The three popular Italian brands of coffee known to the general public in Malaysia are Illy, Lavazza and Segafredo Zanetti. As far as I know, only Illy and Segafredo has specialty outlet. Most of the time, I’m not really impressed by all these brand names.. mostly because of the issue of freshness. One of the most important criteria when appreciating coffee is their freshness, meaning how many weeks from roasting. And most of these branded names never put the roasting date on their bags. They only put expiry date, which to me means nothing.

But many of these Italian giants in the coffee industry does put a lots of effort in their research. So their coffee blend tend to be more forgiving, producing average decent brew even though lack of freshness. I always hope that in their specialty outlet, with higher traffic and better quality control… a decent cup can be found.

Paramount Espresso Sdn Bhd is the Malaysian franchisee of Segafredo Zanetti Espresso.

Drop by to the Segafredo Zanetti Espresso outlet in Sunway Pyramid last night with my wife. I think it is their only specialty outlet in Kuala Lumpur. If not mistaken, they had another 3 or 4 outlet in Penang.

It is in Bistro style… they had liquer license. So if you like alcohol based coffee drinks or coffee based alcoholic drinks, there are plenty to choose from. But I’m there for their coffee, as plain as can be.

Firstly, I had a chat with their manager, Mr. Jimmy. He was friendly and very willing to explain how they maintain their quality and standards.

Coffee in grinder
They do not put huge amount of coffee in the grinder’s hopper. I saw only a few shots worth of pre-grind coffee in the grinder. I would have prefer them to practice “grind to order” but it is way better than most cafe already. Many a times, when I visit any cafe I just take a glance at their grinder and it is enough to put me off. Especially those places with low traffic, and I see lots of pre-ground coffee in the grinder. Yucks… you really don’t know how long those coffee were left to oxidize.

The Coffee
They use their own special blend of coffee for their outlet and it is not available anywhere. Meaning you can only it in their own specialty outlet.

The espresso
Jimmy prepared the espresso. It was a decent pour but blonding at the end of the shots. Surprisingly (I know, I know.. it always surprises me) it was a pretty decent shot. No bitterness, nice roasted smell and no bad after-taste. My wife likes it. Me too, but I would have prefer more complexity in my espresso. Comparing available espressos in the market, it is definitely the better ones.
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(Nice pour. A bit of blonding in the cup, but somehow still tasted fine)

The Cappuccino
Another barista, Martin made us the cappuccino. Used Magnolia fresh milk. Decently frothed with decent microfoam. Never mind about latte-art but microfoam is what you should look for. Good body and taste of coffee was quite balanced. But I find it lack sweetness, could be the milk. I never really like Magnolia. Jimmy says he may experiment with Goodday or Farmhouse.

Better than any $bucks.

It was an overall lovely visit. If I’m in Sunway Pyramid, Segafredo is where I’m going for coffee. The location is not easy to find because it is not on the inside the building but at the side lane leading to the Theme Park. At the new wing, if you know where is Starbucks or JCo, next to them is one of the exit/entrance of Sunway Pyramid. Walk out, turn right, walk to the end about 30m and turn right again and you will find it.

More pics

For good coffee in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, Malaysia… visit Segafredo Zanetti Espresso