Serving up freshly roasted coffee and exquisitely decorated cupcakes, Holly Brown has become a hot coffee spot in Central.
Coffee at Holly Brown is blended and roasted by the shop's Italian master roaster, Domenic Spadaccini, a coffee judge at the World Barista Championships, and Tracy Kwok and King Chan, winners of the Hong Kong Grand Barista Championships 2009.
Opened by Raymond Tsui, a banker who wants to bring specialty coffee to Hong Kong, the two-storey cafe also serves smooth frozen yogurt and gelato mixed in front of customers to suit their personal taste.
Popular items include Holly Brown Tango, or affogato, where a scoop of gelato is topped with a shot of espresso (HK$46); latte of a secret house blend (HK$38); espresso (HK$24); frozen yogurt with wild berry flavour (HK$38); gelato on cold stone (HK$44); cupcakes ($18); and mini pizzas (HK$28). The yogurt - which is 98 per cent fat free - and gelato are imported from Italy and made from natural ingredients.
To promote coffee appreciation, Holly Brown offers a course covering topics from the history of coffee and coffee beans to espresso equipment. Participants learn how to make espresso, cappuccino or latte. Each two-hour session costs HK$800.
The coffee shop seats about 100 people and offers take away and delivery services. Holly Brown opens from Mondays to Thursdays, 8am to 11pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 8am to noon, and 9am to 10pm on Sundays.