Oscar's Brings Sydney's Coffee Culture to Hong Kong

Coffee lovers in Hong Kong can now enjoy the taste of a fine espresso blend, at the newly opened Oscar's on Wellington Street in Central. Launched by husband and wife team, Rebecca Mikula-Wright and Pavel Mikula, the espresso bar offers the highest quality beans from environmentally sustainable farms. The Source Asia catches up with one half of the duo, Rebecca Mikula-Wright, to find out more about Hong Kong’s coffee culture.

Why did you choose to launch a coffee shop? Why Hong Kong?

We had been searching for good coffee in Hong Kong for the last three years but were always left disappointed with what was on offer. So we always fell back on my brother’s blend that he uses in his cafés in Sydney. After speaking to so many friends and contacts in Hong Kong about the same coffee issues, we started looking into it more seriously. We thought it was crazy that everyone got so excited about returning to Australia on holidays because they would finally get some great coffee which is now accessible all over Sydney. Why Hong Kong? We always wanted to open a café, but Sydney is so saturated so we thought there were more opportunities here for a higher quality of coffee to be appreciated as the market is younger and less developed.

What sets you apart from other coffee shops?

We are an independent Australian espresso bar that focuses on a premium blend of coffee with staff that knows how to make it properly. We also establish personal connections with our customers. There are so many ‘cafés’ in this city, but they don’t necessarily specialize in coffee. It’s often just there as its part of the menu, but not much attention is paid to the making of it or the taste and they just get cheaper beans that are roasted locally. We pay more for our beans as they are higher quality and the result is a superior taste. Hong Kong has some good baristas that can make good coffee, but the underlying coffee standard I don’t think is that great. So the end result can only be as good as the coffee you start with. The higher the quality of coffee, with a better barista, of course will result in an overall better coffee for customers.

Your coffee beans come from environmentally sustainable farms. Can you tell us more about that?

We talk about our coffee as being "ethical espresso". My brother's factory (Australian Independent Roasters) has developed strong relationships with selected farms from visiting them personally. They purchase the highest quality beans from these sustainable farms, working with farmers to achieve the highest standards and taste profile of the coffee along the production line to the café. They are constantly raising the bar so that the coffee is better, which means the farmers get paid more for a quality product, so everyone benefits. Many roasters do not have this same degree of close working relationships with their suppliers. 50% of these sustainable farms are Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, which we feel is one of the better coffee certification programs out there. This sustainable sourcing is so important to us, as we're passionate about a product that benefits the people and the land it comes from. The benefit goes along the supply chain to end up with the customer being able to enjoy their coffee knowing it has been ethically sourced and produced, yet still producing superior taste.

What is your main message?

It’s a very Aussie term, but we like to call it ’bloody good coffee’ – in Central! We have fantastic coffee that customers keep coming back for. A piece of Aussie coffee heaven in Hong Kong.

You also aim to make Oscar's footprint as small as possible. How so?

We start with our main product, sourcing our sustainable coffee. We try to use organic ingredients in our food as much as possible, and we encourage customers to recycle their cups with us or give locations for the nearest recycling facilities. We are always looking to reduce our packaging and encourage our suppliers to do the same. We keep looking for more sustainable options to build into our business. For the things we can't control like electricity, we purchase carbon offsets by protecting rainforests in Indonesia through the Australian Orangutan Project. I love this organization because it helps the orangutans by providing jobs to people to preserve their environment. We hope this will raise awareness of the importance of sustainability in our everyday lives - even in your morning coffee and people will make better choices with every purchase.

Oscar's Espresso Bar, 85-89 Wellington St, Central, Tel: (852) 3486 4986

Opening Hours: Monday – Friday, 7.30am – 6.30pm / Saturday & Sunday, 9am – 6pm