Forty Hands 5.38

40 Hands Story
With the opening of 40 Hands in October 2010, the beginnings of a coffee revolution started to brew – one that would soon take hold of not just the sleepy Tiong Bahru street it called home, but also the rest of Singapore.
Created by Harry Grover in collaboration with Spa Esprit Group, 40 Hands burst onto the scene as one of the very first coffee joints in Singapore to offer a taste of Third Wave coffee. Its mission: to elevate the status of coffee appreciation, promote sustainability by opting for direct trade, and offering delicious specialty coffee made with super fresh beans. The cosy neighbourhood café soon won fans over, making quality Third Wave Coffee accessible, breathing new life into the once quiet Yong Siak Street, and sparking off the arrival of other hip new shops and cafes in the Tiong Bahru area.
Believing that it takes 40 hands to produce a single cup of coffee, from bean to cup, Grover is a firm advocate of the Third Wave Coffee movement, championing sustainability and coffee knowledge and appreciation. He holds a Masters in Asian Sustainable Development Studies from Murdoch University, and is passionate not just about creating outstanding coffee, but also ensuring it translates into a positive impact on the lives of the millions of coffee growers in poor and developing countries.
40 Hands gets a facelift
More than three years after 40 Hands’ debut, the specialty coffee scene in Singapore has grown tremendously, and we’ve kept ourselves busy feeding people with delicious coffee. Caught up in pulling shots and making fresh comfort grub all day, we suddenly noticed that the café was looking a bit tired. 40 Hands was first built on a shoestring in the early days of Singapore’s coffee culture, and having grown up along with the scene, it came time for a little sprucing up.
3 weeks and a bit of tinkering later, we re-opened on April 4th, 2014 with a refreshed look and menu! Come check us out and we promise the same great coffee and food in a space that’s a little more polished and comfortable, yet keeping that cosy, soulful feel that we’ve grown with over the years. A generous embrace of wood elements adds warmth, while army-inspired motifs and Grover’s personal knick knacks are evocative of his own childhood fascination with the theme.
Taking coffee to the next level
Originally buying all of 40 Hands’ roasted coffee from specialty roasters Five Senses Coffee Australia, who have 14 years of experience in the industry, Grover wanted to go a step further to bring Five Senses’ roasting know how and incredible green coffees into Singapore.
Hence, he partnered with them to open Common Man Coffee Roasters, delivering fresh locally-roasted coffee through its own café at 22 Martin Road, as well as various wholesale accounts in Singapore and the region.
http://www.commonmancoffeeroasters.com