KUCHING: Two years ago, when the government announced the implementation of the first Movement Control Order (MCO), from March 18 to 31, almost everyone thought that they would be able to return to normal life; and start meeting and hanging out with their friends and loved ones after two weeks.
However, that did not happen as the MCO continued to be extended for months – this prompted a husband and Sarawakian wife in Kuala Lumpur to start brewing and dropping off coffee for friends who lived within a 10 km radius from their home – due to travel restrictions.
“My husband has a passion for making delicious coffee and he would spend his free time researching and developing recipes. He has his own coffee gears and even roasters at home.”
“So, we decided to send some coffee to our friends as we haven’t met them for so long due Covid-19 and MCO,” said Rachel Ang, 30, the co-founder of Billy Goat Coffee.
“Besides, we wanted to remind our friends to continue to stay home and to stay safe, thus, our first label read ‘STAY AT HOME with Billy Goat Coffee’,” she told New Sarawak Tribune.
The couple decided to sell their coffee after receiving overwhelming feedback from friends and word got around and they started to get orders.
Ang said they returned and settled down in Kuching in April last year and continued brewing and selling coffee.
Billy Goat Coffee has then become the first bottled coffee business that delivers right to the customers’ doorstep in Kuching as well as one of the first apple strudels in town.
Ang who was also the co-founder of a local lifestyle brand Flint and Steel Borneo and Small Town Art Market event said their menu was inspired by their travels and experiences.
Meanwhile, her husband was the Champion of the Malaysian Coffee Roast Master Championship for the ‘Best Flavor Award’ in 2018.
“Our brand is unique as the menu is definitely not a typical cafe menu. We invest a lot of time for our products and design.”
“Apart from our best-selling Signature Iced Coffee (milk coffee) and Iced Black, we have Iced Mint Chocolate for the non-coffee drinkers. On the dessert list, we have Apple Strudel, Honeycake, and Nonna Lemon Cake, which is going to be launched soon,” she said.
“Our products are all the things we really enjoy. We put our hand on our heart that we are 100 per cent satisfied with every single product we serve,” she added.
For instance, Ang said their Honeycake, which was alternating layers of light caramelised honey flavours, topped with premium walnuts. It was handmade/hand-rolled, baked and assembled layer by layer. The whole process takes 12 hours. It was a tedious and time consuming process.
She said one of the challenges of a home grown business during the Covid-19 pandemic was the constant restrictions, thus, limiting the exposure of their brand and products.
However, they are grateful for the customers to give them a chance by placing orders even before trying their products.
“We are homebased now and taking orders via online now and we definitely hope to expand our coffee business, reach out to the community with a more personal and physical experience. We hope to continue to gather Kuching over delicious top notch coffee and unique desserts,” she added.
Billy Goat Coffee’s products range between RM25 and RM40, designed to be shared up to three or four pax. Their instagram handle is @billygoatcoffeemy; those who are interested can click on the link in bio and order via WhatsApp.
