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‘OTTANTA’ PUTS THE BARRA COWS ON OVERTIME
You’ve heard of Tall (8fl oz), Grande(12 fl oz) and even Venti (20 fl oz), but for those who can’t get enough of a caffeine fix, the Blue Gill coffee bar in the isolated hamlet of Heave Buoy End on Barra in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, has introduced the ‘Ottanta’. This is a lattè that is made with 12 shots of espresso coffee. The new Ottanta (Italian for eighty) is so named because it contains an enormous 80 fluid ounces of coffee – the equivalent of four pints. The huge beverage is set to become a regular feature on the menu at the Blue Gill Cafe.
Ottanta is the brainchild of proprietor, Din Ho Wok, who opened the coffee bar just 12 months ago when he arrived from Vietnam. It was conceived with the help of his coffee supplier, the Drury Tea & Coffee Company in London: “Providing the coffee was one thing, but we had the devil of a job to find anyone who could make a cup of the correct size to hold such an amount of coffee”, says Drury Director, Marco Olmi. “In the end, we found a supplier in Portugal able to meet our requirements. If it sells well, we will be able to get them to fire a saucer to match the cup.”
So what makes Din think that the giant size lattè will take off? “I love my coffee” he says “and I’ve come to realise that my clientele are also caffeine addicts. I have no doubt that the Ottanta will become a best seller, not just here but in coffee shops up and down the land. But what about price? Din again: “We have a regular latte on the menu at £2.40. With 12 shots of coffee, the Ottanta sells for just £17.65 – which makes it a bargain really - when you think my clients make it last all morning! We serve it with a Fa Poi Roll, which is a traditional Vietnamese delicacy, a sort of sweet pancake roll.” The Blue Gill has even introduced thermal place mats to keep the coffee hot.
A strange side effect of the new move however, is that the island of Barra, which has more cows than humans, has completely run out of milk and now has to import it from Benbecula.
Last changed: Tuesday, 24th August, 2010 at 4:57 PM
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