One moment coffee’s a healthy option; an espresso later, it’s bad for you. Crema Magazine tries to help you separate the fact from the fiction…

Every day, 70 million skinny lattes, cappuccinos, double espressos and plain old black coffees are consumed in the UK. But for each of us who savours that freshly ground taste and feels confident that it’s providing us with antioxidants and improving our concentration, there’s someone else growing increasingly paranoid that their daily cuppa joe might be leaving them dehydrated or addicted to caffeine.

Hardly a month goes by without a contradictory report on the health issues surrounding caffeine, so it’s no wonder the drink that many of us rely on is woefully misunderstood. This confusion was highlighted in a recent survey by the British Coffee Association.

It showed that 61% of participants didn’t realise that each cup of coffee counts towards daily fluid intake; three out of four people had no idea that scientific research has demonstrated that drinking moderate amounts of coffee may help protect against a range of diseases, including type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s; and a whopping 63% of us have tried to reduce the number of cups we drink each day because we’re worried that coffee might be bad for our health.

Hydration

It was long thought that caffeinated beverages were diuretics (which speed up the elimination of bodily fluids), but studies reviewed last year found that people who consumed drinks with up to 550mg of caffeine – or the equivalent of al least eight cups of instant coffee – produced no more urine than when drinking fluids free of caffeine. However, above 575mg, the drug was classed as a diuretic.

Heart disease

Patients with heart problems, especially high blood pressure, are often told to avoid caffeine, a known stimulant. But an analysis of ten studies of more than 400,000 people found no increase in heart disease among daily coffee drinkers, whether their coffee came with caffeine or not.

“Contrary to common belief,” concluded cardiologists at the University of California, there is “little evidence that coffee and/or caffeine in typical dosages increases the risk” of heart attack, sudden death or abnormal heart rhythms. In fact, among 27,000 women in Iowa who participated in a study for 15 years, those who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24%.

Hypertension

Caffeine induces a small, temporary rise in blood pressure. But in a study of 155,000 nurses, those who drank coffee for a decade were no more likely to develop hypertension than non-coffee drinkers. But a higher risk of hypertension was found from drinking colas.

Pregnancy
A study by the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology found more than 200mg of caffeine a day doubled the risk of miscarriage. But British Medical Journal research found no difference between women who drank moderate amounts of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. The Food Standards Agency advises an upper limit of 300mg during pregnancy – the equivalent of four cups of coffee a day.

Cancer
In an international review of 66 studies in 1997, scientists found that coffee-drinking had little, if any, effect on the risk of developing pancreatic or kidney cancer. In fact, another review suggested that compared with people who do not drink coffee, those who do halve the risk of developing liver cancer. And a study of 59,000 women in Sweden found no connection between coffee, tea or caffeine consumption and breast cancer. Some studies have found coffee drinkers have lower rates of colon and rectal cancers.

Liver disease
A 2006 study suggested coffee could reduce the risk of alcohol-related liver disease. The US research found a 22% reduced risk of developing alcoholic cirrhosis for each cup of coffee drunk per day. But tea was not associated with a reduced risk, suggesting an ingredient other than caffeine may be the active factor.

Weight loss
Although caffeine speeds up the metabolism, with 100mg burning an extra 75 to 100 calories a day, no long-term benefit to weight control has been demonstrated. In fact, in a 12-year study of more than 58,000 health professionals, those who increased their caffeine consumption gained more weight than those who didn’t.

Cellulite
Despite the widely held belief that coffee is a toxin which causes cellulite, there is no scientific research to back this up. In fact, one Brazilian study found that skin creams made with caffeine can help combat the appearance of cellulite.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Probably the most important effect of caffeine is its ability to enhance mood and performance. At consumption levels up to 200mg, consumers report an improved sense of well-being, energy and sociability.

Caffeine improves alertness and reaction time. And in the sleep-deprived, it improves memory and the ability to perform complex tasks. The Department for Transport advises drivers to ‘stop for a 15-minute break and drink two cups of coffee every two hours’ to alleviate fatigue. For the active, caffeine enhances endurance in aerobic activities, and performance in anaerobic ones, perhaps because it blunts the perception of pain and aids the ability to burn fat for fuel.

Recent findings add to coffee’s popularity. A review of 13 studies found that people who drank caffeinated coffee had a 30% lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. Another review found that people who drank four to six cups a day, with or without caffeine, had a 28% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

How to kick the habit

Palpitations, irritability, insomnia, tremors in your hands and an inability to concentrate are symptoms of too much caffeine, but be prepared for more irritability, nausea, tiredness and headaches upon withdrawal.

Cut down slowly rather than going cold turkey. Drink plenty of (non-caffeinated) fluids to prevent headaches. Take painkillers to help with headaches. Massage, acupuncture, reflexology or any other stress-busting activities are also recommended.

Ethiopian – Yirgacheffe

Not too long ago I began to design a tattoo as the urge for a new one had started to grow. I started to think about what I wanted it to represent and inevitably found myself reflecting on the last thirty years of my life. I decided that I wanted the end result to be a manifestation of my origins, where I came from and the foundations that made me who I am. I haven’t booked the appointment yet, I’m still working on it, but the theme of the last month has been my roots, origins, beginnings and how I got to be sitting here writing this article. So, naturally it seems fitting to be reviewing the birth place of coffee – Ethiopia.

As the story goes, in Kaffa Ethiopia AD850, a goat herder observed his goats getting a little silly after they grazed on a native cherry. Kaldi, being the enterprising young goat herder he was, consequently knew he was onto a good thing. The rest of this particular tale is going to take way too long to tell in its entirety so let’s fast track it a bit. Coffea Arabica has been growing wild in Ethiopia since the dawn of time and is known by the Ethiopian people as “buna”. The coffee industry is the seventh largest producer in the world and employs well over 12 million people in some 350,000 farms located in the regions of Harar, Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Limmu and Djimmah. The traditional way that Ethiopians grow their coffee are included in certifications such as Fair trade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and certified organic. The grading system there just recently got a shake up by the introduction of the “Q” grading system for specialty coffees. Up until now coffees would be graded as based on its process; wet receiving a grade 1-3 and dry processed receive a 4-5. Now many coffees can be submitted to a second of round of scrutinising based on cup quality and further grading to receive a specialty coffee classification.

Yirgacheffe holds the title in the wet processed division of coffees. They are renowned for their clean cup with powerful floral and fruit notes, but it can be a little hit and miss sometimes when cupping a pooled style coffee such as this (coffee that is sourced from all over one region and not from a specific farm), but when you strike a good lot of Yirgacheffe it will knock you out quicker than Danny Green. Beginning with sublime aromas of sweet sugary honey and hints of cedar and raisin, it is then followed by a well balanced floral acidity in the cup. The flavours are very up front and straight away there is berry, citrus and soft cocoa with a subtle underlining of Mediterranean herbs. Theses flavours are on the bright side but they bring a well toned smoothness and medium body to the pallet, and as the cup cools the aromatic herbs come to the forefront.

Ethiopian coffee has long been used as the main flavour component in espresso blends, but the Yirgacheffe I feel, is wasted in a blend because there is so much to explore when cupping it alone. However, if you want to add a little extra pizzazz and flavour to your cup it will defiantly add an extra dimension to any blend.

The selection of cafes on Sydney’s Northern Beaches can be ‘mixed’ at best. However, there’s a little gem in leafy Wahroonga which really hits the spot.

Kokoh is tucked rather unpretentiously in on Redleaf Ave, but it’s proof that you can find good food and coffee on the Northern Beaches, if you look hard enough!

The menu itself seems, at first glance pretty modest, with a selection of teas, coffee [by Morgan's Handcrafted] and gourmet sandwiches.

Breakfast includes regulars such as Muesli, Fruit Toast, and Toast with numerous spreads, and for lunch, sandwiches include Ham [$13.50], Turkey [$13.50], Salmon [$13.50] and Chicken Schnitzel [$14.50]. However it’s the way things are done, with special menu touches and a lot of care taken over preparation, that make an impression. The only downside is the pricing – at $14 for Bacon and Eggs, with extras like a sausage at $5 or salmon $6.50, some would say prices are a little on the high side, although the ingredients are of top quality.

The toast includes four varieties of La Tartine certified organic sourdough: spelt, wholemeal, white or sesame, and is accompanied by Hank’s strawberry  or triple berry jam, four fruits marmalade, or honey and ricotta… not a huge selection, but beautifully done.  And for lunch, the sandwiches [on the same four La Tartine breads] are simple but beautifully made.

Indeed Kokoh is a lovely little haven situated as it is, just off the busy Pacific Highway; a haven that’s definitely worth searching out!

Kokoh

11 Redleaf Ave
Wahroonga NSW 2076
Tel: (02) 9489 1470

It’s not easy to make an impression on Darlinghurst’s ‘cafe’d-out’ Victoria Avenue. True, Bunker’s actually not quite on Victoria Ave, squeezed in as it is by the hairdresser around the corner on Liverpool Street. It’s easy to see how it got it’s name; as you round the corner it’s easy to miss, but once you’re inside, the sandstone block walls do indeed give the impression of being inside a wartime bunker.

Bunker’s menu suffers from a hint of that slightly pretentious ‘down-home’ bonhommie [Poached chook/steak sanga] that screams ‘I’m so inner-city Sydney’. On the other hand, given that it was a friend in the media who informed me I absolutely had to check this place out, I guess I can’t complain. And in fact, the food range is interesting and eclectic; typical items include Omelette of the Day served on Sonoma sourdough [$13], Scrambled or Poached eggs on sourdough [$8.50] with a range of extras: bacon, field mushrooms ['mushies'], chorizo, smoked salmon and homemade baked beans, and a range of ‘Sangas’ including the aforementioned Poached chook, coriander & fetta on sourdough [$9.00] and the Kurobuta ham with cheddar & dijon on wholewheat miche roll [$8.50], which was excellent.

They do it well, with just the right mix of friendliness and panache, and even the coffee is pretty good. In fact, we’ve heard people say it’s the best in Darlinghurst [although given the quality of the competition, that wouldn't be so hard].

So all in all, we’d have to give Bunker a big tick. The only other thing is, so have a lot of others in the know and it’s a pretty small space, so if you’re going to visit, make sure you don’t come at weekend peak times, or you’ll be in for a wait!

399 Liverpool Street
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Phone (0404) 407 349

Foxy Brown is one of those rarest of things: a cosy corner cafe in a former house that actually still feels like someone’s living room. Original 70′s furniture pieces provide a cosy backdrop in this long and narrow space, as does mood lighting and front and rear courtyards – which are just the thing for the kids to muck around in!

In fact the space itself has a long history servicing the local community, dating back at least until the 1920′s when it traded as a general store and in its most recent successful incarnation, as an eclectic community-based cafe run by a brilliant if somewhat flawed musician, prior to being taken over by Patrick Sloane, aka Askthecoffeeguy, of the Crema Forum.

Patrick spent six months fine tuning the coffee blend with master roaster Joshua Bailey, who, interestingly flies somewhat beneath the radar in Melbourne – roasting as he does from his lounge room on Errol Street in North Melbourne – and the blend is a combination of high altitude shade grown ingredients which are also available individually as ‘Foxy Bean of the Day’ components. Patrick pulled over 2000 coffees through his coffee machine prior to be opening, to be certain that it was working properly and to thoroughly assess the coffee that he is using – such are his coffee credentials.

In fact one of the first things that you notice about the place is the massive coffee blackboard which dwarfs the kitchen’s daily specials board – which says something about the emphasis on coffee here, as does the two page coffee menu which sits on top of the all day breakfast menu.

Foxy prides itself on being mostly organic and FairTrade wherever possible and uses a unique DEMTER certified biodynamic un-homoginised milk – which is in such short supply that Patrick had to go on a two month waiting list and was interviewed vigorously for several hours before passing muster, and the cafe is still one of only a select few able to stock this product.  The milk itself is not cheap but is an integral part of the coffee equation and the coffee itself needs to be experienced to do it justice!

Foxy Brown Espresso Bar & Cafe
31 South Crescent
Northcote VIC 3070

Some people might consider Deus ex Machina – or ‘god from a machine’ [Latin deus, god + Latin ex, from + Latin māchinā] an enigma – a motorbike shop turned cafe. If you’ve got a bit of extra space [a lot, actually] why not put up some funky posters [big, striking artwork, actually] add some communal tables, a kitchen and an espresso machine, leave a racing motorbike in the middle, and call it a cafe? Which is precisely what the owners of Deus did and somehow it works!

Although right on the abominable Parramatta Road at the corner of Missenden Rd, they have managed to completely blanket out the sound of the road and replace it with the busy bustle of barista, waiters and expectant diners.

The menu is eclectic, adventurous and varied. Two items stood out for me – the Smoked trout and kipfler potato salad, with a poached egg and hollandaise [$15], and the Canellini and french beans, tuna, olive, fennel, tomato and caper salad [$15], and I tried them both [on consecutive days].

The bean salad was a trifle disappointing – perhaps perfect for a health food fanatic – ie it tasted pretty much like beans and not much else. The Smoked trout on the other hand, was delicious – the trout delicately smoked, fresh and moist perfectly balanced by the accompanying egg and salad.  To top it off, the chips [ordered separately] were delicious – perfectly fried in fresh oil. You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the quality of their chips [which are so easy to get wrong] and judging by this simple criteria, Deus beats many restaurants serving meals at twice the price!

Coffee [by di Lorenzo] was good – well-rounded and smooth, although talking of price, I can’t say it was deserving of the $3.50 price tag. However, as a complete cafe experience in an iconic location, Deus is one not to be missed!  AF [Sept 09].

98-104 Parramatta Road
Camperdown
NSW 2050

tel: 02 8594 2800

I can’t help but think that the Camberwell establishment are being shaken to their core by the Collective consciousness of ‘third wave’ barista values in what is perhaps best described as a ‘second wave’ coffee heartland. Turning traditional notions of what constitutes good coffee on their head, the Collective applies industry best standards to produce the kind of coffee that is worth crossing town for.

The store has only been open for six weeks but you wouldn’t know it based on the relaxed, friendly and professional service that’s on offer here. In fact, the service here is ‘restaurant quality’ in a cafe environment, which is remarkable really considering that at present there is only a limited menu of savoury items – such as panini – on offer.

The guys from Collective tell me that they are in the process of putting a kitchen in and bringing in a chef to spruce up what they have on offer, which is probably a good thing as on the day I visited the pastries in the ambient display cabinet looked and tasted a little on the dry side; but then again who could’ve predicted a 27C day at the tail end of winter?

More importantly, the coffee at Collective Espresso is excellent. They use a blend of Five Senses coffee for milk-based drinks and a changing selection of Single Origin coffees for espressos. When you combine this with the proven power of the famed Synesso coffee machine/Robur grinder line-up – then what you are in for is some very fine coffee indeed.

Collective Espresso’s location is a little tucked away [in a side street] but it’s close to public transport and just down the road from a park and playground, which is just the thing for the kids to run off their excess energy after an almond croissant!

I for one know where I will be heading the next time I go to Camberwell market! [PS]

Shop 1, 3 Cookson St
Camberwell VIC 3124
(03) 9882 8995

Another, slightly lower-profile option in Crows Nest, is Cafe E61, up Willoughby Road and just around the corner from Wrapido.

The Faema E61 was the name of a famous and ground-breaking commercial espresso machine, launched [not co-incidentally] in 1961. Therefore, we would expect a large part of its focus to be its coffee and using Toby’s Estate, on the coffee front,  Cafe E61 did not disappoint.

However, it’s also an interesting Crows Nest option on the food front. Because it’s small and fairly narrow, it wouldn’t be a suitable option for work lunches or large groups, however although simple, the food was good and extremely good value.

Menu items consisted mainly of sandwiches, such as Panfried pancetta, fetta, tomato and rocket [$7]; Rare roast beef, horseradish, beetroot, tomato, swiss cheese and lettuce [$7.70]; Brown rice & lentil pattie, avocado, plum sauce and lettuce [$6.20], and the Thai tuna pattie, with avocado, sweet chilli, tomato and lettuce [$7.20]. E61 also serves a range of breakfast items – I tried the Pesto Scrambled Eggs, which were delicious. They also have wraps, and a selection of cakes and slices, which were all home-made and were excellent.

A low-key alternative to some of the flashier cafes down Willoughby Road, E61 comes highly recommended, especially for the coffee!

E61
20 Burlington Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Phone: (02) 9966 9906

For a suburb with a plethora of great restaurants, it can be surprisingly hard to find a good coffee in Crows Nest. The cafes that are there tend to serve the surrounding business community from Crows Nest up to St Leonards, and are mainly lunch-based operations.

One option that looks the part is Wrapido, and in fact the coffee [depending on who is the barista at the time] isn’t bad at all.

They have a great selection of food, including delicious freshly-baked muffins, along with the usual cakes and brownies. However, what is a little surprising about Wrapido, given the name, is their wraps!

The options seem fantastic at first glance: Taj – chargrilled tandoori chicken, mango chutney, cucumber and yoghurt raita on aromatic rice, all wrapped in a tomato tortilla; Thai Spice – marinated spicy prime beef served rare with grilled eggplant and a fresh herb, cucumber and green leaf salad in a soy chilli & kaffir lime leaf dressing, wrapped in a red salsa tortilla, and Veggie Roast – char grilled mediterranean vegetables in a balsalmic vinaigrette topped with humus and leafy greens on a bed of couscous, wrapped in a pesto tortilla…

At $8.80 that’s good value and the selection seems mouth-watering, almost too good to be true. And this is the problem – at least in our [several] experiences, it was too good to be true. The wraps were overstuffed with rice and not enough of the fillings advertised. Not only that, but several that we tried were soggy.

On the plus side, the actual cafe space is extremely convivial, combining modernity with a comfortable buzz and the selection of coffees is excellent, creating a great ambience – definitely a place to hang out; if only they could do something about those wraps!

55 Willougby Rd
Crows Nest NSW 2065
(02) 9438 4946

A lot has been said [and written] about the Maling Room – including rating in the Melbourne Top 5 in both of Crema Magazine’s annual Melbourne reviews – but we thought it was time to revisit Andrew Lew’s iconic café.

We visited on a Saturday morning and the place was hopping – loud, crowded and buzzing.  This time, we determined to review Maling Room from a normal all-round cafe point-of-view, including things like ambience, and of course food! The menu includes a great range of offerings, including Smoked Salmon Eggs with gruyere cheese, eighteen month aged Truffle Eggs, and Banjo Eggs with Hickory Smoked Bacon with HP sauce. We ordered the Akoori Scrambled Eggs – Indian-spiced with cumin, coriander onion and tomato, and kasundi chutney, and the Smoked Salmon Eggs, both of which were delicious.

My first short black was well-rounded, full-bodied and smooth, the second was a little thinner, although with a velvety mouth-feel; when I asked the barista the reason for the difference, he let on that the first was their house-blend, and the second was a different blend – a Rwandan, that had only been roasted a few days earlier. This is my kind of place; I thought: I can handle being tricked like this!

Probably the only downside is that when it gets busy, things at Maling Room can get a little noisy, due to the wide-open space and the wooden floors. However, this is a small price to pay for what is clearly one of Melbourne’s premier café experiences. Highly recommended. [AF]

The Maling Room

206 Canterbury Rd

Canterbury