Cafe Customers – is your favourite local cafe participating? If not, ask them why they haven’t signed up yet? For a list of participating cafes visit the StreetSmart website www.streetsmartaustralia.org/findcafe

Cafe Owners – Why sign up your cafe? For lots of good reasons, for example …..

• you’ll be helping people who desperately need your support

• it’s local – your donations will support people in your suburb or region

• you’ll be helping to tackle homelessness and build stronger communities

• it’s a unique activity– something to talk about and connect to with your customers and staff

• it brings in potential customers to familiarise themselves thereby encouraging repeat business

• your business will be promoted through partner databases, media and PR coverage

• what goes around…. comes around – feel the karma!

Go on – this is important – go to www.streetsmartaustralia.org/cafesmart_signup and get involved

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The original De Clieu was a french naval officer who is celebrated for his claim to have introduced coffee to the French colonies of the Western Hemisphere in the 1720s. According to l’Année littéraire of 1774, he arranged to transport a coffee plant (or perhaps several) from the greenhouses of the Jardin Royal des Plantes [which had originally been given to the French King from Holland] to Martinique in 1720.

The story goes that water was rationed on the voyage and De Clieu was so dedicated to his mission that he shared his ration with the seedlings. The story may be apocryphal, but most sources do in fact credit De Clieu with the introduction of coffee to Martinique & thence the Caribbean.

But enough of history – De Clieu is a funky spot where everyone seems to hang out in black jeans [& black jackets, shoes or whatever] but this belies its class – it’s trendy, but it also serves good coffee and very good food.

The menu reveals an elegant simplicity as would be expected from the kitchen of Steven Carr (previously of the Healesville Hotel) and offers a slightly exotic take on otherwise prosaic items – our Pork Neck Roti [sweet roasted pork neck on a spring onion roti, with a fried egg and hoisin-flavoured BBQ sauce] was exquisite.

And the coffee – we had one shot which was excellent and one which was [only] good, which given the general state of espresso coffee, is still very good overall! Definitely recommended.

De Clieu
187 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy
(03) 9416 4661

10 Llankelly Place
Potts Point NSW 2011

In a great little space in one of the buzziest and trendiest parts of Surry hills, Anakin from Toby’s Estate has created a real gem. A natural café spot, Anakin has taken this space over from Coffee, Tea or me, and created a café that is a true coffee lover’s hangout. And what a hang-out it is – with great food and tables on to the street, it’s the perfect place to watch the passing bustle of humanity on cosmopolitan Crown street.

But it’s the coffee that the aficionados come for – the house blend combining a wet and a dry processed Ethiopian, a Java and a Brazil – sweet on the tip of the tongue, with an earthy middle palate and a hint of saltiness on the back palate. Delicious.

536 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

T: (02) 9332 3191

The coffee we know and love as a golden or dark brown aromatic bean, starts off very differently. For coffee, from crop to cup, there is quite a complex journey and every step will affect its final flavour.

The coffee bean as we know it, is actually the seed of a cherry which grows on the tall bushy coffee tree, with the two main species being Arabica and Robusta. Arabica makes up a large percentage of the world consumption – about 70% while the more gutsy Robusta is most commonly used as a booster in some espresso blends or for making instant coffee.To get from the cherry on the tree to the bean ready for grinding, there are a number of steps that need to occur.

The first is ‘processing’ – whereby the outer layers of the cherry are removed to reveal the bean or seed inside. There are four layers that need to be removed – the skin, the flesh, the parchment and the silverskin. The way that these outer layers are removed greatly affects the flavour of the bean as the sugars can be either transferred into or out of the bean.

The skin is a thick, red or burgundy layer. Underneath, the flesh is a similar glutinous consistency to a grape or cherry. Within this still, is the parchment – a hard husk that protects the bean, similar to a peanut shell. Lastly, the silverskin is the flaky outer layer of the bean which is usually removed when the coffee expands during the final roasting process.There are two main processing methods – dry processing and wet processing.

Dry processing is the more traditional method – where the cherries are either left on the tree to dry out or ‘raisin’, or they are removed and dried in the sun on platform beds, or in a mechanical dryer. This process removes moisture and intensifies the sugars in the bean, adding to its body and flavour. Dry processed coffees are commonly used for espresso because of this intensifying of the sugars.

Wet processing uses water and friction to remove the outer layers of the cherry  – the skin and the flesh. The cherries are soaked in large tubs and an enzymatic reaction causes the outer layers of the coffee to disintegrate, leaving the bean and it’s coating (parchment) intact. The use of water and soaking usually removes some of the sugars resulting in a softer and milder coffee bean compared to dry processed coffees. As a result, washed coffee is more often preferred for plunger or filter coffees.

Following this processing, the beans are dried and stored in their parchment until purchased. A good green coffee will have a shelf life of about 12 months – while it can still be used beyond this time frame, the flavour dissipates noticeably after this time. Once purchased, the hard parchment is removed with friction machinery, and it is weighed and bagged into large hessian bags ready for shipping.

From origin to port can be anything from 6 weeks to 4 months, depending on the usual factors of distance, shipping and customs. The green packed coffee is usually then delivered to a local coffee broker before moving on to a roastery somewhere.

What the roaster then does with the coffee, in terms of time of roasting, temperature, volume, air flow and heat application, also determines a large part of how the coffee will taste as an end product. Green coffees can be roasted individually as origins and then blended, or put together as a green blend to be roasted all together. From here, the packing, storage and ageing (time from roasting to drinking) of the roasted beans will also impact on the final taste.

Before coffee comes to us as a rich golden elixir or mixed with silky milk, there is a whole chain of processes that need to be delicately balanced to ensure the coffee can be as good as it should. Any break in the chain will severely affect the final outcome and destroy the promise of such a delicious experience.

Next time you enjoy your morning coffee, think how far the beans in your cup have travelled to give you those few moments of pleasure and stimulation.

Roasters and baristi converged from all over Australia to showcase their coffee – and the crowds took the opportunity, as they lined up 20-30 deep at each stand, of tasting some of the best single origins and blends that Australia has to offer.

Also packing in the crowds in the Overseas Passenger Terminal, was the Domestic Espresso Machine Expo where the likes of Scotty Callaghan (2006 World Latte Art Champion) could be found in the stable of Espresso Company Australia, preparing coffees on a Giotto or Vibiemme. Or, you might have bumped into Jack Hanna (2007 World Latte Art Champion) as he was seen milling through the crowds. All the ‘usual suspects’ were present – Sunbeam, Saeco and Gaggia as well as Canberra’s Cosmorex Coffee showcasing the superb Diadema range of machines – the Junior and the more up-market Splendor. They were also making coffee for the passing parade and the perspex espresso machine, showing the internal machination, was a great attraction.

All in all, it was a great day. And if you did happen to get just a little bit tired of coffee, you could always sample the chocolates, tea or spices that were on display.

Definitely a date to put in the diary.