Our Journey and Philosophy
Hello!
Thank you for checking us out on what seems like a boring page to visit.
But we reckon this is the most important page in our site, as it is our guiding light on how we run our business and a constant reminder to why we do what we do.
Parchmen & Co started in 2016 as an online store. During that time, we were roasting coffee out of our existing cafe - Sun Ray Cafe which already started 6 years back. Naturally, we displayed our products at the cafe. Our decision to start another company is to provide more focus to our love for specialty coffee and tea and we wanted to share what we love with the community.
So we dived head on, without looking back, and without route for retreat. The more we learn about the industry, the more inspired we become. We often visit farms and we talk to producers. We witness their talents and hard work, and we feel their struggles in their annual production. At the farms, we are in full embrace of the wind, rain, sun and soil - the "terroir" - as well as the local culture, history and heritage of coffee, tea and other things. We know that coffee and tea should never be slighted by drinking and forgetting. They exist long before us and should be respected. We know we should not adulterate them but yet should protect and feature them using our best craftsmanship to bring out their best flavours. As our society advances, we believe our taste for these traditional drinks would develop and mature, such that we will start to savour the finer notes 'neat', without need for artificial flavourings or sweeteners. This is also a healthier choice to pursue since we consume them on a daily basis. We hope to be this bridge. As an enabler towards this end, we price ourselves low to encourage this conversion. We do a lot of work ourselves instead of out-sourcing or contracting, so that we keep our cost low.
Our philosophy for coffee is to present a harmonious cup - that is balanced on all aspects, is impressionable not because of good aroma but also supported by good body and finish. Our philosophy for tea is to first present good quality loose leaf tea, without blending with other ingredients and not in tea bags which could restrict the flavour extraction of good quality tea. Having been on this crusade for some time, we will move forward with some original tea blends in 2022. Rest assure that the tea leaves shall and must be the protagonist instead of being one of 20 ingredients in the blend. We may start to do tea bags with the same promise that we will be cautious in our approach.
The future looks bright and we are excited to get there. We continue to learn in our daily works, and we continue to learn formally through lessons. Looking back, we have done quite a bit and we would like to list them down and share with you.
As we continue to hone our roasting and sensory skills in coffee and tea, we are also deeply attracted to other wonderful beverages like wines and Japanese sake. We will slowly bring these to you. Stay tuned!
2010
– Sun Ray Café established
2012
– Specialty Coffee Association Diploma
2013
– Epicurean Star Awards - Top 5 Cafes
– Weekender Foodmania Awards - Best Café
2016
– Parchmen & Co Pte Ltd established
– Certified Tea Master - Australian Tea Master
2017
– Australian International Coffee Awards - Silver, Espresso Blend
– Singapore Tea Masters Cup Champion - Tea Brewing & Tea Pairing
– Tea Master Cup International - Tea Pairing 2nd Runner Up
– Parchmen Academy established
2018
– Parchmen & Co @ Jack's Place Building #04-03
– Liuxiang Tea Craft (留香茶藝) - Tea Taster Course and Tea Brewing Course
– Sake Sommelier Association – Certified Sake Sommelier
– Whiskey Ambassador
– Business & Science of Wine (Singapore Polytechnic)
2019
– Adjunct lecturer for Business & Science of Tea (Singapore Polytechnic)
– Adjunct lecturer for Business & Science of Coffee (Singapore Polytechnic)
– Certified Tea Grader - China Tea Research Institute
2020
– Sake Scholar
2021
– Parchmen & Co @ Hersing Kitchen #03-07/08, Parched by Parchmen (Ubi), Pacto by Parchmen
– Franchise: Parched by Parchmen (Woodlands)
– Certificate in Coffee Excellence, by Specialty Coffee Association and Zurich University