fee or shops that have an espres-
so based menu). I have so start by
asking the customer which menu
item they normally order in oth-
er shops. Then I have to imagine
and get creative to find something
they like. This is the part of my job
I love too. Creating a new drink for
someone so they can come back
and get it again or discover more.
For every customer I serve, we go
on a tasting journey together. This
helps us connect over coffee.
You told us about your first
business, ‘Brew on Street.’ What
did you learn from that to helpe
you transition to a brick and
mortar shop?
The first thing with Brew on Street
is that we were brewing coffee in
the evenings (when the markets
are open 6-10pm) So people were
always asking me, how many peo-
ple drink coffee in the evenings? I
told them, I don’t know, I have to
try it. Actually a lot of the other
merchants at the market were the
ones buying because they were
working all night. Brew on Street
was good for foreigners because
they already understand coffee
culture and the price and brew
method but for Thai people it took
maybe two years of doing Brew on
Street (est. 2014) before we could
develop a local customer base. We
were able to learn that people do
like stronger caffeine with a lower
acidity, so it is really a connection
between the people who were
coming back to Brew on Street
every week to tell us what that in-
formed me what to
The product you’re selling is
definitely a niche market in
Phuket. What’s a typical new
customer conversation like for
people who aren’t really sure
how your product is different
from the instant coffee with
sweetened condensed milk
that’s more common in Phuket?
How are customers respond-
ing?
For me, I have to start over and get
to know every customers taste.
In Phuket, there are only 2 coffee
menus (shops that have instant cof
| Page 21
Is that what keeps people com-
ing back?
Yes, because it is not my style to
hard sell them. Many of them
know now from my last business,
Brew on Street, that all of our cof-
fees are specialty coffees and not
commercial so this is the only place
they can try them. If they don’t like
the new specialty coffee it is not a
problem, I can make them the old
drink that they like from our set
menu of black coffee, white coffee,
latte, cappuccino, mocha, or Amer-
icano. For the younger generation
that is just starting to drink coffee
(15 – 18) it’s very easy because they
do not have any old ideas about
coffee but for people who have
been drinking coffee for awhile,
I have to find the link of the taste
they like with the modern brew
method. Also the competition
keeps people coming back.
Many people followed our journe
on social media and come in to ask
if I can make them the same coffee
that won the competition.
So you’ve been out of town all
week traveling to Bangkok and
Chiang Mai working on some
new projects for your coffee
business. What were you work-
ing on?
When I have everything in place, I
plan to travel around Thailand, My-
anmar, Lao, China, Vietnam, Cam-
bodia and back to Thailand for 1 or
2 years. I get a lot of energy when
I’m thinking about this plan.
Last week I had a chance to go to
Bangkok to teach a 3 day coffee
workshop on gear, brewing, and
tasting. The first day was pourov-
ers. The second day was aeropress
training and day three was a cof-
fee talk with question and answer
about my journey in coffee and
business After the workshop I
went to Chiang Rai (Northern Thai-
land) and bought too many new
coffee beans..
So what’s the next part of your
dream Ko? Business, personal,
or otherwise?
For personal, my first love is travel
but for work ever since I saw a cof-
fee tree in Doi Chang, I don’t want
to do anything besides coffee.
Once I save enough money, it will
be back to my first love of trave-
ling. I want to retrofit a VW bus as a
traveling coffee cart. I need to save
money to buy the van, a generator,
and practice with my recipes out-
side of the shop.
“
For every cus-
tomer I serve we
go on a tasting
journey together
Page 20-21:
BOTTOM LEFT:
Ko and his coffee making
equipment
Page 22-23:
LEFT: Ko
BOTTOM RIGHT:
Ko and colleague creating fresh
coffee on the street.
Page 22 |