Little Mart grocer expands with The Little Espresso Bar and signature strawberry matcha latte

An Asian grocer in the Mackay CBD is helping residents beat the heat with a new cafe serving up strawberry matcha lattes and traditional Thai iced drinks.

Baristas from the The Little Espresso Bar in Mackay preparing an iced matcha latte on January 15 2025

Thai grown coffee blends and iced matcha lattes are making their way into Mackay as the owners of a CBD Asian grocer launch their new cafe.

Owners Borripat ‘Borri’ Apikhantikul and his wife Natnicha ‘Pui’ expanded their Little Mart grocer on MacAlister Street in December, opening The Little Espresso Bar specialising in Thai inspired iced drinks and coffee.

Owners Natnicha and Borripat Apikhantikul have been running the cafe next to their grocery store.

Borri and Pui have been running the Little Mart since 2018, and he and his brother since decided to dive into the world of Thai coffee, introducing traditional recipes perfect for a scorching summer’s day.

“My brother reached out to me saying he wanted to introduce Thai coffee to Australia. We had to put a pause on it because of Covid,” he said.

Strawberry iced matcha latte at The Little Espresso Bar, Mackay, January 15 2025

Locals are catching on with the strawberry iced matcha quickly becoming a town favourite.

“Very good and very reasonably priced too,” one customer said.

“Lots of ice which is good on a hot day.”

Strawberry iced Matcha latte at the Little Espresso Bar, a traditional Thai inspired cafe which opened in Mackay. Photo taken January 15, 2025

Barista Norapriek Sirinieongkhonphan, also known as Bingo, says while the matcha is the best selling product by far, he can’t go past the Es-Yen, the Thai coffee.

“I’m from Thailand and it tastes very similar to Thai coffee. My manager is from Thailand as well and she brought the recipe,” he said

Customers enjoying their iced drinks out the front of Little Espresso Bar Mackay on January 14, 2025.

The Es-Yen includes coffee beans grown and processed on a farm Borri’s brother works on in Chiang Mai, North Thailand.

The drink will set you back $7.50, while a Thai style matcha latte will cost you $7.90.

“We do know a lot of Thai people here which is why we got a Thai menu,” Borri said.

“We’ve been growing up with these. We are providing this exactly the same as you would get it in Thailand.”