South Korea’s Compose Coffee opens at Suntec City, has S$2.80 Americanos

South Korean coffee giant Compose Coffee has opened its doors at Suntec City. With close to 2,400 outlets in South Korea alone, this is the brand’s first overseas outlet.

The store, which is located on the first floor, between Tower 3 & 4 of the mall, has attracted queues since its opening on Sep. 25, and has served close to 10,000 customers since its launch.

When Mothership paid a visit to the store, we noted that many of the customers – a number of them Korean – opted for Americanos (S$2.80) and croffles (from S$2.90).

All drinks come in one size – 20oz (about 590ml) for both iced and hot options.

For those who haven’t discovered the wonders of croffles yet, they’re croissants put into a waffle maker, essentially bringing the best of worlds together.

The menu

For those who just want a quick caffeine fix, the lowest-priced items on the menu are the espresso and Americano, which are S$2.80 each. For the latter, customers can top up S$0.50 for the iced version.

There’s also the usual cafe latte (S$3.90), caramel macchiato (S$4.80) and cafe mocha (S$5).

What’s unique to Compose Coffee’s menu are items like the Busan Sea Salted Cream Latte (S$6.10), the K-Strawberry Latte (S$5.10), Candy Soda Milkshake (S$6.40), K-Red Bean Milkshake (S$6.90) and Sangha Farm Ice Cream Latte (S$5.80).

Here’s what they look like, and what we think of them:

Busan Sea Salted Cream Latte

Easily one of the prettiest drinks we’ve seen. You have to stir well before drinking, as the salted top layer complements the rest of the drink.

We felt that the sea salt lends just the right amount of saltiness to the drink, which is fitting for the recent weather.

Fun fact: Compose Coffee has shared that this is currently the most popular drink in Singapore.

K-Strawberry Latte

This was one of our favourites. The milk was light like Hokkaido milk, and frozen strawberries were blended and used for the base, making us feel like we were eating fresh strawberries.

Candy Soda Milkshake

On first look, it reminds us a lot of this old-school Korean ice cream, especially with the blue on top, and white at the bottom:

Interestingly enough, it also tasted similar to it, and will probably be a nostalgic blast to the past for those who have spent time in South Korea.

K-Red Bean Milkshake

The red beans weren’t just blended into the milkshake – there was also a serving of them sitting on top of the drink, which was topped off by injeolmi, or Korean rice cake. It felt substantial enough to be a dessert, and yummy enough to polish off in one sitting.

Sangha Farm Ice Cream Latte

It’s an ice cream latte, but better. The soft serve is made with milk from the Sangha Farm in Busan, and is light enough that it didn’t feel heavy at all when added to the coffee. We like.

The food items on the menu are largely dominated by croffles, which come in various flavours:

• Plain (S$2.90)
• Cinnamon (S$3.40)
• Salted caramel (S$4.50)
• Basil & peperoncino (S$4.50)
• Brown cheese (S$4.90)
• Cheddar cheese (S$4.90)

They are made fresh daily in-store, and tend to run out towards midday.

Keeping prices competitive

The brand's Strategic Planning Manager Choi Jihun told Mothership that they are able to keep prices low as their parent company, JM Coffee Group, fully controls every part of their distribution channel. This includes the importing of the beans, roasting them in their factories, and distributing the beans to their outlets.

With lowered distribution costs, Compose Coffee is able to keep prices competitive.

The brand, which has over 2,300 outlets in South Korea, decided to open its first overseas store in Singapore for a number of reasons.

Choi said:

“Singapore plays a pivotal role as an international hub to Southeast Asia and the world, bridging the East and the West demographically, culturally, and economically. It is where diversities are welcomed and differences are celebrated.

More than that, Singapore’s love for coffee can be traced long throughout its history, making it a strategic location in growing our brand.”

They hope to open 80 outlets in Singapore in the near future, and branch out to other countries in the world including Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Mongolia, the U.S, and Canada.

Compose Coffee

Address: Suntec City Tower 3 #01-623/624, 3 Temasek Boulevard, Singapore 038983

Opening hours: 8am to 7:30pm, daily

This sponsored article by Compose Coffee made the writer schedule more work meetings in Suntec City.

Top photos courtesy of Compose Coffee and by Lee Wei Lin