Swtchbck Coffee, Sri Hartamas

By EDKL contributor Sammi Sowerby

Redolent of the fairy tale Rapunzel, Swtchback Coffee’s socially distanced yet ‘grammable pick-up service in Sri Hartamas caters to café hoppers who crave a novel experience — but don’t yet dare to dine-in.

Instead of a love-stricken prince peering up at a balcony, insert yourself into this picture: Your wait will be rewarded by the lowering of a wicker basket containing heady Espressos (RM7), Caramel Lattes (RM12), Earl Grey Cold Brews (RM6) and possibly the smoothest Dirty Matcha (RM14) in town.

When they’re not expertly pulling shots or producing caffeine-free Puppaccinos (RM8) — complete with puff pastry bones — for their customers’ fur-kids, business partners Adam and Jo sell cleverly conceived coffee sachets on Shopee and accept advance catering requests.

The pair primarily fulfil orders the ‘traditional way’ (third-party deliveries), but the basket idea came about to encourage coffee lovers to collect their own beverages.

A huge hint as to Adam and Jo’s passion for mountain biking, a ‘switchback’ refers to a road with ample twists, turns, ascents and descents, accurately describing their arduous journey of eking out a living during Covid-19 — but the young entrepreneurs are just kicking off.