The specialty coffee pioneer from Australia finds a chic and cozy new home, the two-floor space offering a unique omakase experience that highlights the versatility of its signature blends.
Since opening in Melbourne two decades ago, specialty coffee pioneer ST. ALi has changed the way Australians approach coffee. Yet even years down the line—in a landscape where coffee culture is booming and more ubiquitous than ever—the brand continues to stand out through creative, innovative offerings. This is most evident in its newly-opened branch at the ground floor of Grand Hyatt Residences’ South Tower: a cozy and spacious two-floor space with its own dedicated coffee omakase area. The BGC branch marks ST. ALi’s second and flagship home in the Philippines (the first branch nestled within Opus Mall), the only other country it has expanded to aside from Indonesia (so far).
“We’re forever restless in that we’re always trying to challenge ourselves and look outside of coffee for inspiration,” shares CEO Lachlan Ward with Lifestyle Asia. “It’s about never accepting the status quo. We’re looking at things different, and we’re never too proud to keep trying something new.”
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A Space For Beans And Brunch, The ST. ALi Way
Designed by a team of Melbourne and Manila creatives, the ST.ALi in BGC is evidently a space that encourages guests to stay and appreciate their coffee. Bespoke pieces, pleasing color palettes, comfortable seating, and a distinctly contemporary ambiance offer a self-contained pocket of calm for anyone who needs a place to unwind or work.
ST. ALi sources its signature beans from partners across the globe, roasting them in-house from its native Melbourne. The brand aims to democratize its recognizable coffee, making it more accessible to anyone craving a good cup at any time of the day.
“Like any business, you’re only as good as your partners and the product you’re working with,” Lachlan adds. “We’ve been working with certain producers in El Salvador and Costa Rica for as long as I can remember—they have become a part of the fabric of the brand. It’s about bringing coffee to people in a way that resonates.”
As for ST. ALi’s lasting power, part of it lies in the constant quality of its beans. “I think what most people want with their daily coffee is consistency. Once they find the ones they like, they want it to be consistently excellent every day,” Lachlan explains. “It’s tricky with coffee because it’s a seasonal product that changes all the time, but that’s our guiding star when it comes to how we’ve built our blends. We ask: ‘How do we design these—roast and brew them a certain way, so that they taste the same almost every day of the year?’”
The new location is serving ST. ALi’s full coffee menu, together with a curated selection of dishes that bring Melbourne-style brunch to BGC. These include the popular “Biscoff Freddo,” which features a house blend of Orthodox espresso, a Biscoff and chocolate syrup, and cold film foam. Manila-exclusive plates and drinks will also be available.
Alex Wang, who heads the brand’s global R&D, talks about using local ingredients like ube and pandan to bring that Filipino touch to the menu. Creations like a Negroni with a coffee twist also add vibrancy to ST. ALi’s offerings. For Wang, this kind of reinvention needs to strike a balance—bold, but not outlandish, just enough to entice people to try something fresh and exciting.
And on the topic of fresh and exciting, there’s the highlight of the BGC branch: a sleek bar-style area meant to serve coffee pairings omakase-style.
A Coffee Omakase Experience
“Coffee has taken a different shape over the journey. I think back to when we first started out: it was being experienced and drunk very differently than today,” Lachlan shares. “I think most people had certain parameters around how they drank and enjoyed coffee. Back then, it wasn’t seen as this sort of speciality product that could be enjoyed in a similar way to wine.” But today? That’s a different story, and a conversation ST. ALi continues to be a part of through its coffee omakase—something that began its early stages in Melbourne, but is now poised to become a fixture in its BGC branch.
Like a traditional Japanese omakase—which refers to a dynamic dining setup where chefs serve guests a changing menu on any given day (roughly translating to “I leave it up to you”)—this set up pairs unique coffee blends and creations with small bites, creating a multi-course tasting experience that deepens the way we approach our favorite caffeinated drinks. “Expect to see some guest roasters from countries like Europe and Japan just use this space,” Lachlan elaborates.
Lifestyle Asia had a chance to try the new experience, getting a front row seat to watch Wang work his magic as he walked us through the three-course menu for the day.
At the center of it was the “Colombia Zarza Pacamara Natural” blend, hailing from Zarza Coffee in Bruselas, Colombia. Owned by brothers Jonathan and Johan, the farm derives its name from the zarzamora (blackberry) trees that surround it. The blend’s beans are carefully hand-picked at peak ripeness, before being placed in plastic bags with cherries in a low-oxygen environment for three to four days, undergoing a second fermentation, then being sun-dried and finished in mechanical driers. The result is cups of coffee with a fruity sweetness to them, and strong notes of cherry and dark chocolate you can easily smell from a hot, freshly-brewed cup.
The first course, “First Bloom,” began with a pour-over drink that let the coffee’s floral and fruity notes shine, while an accompanying Chocolate Éclair with Orange Diplomat complemented the drink’s natural sweetness.
The second “Two to Tango” course was an interplay of milk and espresso, the rich blend consisting of 20% coconut milk, 20% macadamia milk, and 60% luscious full cream milk that added an inventive, nuanced layer to the stronger shot of espresso. A chocolate and honeycomb sorbet with cherries finished it off with a lighter mouthfeel—and transformed the espresso into an affogato for those bold enough to dunk a scoopful of it into their shots.
Last but not least was a “Finale Twist”: a coffee cocktail or mocktail, depending on whether guests want a non-alcoholic drink. The cocktail was a well-balanced Black Forest Negroni of espresso, gin, vermouth rosso, Campari, and cherry syrup; while the pleasant “Forêt Noire” mocktail mixed espresso with passion fruit syrup for zest, hibiscus tea, and honey. The headier mixes were served alongside a bouncy chocolate mousse topped with flecks of sea salt and a dash of olive oil, then matched with a crisp biscuit.
At its heart, ST. ALi’s new BGC outpost isn’t just another coffee shop: it’s an invitation to slow down, savor, and rediscover what makes a cup of coffee extraordinary. Whether through its omakase experience or a quiet brunch on a busy day, the brand continues to blur the line between craft and comfort, showing that coffee can be as thoughtful, expressive, and alive as the people who drink and make it.
ST. ALi’s new flagship branch is located at the ground floor of The Grand Hyatt Residences, South Tower, in Bonifacio Global City (BGC).
Photos courtesy of ST. ALi (unless specified).
