it just before it was devoured!

Well, we’ll definitely miss our beloved Plateau Serenade and let’s just spend a few silent moments recapping how wonderful a journey she had….

Rinaz: “…I had to take a picture of this really quickly as everyone were eyeing on it. They couldnt wait to devour it… And it really was very very good. It had an entire medley of yummy treats like ice cream and lovely crunchy hazelnut bits in it. In no time at all, it was gone!”

DK: “I think this is call Plateau Serenade ice cream bombe. Very nice. Like it a lot. There is even chocolate flowing out when you cut it open. WAH.”

And we even received a lovely little note from some of our guests!

Ok, thanks for the support everyone and we promise we’ll bring back the Plateau Serenade once we’ve figured another nice ice cream flavor to make it with yeah!

Dear VIPs and friends of EB,

Thanks for your continued support! We’ve recently relaunched our VIP program with a new card design and a whole new set of privileges!

VIP members will enjoy an all-year-round 10% discount off their total bill. Furthermore, you may combine Essential Brew Dining Vouchers with this discount for even greater savings! (a privilege only for VIP members!)

In addition, during your birthday month, you will now receive a
$20 dining voucher for a-la-carte orders.
For birthday package bookings of at least 30 pax, VIPs will enjoy a FREE 1kg Euphoria Series Ice Cream Cake! (worth $52) - an absolutely amazing offer!

…and there’s more! Look out for exciting ad-hoc offers through sms or email throughout the year! These could include 1-for-1 drinks, 4th main course free, VIP party invites and many more!

Well, it’s just our little way of saying thanks for supporting us all these years!

Ok ok, so how do I become a VIP member?!
Just collect $300 in receipts over 3 months and you may apply for Essential Brew’s VIP card! Your VIP membership will last for 2 years and will be renewed for free if you’ve spent at least $150 during your membership years.

Calling all existing VIP members! If your membership has expired or if you’ve lost your old card, we’re offering a one-time FREE renewal! Just dine at our restaurant at Holland Village from now till 15th Oct 2007 and get a free membership extension of 2-years!

Time really flies. This month, we celebrate the 3rd year anniversary of Essential Brew. Its really amazing that Essential Brew has already been open for a good three years as it seems just like yesterday when we opened our doors to our first customers.

I still remember how exciting it was when I first stepped into the vacant unit at Holland V more than 3 years ago, and after that the run up in preparation for our first day of business was a whirlwind two months of endless meetings with contractors, renovations, employing staff, applying for licenses, buying furniture, finalizing our menu, sourcing for various suppliers etc. It was with a great sense of accomplishment when we finally started operations in July 2004, but things were still quite uncertain then as we were still unsure whether you, our all important customers would take to our concept of tea-infused food and cuisine in a relaxed, cozy setting. But from then on, how much we have grown!

Of course, over the years, we’ve never stopped evolving to take on new ideas to improve, based on feedback from well-meaning friends, family and customers as well as our own sporadic sparks of creativity. And going forward, we will never stop improving, in order to provide a more memorable and enjoyable experience for our customers as well as to share our love for tea.

Here’s an old feature we had on television a few months after we first started featuring Jamie Teo and celebrity guest JJ Lin for that touch of nostalgia. Do enjoy!

And lastly, thanks for giving us your loyal support all this time from all our regulars. Do watch out for our 3rd anniversary promotions that will be rolled out soon to thank all of you! =)

One would normally associate pairing good food with fine wines… but with tea? Actually, the concept of tea-food pairing works similarly to wine-food pairing. Like wines, quality teas can have a wide range of flavour, smell, acidity, body and texture muchly depending on where and how they were produced. Hence, if a good pairing between tea and food is made, the characteristics of a tea can interact with the flavours of food to greatly enhance and accentuate the taste of the food, thus increasing the enjoyment.

There is no exact science to which teas go well with which kinds of food but a good general guideline would be to pair teas with food which either have similar characteristics or have complementary characteristics. For example, unoxidised green tea with its smooth grassy taste would go well with seafood as it washes down any fishy aftertaste. Another example would to have an Oolong tea with its more toasty flavour to go with grilled chicken. The whole fun of tea-food pairing is to treat it as an adventure to explore and experiment with how different attributes of the various teas and food interacts and serve to heighten each dining experience you have.

Here’s some general guidelines to kickstart you in your experiments

• Green teas eg. Dragonwell - lighter flavoured food such as seafood dishes
• Oolong teas eg. Tie Guan Yin - grilled dishes, white meats such as chicken
• Red teas eg. Assam, English breakfast - full flavoured food such as red meat
• Black teas eg. Pu-erh- Dishes with higher oil and fat content such as curries, cream based pastas, sweet desserts

Have fun pairing!

It’s interesting how pervasive SMS-ing has gotten in our lives! Remember the days when it all started with just text-ing someone on where to meet till today where we have weather alerts through SMS or promotional updates from our favourite fashion boutique.

So we thought we’d offer SMS Vouchers for all friends of Essential Brew! But if you thought this is just going to be the regular: ‘Today’s special, try our Seared Jaz Prawns! Succulent King & Tiger Prawns grilled with Jasmine butter sauce… visit us now at…..’ Nope! It’s gonna be a lot more exciting and something we hope you’ll be delighted to receive!

Hence, as a welcome treat for all who want to be on our mailing list, we’re offering 1-for-1 drinks with any main course order! Join only if you’re seriously interested in getting a great offer and if so, check out how on our Dining Promotions page!

As we’re starting this as a trial to gauge response, we’ve only got a simple mobile number which we’ll send out the promotional vouchers from, so don’t be surprised. If anyone would like to offer us a golden number (which we found Singaporeans are so extremely fond of in cars number plates and auspicious dates), drop us an sms or email!

But in the meantime, just drop us a subscription message, tell your friends about it and come by our place to chill with your pals yeah!

SMS ‘SUBSCRIBE <Your Name>’ to 9185 4101

For more details, view our Dining Promotions page!

What if money could grow on trees? I bet many of you would have thought of this fantasy before whenever you dream of striking it rich! Well, in retrospect, money did use to grow on trees, albeit a small tree in the form of a tea bush.

Here’s a an interesting article I found regarding this subject: Tea Money of China. In the 19th Century, various forms of tea bricks(a form of black tea that are compressed into a solid block of tea) were used as a medium of exchange in Central Asian countries such as Tibet, Mongolia and Siberia etc. These tea bricks were highly valued for its medicinal properties and were also popular as it was less prone than cash to robbery from bandits found on the various trade routes. Property such as horses, sheep and swords were traded based on the number of tea bricks they can be exchanged for.

Alas, in modern days, this archaic form of using tea as currency have ceased to exist(otherwise you would have found me growing my own “money”). Nevertheless, it is interesting to know that besides the widely known equities and bonds, a special form of tea(Pu’er tea) has evolved to become an alternate form of investment in its own right(see The rewards of a ‘drinkable antique’). Similar to vintage wines, the value of Pu’er tea appreciates over time thus making it worthwhile as an investment vehicle for some people. According to the article, a new Pu’er tea can expect to double its value in just five years! Not a bad return I’ll say!

Maybe someday I would consider starting my own collection of “tea money”. Would you take the leap?