once i asked von why our coffee at home tastes so different. he told me it was because the beans were cooked with butter.

sure enough today i find, on singapore food history (thanks yvonne!) , a history of coffee consumption in singapore:

[excerpted from Selina Ching Chan's article, "Consuming Food : Structuring Social Life and Creating Social Relationships" in Chan Kwok Bun & Ton Chee Kiong (eds), Past Times: A Social History of Singapore, Singapore : Times Editions, 2003.]

"Coffee shops were mainly owned by the Hainanese. This was related to the fact that the Hainanese worked for the British during the colonial era and had learnt the techniques of making coffee. The habit of drinking coffee was certainly learnt from the colonial masters and this makes the coffeeshop an imitation of the cafe. The coffeeshop, however, is very different from a Western-style cafe.

"The way in which the coffee is prepared, served and consumed is unique. Coffee beans here were fried with butter. This was different from the practice in Western Europe or the States, where beans are roasted. A piece of butter was usually served with the coffee. People either added the butter to the coffee or ate it separately. It was believed that this method of drinking coffee would soothe the throat. The locals believed that coffee was a "heaty" drink and butter a cooling food; taken together, they would maintain the balance in the body. The coffee served here was mixed with condensed milk and sugar."