BANGKOK, Feb 15 — Picture a barista in your mind and chances are it’ll be a goateed hipster, with black-rimmed glasses and ornate tattoos winding up one or both arms. Possibly some carefully chosen piercings to set off sensitive metal detectors.
It does seem everyone is a barista these days. One might say everyone and their grandmother, which sounds vaguely rude, but what if that were true?
That’s certainly the case at Mother Roaster, a café in Bangkok run by septuagenarian Ploenpit Rianmek, who is affectionately known as Pa Pim (“Auntie Pim” in Thai). When your grandma is a barista, too, well, that’s just plain cool.
But how did we get there? Let’s retrace our steps...
We are in Bangkok’s historical Talad Noi (“little market” in Thai). Part of the capital’s Old Town and located close to the Chao Phraya River, Talad Noi is one of my favourite places to wander about in the city, full of bustle and yesteryear charm.
There’s an unmistakable aroma in the air. Wafts of kao lak (chestnuts) being roasted, sweet and smoky; the pungent aroma of nam pla (fish sauce) being splashed inside hot woks to caramelise and better flavour a plate of pad Thai.
Caught between these traditional scents is another, more subtle fragrance — that of specialty coffee being brewed. It’s a slow and meticulous art, for sure, but more importantly: where is the smell coming from?
We walk into San Chao Rong Kueak alley where the walls are adorned with not only murals, but also framed photographs of old shops and residents of the neighbourhood. (Hipsters are at their best when paying homage to heritage, no?)
The scent of coffee is getting stronger. We notice a dark entrance into what looks like an abandoned factory. Entering, we are startled by the gloom and musty, rusty odour.
Once our eyes get used to the dark, we observe piles of spare parts, from cogs and chains to what might have been complete car engines in their previous lives.
It’s a maze but one that has to be navigated, if we are to locate the secret entrance to the café. We recall what Morpheus said to Neo in The Matrix: “You take the blue pill: the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill: you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
We decide on the red pill. But how could we even be sure we’re in the right place? Well, a sandwich board advertising their signature Iced Latte On The ROK is quite a strong hint.
So we venture on, stepping gingerly on wooden planks and repurposed doors that have been placed on the heaps of metal detritus. Soon we reach a staircase and as we ascend, the smell of coffee becomes stronger.
Once upstairs, it’s a different world altogether with a profusion of potted greens. Warm sunlight and pale shadows dappling our faces and shoulders. A family of cats playing and napping.
We open the door and enter a much larger space inside. The entire house is wooden to begin with so the bones are there for the earthy tones beloved by some café owners. A long, L-shaped bar takes centrestage: the short “hand” for manually pressed espresso using British-designed ROK coffee makers.
This manual espresso maker was what Pa Pim first used back in 2019. Then Mother Roaster was but a two-stool coffee stand on Mahaphruttharam Road and a one-woman show.
She quickly went viral on Thai social media; drop by for a cuppa and a conversation across generations.
Fast forward a year and Pa Pim now has this bigger space to entertain fellow coffee lovers, as well as expanding her repertoire — which still includes favourites such as Black Honey Lime and Single Snow White, which is cold milk shaken with a single espresso shot — to cover locally farmed and roasted Thai beans and filter brews.
No surprise, then, that it’s the “long” hand of the bar that is the true focus. There is all manner of brewing paraphernalia for making pour-over coffee. And plenty of choices where single origin coffee beans are concerned.
The barista acts as a coffee “apothecary” to suggest the right bean to match your taste. Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai? Kenya or Ethiopia? Floral or nutty?
After consulting our “apothecary” and making our selections, we allow the barista to go about his brewing ritual — he’s in deep focus; his reversed cap emphasising his forehead and concentration — and explore the rest of the café.
From a front row, theatre-style seating in front of the brewing bar to an inner “dining hall” complete with retro toys and vintage coffee equipment, there is a space for every school of coffee drinker.
Those who are more introverted may appreciate a side corridor, complete with a cosy sofa and unused (at least at present) drum set.
After all, Mother Roaster now resides in what used to be a wooden house; we are meant to feel at home. To be welcomed as a family member but also a fellow coffee geek.
For trust me, Pa Pim is as much of a coffee geek as the most goateed and tattooed of hipster baristas. The septuagenarian merely aims to prove that age is no barrier when it comes to brewing a great cuppa. One is never too old... or too young. Or too whatever.
Perhaps that is a lesson to all of us. That whatever our age is, we have an opportunity to pursue whatever we are passionate about. There’s nothing to stop us.
The only question that remains might well be: What do we care most deeply about? And, indeed, what are we waiting for? (Life’s too short.)
Do we take the blue pill or the red pill? It’s clear which path Pa Pim has chosen: to explore the furthest reaches of this coffee Wonderland and to keep making great coffee.
As we settle into the plush sofa, with more coffee (some filter brew and a chilled, creamy Dirty) than is perhaps wise, we notice the drum set again. Someone should really have a go at playing that. Why not us? And, indeed, what are we waiting for?
For more slice-of-life stories, visit lifeforbeginners.com.
