Frothing up a fortune

COSTA COFFEE, England’s favourite coffee shop, recently took up residency in Bangkok and is now renting a pad at Siam Paragon. 

Known for its traditional Italian brews and home-made French-style snacks, it’s already packing in customers in need of a break from either shopping or work.

Founded in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, the company started life supplying quality Italian roasted beans to cafes and Italian speciality shops all over London.

In 1995, Costa was taken over by brewery giant Whitbread and today boasts more than 2,500 outlets in Europe, the Middle East, China and Singapore. Thai entrepreneur Express Food Group landed the franchise licence and tested the market by opening four Costa Coffee outlets in Cambodia last year.

Bangkok’s first branch opened just last month and the spacious interior is a great place to meet up with friends and take the weight of your feet.

The 70-seat cafe has a metropolitan feel, with retro wooden chairs covered with vibrant cushions, comfy sofas and oak tables imported from England.

“Costa Coffee is the premium coffee brand in the UK. Customers love it because they can customise their coffee with many choices of syrups or add as many coffee shots as they want,” says general manager Tantika Chantakhet.

The coffee is a blend known as Mocha Italia and contains 60 per cent arabica beans and 40 per cent robusta. The chocolate is imported from Belgium and the matcha green tea is shipped in from Japan. 

“All our coffee is slowly roasted at Costa’s roastery in the UK and master roaster Gennnaro Pelliccia guarantees the best flavour,” says Tantika

The signature Flat White (Bt120) is a rich and flavourful coffee with a velvety texture and hand-finished pattern though a firm favourite with Thai customers is the strong Espresso (Bt70). Sweeteners come in the form of syrups and include roasted hazelnut, cookie and caramel, while teas are enhanced by a shot of raspberry, strawberry and peach syrups.

Also worth sampling are the Iced Double Chocolate (Bt115 to Bt145) and refreshing Fruit Cooler, a blend of red berry, orange, raspberry, mango and passion fruit. Snacks are served, among them a ham & cheese panini (Bt145) that is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, tuna melt panini (Bt145), almond croissant (Bt80), a delectable coffee eclair (Bt85) and a sinfully rich dark triple chocolate muffin (Bt65).

 

 

REAL BREWS

>>Costa Coffee is located on the ground floor of Siam Paragon and is open daily from 10am to 10pm. Call (02) 610 7719 or visit “CostaCoffeeThailand” at Facebook.com.