How this KL motorcycle cafe’s 15 minutes of fame drove its owners to dream bigger

If you’ve found yourself scrolling on TikTok recently, you may have come across a Malaysian-brewed “Butterbeer” offering making rounds on the internet.

It’s a product by Rosco KL, which opened its doors attached to Ace Cafe on Lot 389 of Jalan Raja Abdullah.

Courtesy of its neighbour whose roots stretch back to 1938 in London, the area is a hub for petrolheads and rock and roll fans alike.

Rosco is looking to do much the same, aiming to become a local “Hard Rock Cafe” for lovers of motorcycles and biker culture.

Sharing their story is Syed Ariff, one of Rosco KL’s co-founding owners alongside Azahar and Harris Yahya (Jo).

Switching gears

Rosco actually found its start as a community centre in collaboration with Ace Cafe. The idea was to create a space for motorcycle enthusiasts to gather, giving people more incentive to drop by.

Once the renovations were done, however, visitors couldn’t help but notice something. Or rather, the lack of something.

The place didn’t have much going for it.

“This brought myself, Azahar, and Jo to discuss the opportunity to run a small cafe to support the community centre,” Syed explained.

The plan was to create something sustainable, just a side gig with low startup costs. Syed was, and still is, a GM of operations for a private company in the transportation industry, and Azahar was an architect.

But when Rosco found their 15 minutes of fame through their Butterbrew, it ignited the spark to turn the business into something much bigger.

A magic touch

If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, no, you’re not overthinking or imagining things. Rosco’s Butterbrew is in fact inspired by Butterbeer.

“It started as an experiment during MCO with my eldest daughter who wanted me to try and come up with the Butterbeer,” Syed said.

However, rummaging through YouTube, the two just couldn’t find a recipe that suited their taste. The end result was always something that was too sweet.

“Hence, I added some local ingredients with some secret recipe and came up with the Butterbrew.”

Of course, they couldn’t exactly name it “Butterbeer.” Potential copyright issues aside, Butterbrew does not have any beer in it, and the team at Rosco didn’t want to give off the impression that it did.

Unfortunately, that didn’t stop some bad eggs on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook from trying to dissuade patrons from coming to Rosco. Quite a few claimed that Butterbrew was haram for Muslims, according to Syed.

“We managed to overcome this by explaining and getting experts as well as some influencers to educate these users,” he explained.

Online hiccup aside, the support for Rosco has been “overwhelming,” with many coming by just to try their signature drink.

“We sell over 200 cups a night of the Butterbrew at our location,” he noted.

Beyond just the original recipe, several variations of their Butterbrew also exist. “Creamy” and “bloody” versions are two such examples of what Rosco has concocted.

Other items on their menu include an assortment of coffee, fizzy drinks, teas, matcha, milk, lemonade, and chocolate. 

For the peckish, they also have various sandwich and toast dishes, on top of three “specials” for customers to try.

Looking ahead

Taking over from Syed, Azahar noted that the viral post that got them to where they are today was simply a matter of luck. But what’s important is allowing yourself the opportunity to get lucky in the first place.

Discipline and creativity when posting, he notes, is key in this day and age where social media reins supreme.

“I guess my advice is just keep doing content,” the co-founder said. “We never know when it can be viral.”

Of course, another aspect of virality is the inevitable influx of hate comments. Touching on those, Azahar notes that the best way to deal with them is just to keep it professional.

For Rosco, this involves addressing the commenters concerns or doing their best to explain details about their business. Then, they just leave it at that.

The immediate goal for Rosco is to franchise the business within the next three years.

“Our aim is to have at least one Rosco restaurant in each state with ample parking serving our menu,” shared Syed.

A far cry from what they initially set out to do, for sure. But when opportunity knocks, sometimes it’s best to just go full throttle.