BY TREMOR CHRIST

Hotter than a barbeque in hell, Melaka is often overlooked in favour of Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown on the tourist trail through Malaysia. More often than not the town lies asleep under hot blankets until the weekend when a few Singaporeans eyeing a bargain drive across the border.

Home to an extremely vibrant food scene, coffee is not the first thing one thinks about when hearing the name. However, as with many smaller towns in Malaysia, the Third Wave coffee culture has started to bite.

Below in no particular order are the coffee shops that position themselves apart from the instagram cafe culture that seems so prevalant. This is all about the coffee, nothihng more, nothing less.

Ironically enough, a few of the coffee shops below happen to be in the "peeling paint & aching loss" category, but that is more a consequence of decrepid buildings rather than attempting to land in Wallpaper magazine.

COFFEE BAR 125+

TUE-SUN | 830am - 230pm

125 serves solid pourovers in a quiet old house with just enough decay to make you feel like you're not in a coffee shop designed by a venture capitalist. There are a few specialty beans on display to choose between, or you can settle for the house blend if you're bad at decision making.

They also sell beans for those that have the means and the ways to brew on the road.

PROJECT 703

THU-TUE | 930am - 6pm

Wednesday Closed

Purveyors of Light-Medium roast beans to the local caffeine flock, this coffee shop slightly out of the central bend is a "must do" stop on the coffee grind. Talk to the staff about where your temptations lie, and they'll conjure up a cup.

DOUBLE DOSE

WED-MON | 12-11pm
Closed Tuesday

Who said random locations can't throw up great coffee? Not us. Double Dose is your little neighborhood gem specialising in choice pourovers from the 3-4 rotating bags, plus all your regular espresso and milk based drinks.

THE COFFEE JAR

WED-MON | 930am - 6pm
Tuesday Closed

Roasting beans in-house, and recently moved from next door due to the inevitable rising rents, this sleek home of concrete and calm serves pourover, espresso and sells beans fresh from the machine parked by the window.

WA COFFEE & ROASTER

Another renegade caffeinator roasting his own beans and preparing tasty pourovers at this fairly new cafe. Worth a visit if you're in these parts of town.

SIN SEE TAI

Open Daily: 10am-5.30pm

For those missing the taste of Parisian boulangerie's, pop by for a delectable croissant (and other pastries), order a coffee and head upstairs, or buy some beans by weight from the counter. A little gem that operates under the Daily Fix umbrella.