One of the mild annoyances of a life lived on the road, is the fact that just when you have everything set up perfectly in your apartment, you have to move. Today was that day. Packed all my coffee gear, clothes, laptop and cables and jumped in a cab and hurtled north to uncertainty and promise.

I checked into my new hotel (booked within a 500m radius of the Hario coffee expo), left my bags at reception and walked under the merciless Malay sun to within the point of fainting. The air conditioning washed my soul in comfort and a renewed vigour began to summon. I purchased a small re-usable cup and set about my battle plan.

Since I was going to be here for 3 days straight, I figured I wouldn't get ahead of myself and chose 4 strategic coffee stalls to try today: Hani, Pablo, Theatre Coffee and Tongue Mission.

On my way to Tongue Mission I ran into my friend Eric from Ghostbird and had a quick taste of some of their Colombian coffee before hitting the stall with a roaster from Penang. I tasted three of his coffees, all good, acidic, fruity, delicious. He runs a roaster in Georgetown near one of my favourite Char Kuey Teow stalls (not the New Siam Road one), but I had never heard of him.

"I don't advertise, and only roast, but if you drop by next time knock on and I'll make you some coffee lah!".

Sweet!

Next up was Hani, a decidedly hipster coffee roaster/shop in fashionable Bangsar. The coffee was tasty but a bit of a generic Ethiopian and Kenyan where the packaging took more of the attention.

JLN Theatre Coffee from the town of Ipoh was hit next, met by a super friendly owner who made me try a fantastically sweet, clear and balanced Nicaraguan coffee along with a nice floral Ethiopian Sidama.

Last but not least a visit to Pablo, a Malaysian home roaster who preps 800g batches and decided to use one single Ethiopian bean and roast it three different ways. He wants people to find the level at which they can enjoy their brew, whether that is "Tim Wendelboe" style super light, the medium and a medium-dark roast.

I tried the Nordic style (of course) and found it clear, floral, tea-like, sweet and complex. I tried the more medium-roast and whilst it was a nice cup, it took away the flavours that I personally liked. I really like what Pablo is doing, him and Nash Lee are bringing a bit of danger and excitement to the KL roasting scene that can become a little "samey" where bigger roasters create signature flavours, and maybe neglect the nuances of the individual coffees. I promised I'd be back to buy some of the light roast beans at the end of the three days when I have found which 3 bags to bring home.

A great first day, and tomorrow I have a whole bunch of friends coming so it will be a shaky caffeine day and I probably won't sleep until 5am.

With a decent sleep behind me, despite the intense coffee intake the day before, I headed straight to Curate for some beautiful fresh and fruity cups, then headed to Kuro to try their magically weird cold brew milk coffee, intense and yet luxurious at the same time, then popped by OneHalf for a few sips of goodness and a quick Hello to the boys. Onehalf is one of the few roasters in KL that truly does Light roast, and offers a magical amount of choice for anyone visiting their coffee shop. The quality is always super clean, clear and consistent. My favourite place to recommend to coffee nerds in KL.

Next up was Contour, which I had been to last year in PJ, but managed to try a few of their coffees. The Bolivia was truly excellent, really crisp, clear, acidic, fruity and sweet.

In the midst of trying more of their selection, the barista told me that they were starting a cupping in the main foyer, so I ran over and joined the line to try cup after cup of freshly brewed beans. Cupping really shows you how different coffees can be, not even different varietals or origins, but even coffees from the same region. Sipping them side by side gives you an instant comparison that really made the day better. I left feeling pretty jittery but ready to relax and wait for the final day.

The final embrace was experienced with two friends joining, walking around the stalls drinking coffee from roasters in parts of Malaysia I had never visited, buying a few small bags here and there, popping back to Pablo to buy my Ethiopian light roast (thank God for the lighter things in life!!), then over to the matcha stall to taste some handground, V60 brewed tea. An insane experience by a Malaysian who has spent an obscene amount of time in Japan learning the secrets of tea preparation. I tasted it together with two Japanese tourists and they were amazed at the quality of the tea. This was also the first time I've seen anyone use a V60 dripper and handgrinder to prepare green tea! Kudos

With the lucid eyes of a man who has incapacitated himself on caffeine, I bid farewell to the Hario x Monin festival, with a bunch of new friends, a few bags of new beans, and a shaky spine that needed a few days of regular coffee consumption to return to normal.

I really hope they do another version next year because KL needs this, and I feel it will only grow and grow in popularity year on year. The only thing I would suggest is to have some great DJ's playing between the competitions to keep the vibe matching the coffee smiles.