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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My love affair with eating chillies is something that has developed over a number of years; I simply can’t resist the sensation of a good hot chilli! I love exploring the various levels of heat and the subtle unique flavours that individual chillies have such as the ‘Guajillo’, which has a red berry flavour and the’ Ancho’ with its smokey dried fruit notes. This fascination for chillies has evolved into a deep appreciation for Mexican cuisine. I have also come to value that there is more to the country than tequila and tacos, Mexico also grows some pretty good coffee too.

Mexico’s coffee history dates back to the late 1700’s with the introduction of coffee to the Antilles by the French however, it really didn’t take off until late into the 19th century. Mexico sits in at number 7 in the top 10 coffee producing nations and the second largest behind Colombia in Central America. The concentration of coffee production is in the southern regions of Mexico growing Arabica varieties such as Catuai, Caturra, Bourbon and Typica. In the low lying plantations they are commonly producing relatively average blend filler coffees’, but as the plantations start to climb the mountains the quality really starts to appear. A lot of the production efforts in Mexico are focused on organic certification and Fair trade in order to boost their position in the market. Mexican coffees take a lot of cupping to find the really good ones so be sure to look out for coffee coming out of regions like Oaxaca, Coatepec and Chiapas as well as its grading – HG (high grown) or Altura means it’s the highest grown coffee to come out of Mexico.

I’m a big fan of much of the coffee that comes out of the Soconusco region in the southern state of Chiapas that boarders Guatemala (I do like Guatemalan coffee so that’s probably why I favour anything that is coming from this region) however, the coffee is becoming harder to find. In October 2005 the region got slammed hard by Hurricane Stan which damaged many of the crops that where close to harvest and recent reports are now suggesting that this years crop will be the worst yield in 20 years due to bad weather and severe labour shortages.

Whenever I get a washed high grown coffee in from the Americas I always have a tendency to roast them on the light side so you really get to experience the delicate fruit notes and brightness that sets them apart from one another

The dry fragrance has an intoxicating toffee note, with a hint of red apple. Wet aroma is hazelnut and honey-vanilla. The cup has a mild and delicate acidity of peach and apricot and I find a little sugar cane sweetness at the end. The body is smooth but a little thin and quick off the palate which makes it perfect for a single origin espresso. Amazing in syphons and pour over units as these make the stone fruit notes come to life. I would not dare attempt blending this coffee as it is far too delicate and would get lost, but I suggest you just grab a block of 85% cocoa chocolate and sip on a double ristretto.

The Coffee
Location: Chiapas, Mexico
Altitude: 1500 meters +
Plant type: Typica, Caturra

Cup Profile
Fragrance/Aroma: Hazelnut, honey and vanilla
Flavour: Stone fruits
Aftertaste: Sweet and short
Acidity: Mild
Body: Smooth and thin

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

By Paul Golding

The first visit to a favourite origin is always something of a personal epiphany. Kenya was one such visit for me, when I went with a small industry group to Nairobi in February this year to catch the end of the harvest season. Getting out into the countryside to see the crop and meet the people who produce it can really help shed some light on a coffee’s unique flavour and character.

Our guide on this adventure was Justin Archer of Sangana Commodities, one of the larger exporters in Kenya. He would be hosting us over 2 days, showing us everything from the farms and mills to the auction room and huge shipping warehouses from which the beans are dispatched around the world. I had also heard about a very interesting training project Justin had set up among the small farmer co-ops, and was keen to learn what it was all about….

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Leaving Nairobi to the north, the transition into coffee country is startlingly quick. Arabica trees appeared on the sides of the road within 40 minutes of leaving our meeting place in the CBD. We were soon passing farms ranging in size from one hectare to the occasional large estate of several hundred hectares.

Kenya does boast some huge estates, like the giant Socfinaf and Thika properties, but the majority of the coffee comes from small holders, family operations who produce anything from a few bags to a few tons each year. These small operators often join with neighbours to form co-operative groups, pooling their money and resources to build a washing station they can all share at harvest time. Our first stop was one such station, owned by the Ritho Co-Op, members of Justin’s farmer training project. The president of the co-op showed us around the rustic mill and explained the techniques they used. While the station had the usual array of equipment found in most similar sites around the world, the Kenyans have adopted a twist on the normal method of washing coffee. After pulping the cherries with a disc pulper, the coffee is “dry fermented” (meaning piled wet but not submerged) for 15-20 hours, then rinsed off before undergoing a second period, this time immersed in water for a further 12-24 hours.

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We speculated that this process could be a key factor in delivering the citrusy and blackberry flavours typical of Kenya. Their future outlook is optimistic, with improvement work planned for the next 8 months which will culminate in UTZ certification [see Crema Summer 2010 issue] and hopefully Fairtrade the following year. Much of the work will involve upgrades to the equipment and drying tables, documenting procedures, and upgrades to the water management and waste management of the station, to better protect the local environment. Assisting with the work is Sustainable Management Services (SMS), the sister company of Sangana, whose mission is to represent member farmers and deliver agricultural training programs. The aim of SMS is to help small holders form stable co-op groups and provide training and equipment to help increase crop yields and quality, with a corresponding rise in earnings at sale time. Farmers are organized into a group of 50, who then nominate one member to be the “promoter farmer”. These individuals must be willing to use their farms as open training centres for the rest of the group. The promoter farmer receives advanced agricultural training and a useful kit of tools from the SMS Ag Science staff, which they first implement on their farm, then roll out to the rest of the group.  Promoter farmers work on a volunteer basis for their community, but reap the benefits of the advanced training and improvement to their own business. We visited the farm of David Makina, set in the lush hills around Handege. David was proud to show us the results of his training and hard work. His farm is on a steeply sloping hillside which supports some 500 healthy-looking bourbon Arabica trees. As we walked through the crop, already showing plenty of new fruit ripening towards the July crop, he pointed out the recent improvements. Since the open hillside had no shade tree protection, the land has been terraced to hold nutrients and avoid erosion. Each tree was pruned carefully to about two metres tall for easier harvesting and also pruned into 3 sections of growth. One section would be cut back to the stump every two years, so the tree would always have a high producing mature part, and fresh growth coming through.

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David has also eliminated the need for chemical fertilizer by producing a special compost, a mix of manure, vegetable scraps and plants selected for their nutrient content. Four kilos of this compost per tree during the year – together with the other improvements – is sufficient to boost his production from 5kg of cherry per tree to an astonishing 15kg, giving him a very respectable income at harvest time! Further down the road, we dropped in to the farm of Daniel Sharia, another promoter farmer, who has also adopted many of these measures.

Daniel’s is a shade farm located on a steep terraced slope leading down to a river. He has chosen shade grown coffee for the longer development time of the cherries, which he says produces a deeper and more intense flavour, returning better prices at sale time.  While shade cropping has many benefits, a major risk in Kenya is the greater exposure to CBD, or coffee berry disease. This is a fungal infection resulting from persistent moisture on the fruit while ripening. As the older variety of SL 28 bourbon plants are more susceptible to CBD, farmers are replacing the older trees with the newer resistant hybrid Ruiru 11. On Daniel’s farm this involves grafting the Ruiru plant onto existing rootstock, allowing him a shade plant with natural resistance to the disease, avoiding reliance on chemical fungicide.  Much of Kenya’s crop is now produced by Ruiru 11 for this reason.

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From the farms we headed to the auction rooms, where much of Kenya’s coffee is sold.  Farmers in Kenya have the option of selling direct to an exporter, or through the auction, allowing market forces to dictate price. This year most were choosing the auctions, where prices are very high due to high world demand and the relative scarcity of quality Kenyan coffee. Held each Thursday, the auction is a quiet place, but the pace is fast, with 2-3 lots sold per minute as the traders bid to fill their requirements. Samples of all the lots available have been roasted, cupped and judged the previous week by the various export houses, who may handle over 300 different offerings in this way.

The traders rely completely on these judgments when bidding for the coffee, so the cupper’s talents are very important. Individual offerings of up to 6 tons may be sold as microlots under the estate or co-op name if the quality is superior, generally the large AA or AB screened beans. In addition, traders will be on the lookout for lots the cuppers recommend for blending, to be sold under a trade name chose by the exporter. This is a painstaking process necessary to produce large volumes of high quality green coffee, maintaining a consistent taste profile for roasters to use in their own blends from year to year.  We participated in this process at Sangana’s cupping lab, working our way down the long row of cups with their chief taster Simon, assigning judgments to each lot.  We also tasted a range of the finished blends and microlots available for sale, excited to be selecting our own exclusive coffees for the coming year.   We went on to visit several more exporters during our 2 weeks in country, but remained very impressed by Sangana’s people, commitment to quality and great efforts in the farmer training programs.

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The news for Australian roasters is both good and bad – the quality of Kenyan coffee still looks excellent, and will remain so through the efforts of Kenyan farmers working with people like Justin and his team.  Farmers are receiving excellent prices due to the high demand for their product, and some are gaining at least temporary wealth selling their land to property developers.  On the minus side, Kenyan specialty coffee may become quite scarce in Australia and very expensive during the year; most of the top lots had already been bought up by Europe and North America when we arrived. Get in early or miss out! For me the trip was highly rewarding-to see first hand the complex work behind the scenes, and to understand the process which leads to bags of green beans arriving in our roastery.

For a coffee geek, it’s a priceless experience-can’t wait to write about the next one.

Although a city with a population of little more than 300,000 Wellington has the cosmopolitan vibrancy of a much larger city. This is, in the main, due to the fact that the CBD of Wellington is principally structured to be accessible by foot and, with a civic policy of discouraging generic malls and outlying shopping precincts, it draws a communal breath into its restaurants, cafes, bars and shops, giving a pulse to its streets and a beat to its heart. Venture out on a Friday or Saturday night and you will be greeted by the buzz of the city’s populace in its myriad of  forms, all congregated around the restaurant and bar precincts of Cuba Street and Courtenay Place.

But there is a deeper, more visceral, if not down-right dangerous side to Wellington which can be easily overlooked. According to Maori tradition, Wellington  was discovered by the Polynesian explorer Kupe and his followers in around the 10th Century. This Maori legend speaks of the volatile nature of the land and its resulting spectacular beauty. Situated on the verge of two of the earth’s unstable tectonic plates, Wellington experiences tremors on a regular basis and its buildings are designed to withstand major seismic events. It is perhaps with this temporal reminder ever present, that Wellingtonians enjoy an attitude for a life well lived!

And so, good food and wine seem to be the norm in this ‘bon vivant’ city. We had come to Wellington with anticipation as its reputation for good coffee had preceded our visit. However, while we have learnt from past experience to be Initially cautious, we were to our delight, far from  disappointed – for as far as cafe life is concerned, there are few cities that offer good coffee at so many establishments in such a concentrated space.

Our cafe crawl began in the uber-cool environs of Cuba Street. Named not after the South American country – although you could be forgiven for thinking this might be the case – but rather in honour of one of the settler ships, the Cuba,  which landed in Wellington Harbour in 1840. The name however clearly begets the eclectic collection of bohemian cafes, shops, boutiques and art galleries to be found around this quarter of the city.

One cannot be on Cuba Street without being drawn to Fidel’s Cafe, a bastion for coffee, at the top end of Cuba St. There were certainly no pretensions at Fidel’s, being very laid back, slightly grungy, and very much the scene for the local bohemians.

Linked inextricably and not surprisingly with Havana Coffee Works, one of Wellington’s primary local coffee roasters, the coffee at Fidel’s was fresh and well-made but with a certain punchy flavour and mouth-feel unusual to Sydneysiders. Heading down Cuba street toward the harbour, the buzzy cafe scene continued. One that caught our immediate attention was Plum, which was, on a decidedly cold Wellington afternoon, full enough on the inside to have patrons braving the outside tables. Small but comforting, the interior of Plum was warm and inviting with simple cakes and slices on display and a definite aroma of freshly ground coffee in the air. We managed to score a table inside and once again, the coffee was good, with a freshness and presentation that only comes from a dedicated barista accustomed to serving quality coffee. We learnt that the roaster, Eight-thirty, was a relative new-comer to the city, but once again the brew was potent with the distinct ‘Wellington’ style.

Other offerings on Cuba worth a visit were Ernesto’s and Midnight Espresso. Both part of the Havana Coffee Works stable of cafes, the latter was the first cafe they opened and as its name suggests, is open for coffee into the wee hours of the morning.

Our caffeine needs well and truly satiated for the day, we headed out for dinner to Matterhorn, a stylishly warm and secluded Wellington institution located just off Cuba Street. The meal was definitely pleasing and the service attentive, but the highlight was the wine which was to die for – defying us to forget that this part of New Zealand is also famous for its pinot.

Next morning and a short walk from our digs on Cuba Street, we were assured of a ‘kick-start’ by launching our second day with breakfast at Caffe L’Affare. One of the iconic daytime cafe institutions of Wellington, this place is large and open but with a quirky, cluttered decor that brings a personality to the walls and table spaces. Apart from the innate benefit of roasting their own coffee (the roastery has only recently relocated from the cafe to just a few streets away), Caffe L’Affare is renowned for its all-day breakfast, of which we could definitely vouch for the Eggs Benedict and Avocado Toast! The coffee here was much more of a breakfast style, lighter and more milky, but still with the ubiquitous Wellington caffeine jolt to set you on your way.

Just around the corner on Tory Street, we popped into the cafe which fronts the Havana Coffee Works. Housed in an old faded green art deco building, complete with a restored Buick pickup truck out the front, we could have literally been on the streets of a Havana. Once inside, through the decorative glass etched ‘Havana’ doors, the interior was designed to give the impression of having a coffee ‘on the streets’ of downtown Havana with a stage-like backdrop of building facades reminiscent of the city itself.

It was then on to Customs, situated on the curiously named Ghuznee St. Relatively understated and low-key, Customs is the showcase of Coffee Supreme and boasts Wellington’s only Slayer machine, along with one of the few Clover’s in New Zealand; enough, from a coffee point-of-view to firmly establish its coffee credentials. And Customs didn’t disappoint, with the best coffee of our trip – an espresso with sufficient ‘oomph’ yet delicate enough to reveal the fruit and floral notes of high-quality arabicas.

Our Wellington coffee education began to take shape as we started to understand the strong influences on the coffee palate of this surprising and slightly quirky coffee city.  The inner sanctum of roasters belongs to three main players, each of which has gained the respect which only comes from the passage of time, starting as they did twenty or more years ago.

Indeed the essence of Wellington coffee was set many years ago, when the greater populace were still drinking instant, by the founders of Caffe L’Affare, Havana Coffee Works and Coffee Supreme [a brand which has also taken a foothold in Melbourne].

Jeff Kennedy, Geoff Marsland and Chris Dillon respectively, are the ‘dons’ of the Wellington coffee scene, and to a certain degree, their brands reflect the personalities of their owners. Caffe L’Affare probably boasts the closest to a typical Italian brand, not too bright, not to dark, with its middle-of-the road flavour profile echoing its brand name [the rather utilitarian 'Coffee Business' in Italian].

Havana Coffee Works, with its imagery, logo and roast profile reflecting its link to island-sourced beans [and suggestive of early 70s days of grungy student radicalism] roast relatively dark and with a high proportion of Cuban and Venezualan beans – that give a big-mouth feel without the delicacy of high-grown arabicas] – meaning their blends have an unmistakable ‘punchy’ quality. Coffee Supreme offers flavour profiles more similar to what we have been accustomed to in Australia, with cleaner and brighter flavours, suggestive of arabicas sourced from higher altitudes.

With enough caffeine in our blood stream to convincingly manage the Haka, we decided to cool our heels with a lunch at Cafe Nikau. Situated in the Town Hall precinct, and boasting the sort of the smart and minimalist decor that you would expect of a cafe opposite the Michael Fowler Arts Centre, the food and service were excellent. We tried their signature dish, the oddly named Kedgeree. A pilaf of mildly curried rice with (Nikau’s own) smoked fish, a scatter of boiled egg, parsley and lemon juice, it was amazing and the only disappointment was that when we went back for more the next day (Sunday) they were closed!

Our cafe exploration over, we had just enough time to take in some of the ‘must-see’ sights of this extraordinary little city before heading off to the airport. Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, is an imposing structure on the harbour foreshore which dares to be ignored. With five floors of displays and interactive exhibitions it is an experience worth taking. A quick trip up to the Mount Victoria lookout to take in a final stunning sweeping view and we were off.

And so we departed ‘the windy city’, without so much as a breath of wind to be felt our entire visit. Without a doubt, Wellington is a destination with a groove like no other in the South Pacific; as cool as a southerly, warm as a northerly, as fresh as an easterly and as unpredictable as a westerly.

By now I guess you have heard the term ‘third wave’ in coffee. It refers to a worldwide movement whereby specialty coffee roasters and boutique cafes are devoting their efforts to exploring the pure flavour of the single origin coffee and it’s something that the coffee industry and its consumers in Australia have embraced. The movement is also about innovation and patience which is seeing brewing systems like the Clover, Siphon and temperature controlled espresso machines such as the Synesso and Slayer becoming commonplace in our cafe strips. We are also seeing the green bean standard raised with access to Cup of Excellence, micro-lots, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and roasters creating direct routes to the farms. One such country I believe has always been able to deliver coffee to the standard we are demanding today is Papua New Guinea.

The coffee history in PNG is a rather typical colonial story as it is recorded that in the early 1800’s the Germans where the first to introduce coffee to PNG. Much of their plantations were experimental at best with bits and bobs trickling to Australia for consumption, but by the late 1930s their efforts to capitalize on PNG’s unique growing conditions took off and their reputation as a coffee growing country started to gain momentum.

Much of PNG’s coffee today is grown from large estate plantations or in what is called ‘coffee gardens’. This was an initiative that started in the 1950’s where tiny farms from 20 to 500 trees are run by indigenous families, village-based business groups or individuals that practice organic farming methods. This is all organised by the Coffee Industry Corporation for harvesting, processing and export; amazingly, this accounts for around 70% of the country’s coffee production.
I find for consistency and quality you cannot go past the Carpenters Estate’s Sigri AA (you might have seen the bag with the bright red bird of paradise on it) established in the 1950’s from the typica variety that originates from Jamacia Blue Mountain. It’s located in the Waghi Valley in the Western Highlands and grown at around 1550 meters above sea level and I believe this coffee represents modern Papua New Guinea. The Estate is all about the environment and community, advocating shade grown plantations, wildlife conservation and aiding in schooling and medical facilities. Something I have always loved about this coffee is that it is so consistent – something you should expect with an AA standard. It has a deep jade like appearance, is amazingly even and is practically free of defects. In the cup there is a little fermented fruit on the nose but it’s not a bad thing, the acidity is a little high – similar to a red wine – the body is quite thick, smooth and sweet. I find a little bit of smokey allspice notes along with a floral touch in the finish. Overall it’s a rather bright, sweet cup and I have had this in the Clover, plunger, stove top and as an espresso, and find the intensity in the flavour does not disappoint; as a milk base beverage it highlights the allspice notes making it very sweet and desert-like.

The Coffee
Origin: Papua New Guinea, Sigri AA
Location: Western Highlands
Estate: Carpenters
Plant type: Typica
Process: Washed

Cup Profile
Fragrance/Aroma: Fermented fruit, red wine
Flavour: Smokey allspice, floral
Aftertaste: Clean
Acidity: High
Body: Thick and smooth

And the good news is this: from an espresso coffee point-of-view, the Brisbane espresso ‘scene’ rocks, supported by many enthusiastic young professionals eager to share their coffee knowledge and passion. One quick note: it’s not in necessarily in the CBD itself, but in the inner suburbs that you find the best coffee… suburbs like West End, New Farm, Spring Hill and even the formerly seedy Fortitude Valley!

Just a quick note on our methodology – as usual, we convened a panel of coffee professionals and serious consumer ‘geeks’ and over a period of several weeks, these judges tried a shortlist of highly respected cafes and then their results were averaged. While coffee from any one cafe varies slightly day-by-day and barista-by-barista, over the years, we have found this is the best way to get fair and objective ranking. That said, these are all excellent cafes and any one of them could be No. 1 on their day! When it comes to espresso coffee, Brisbane is a city that has truly come of age…

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1. Cup Specialty Coffee

85 Russell Street, West End 

Josh Russell’s place in trendy West End is spacious and cool, and just off the main road in West End, we found it an ideal location to sit back and savour our espresso. There was a funky La Marzocco on the bench, although it’s actually a temporary replacement for their pricy and rather famous [amongst the aficionados, at least] Slayer espresso machine.

The blend we tried was a combination of Indian Balmaadi, Indonesian Flores and washed Ethiopian Sidama – buttery, sweet, fruity bright [but smooth] acidity. Another on the panel described his coffee as a “well balanced cup with fruit on the nose, light yet syrupy mouth-feel, fruits in the front, spice in the middle and hints of savoury notes in the finish”.

Roasting his own origins & blends, they also have a 5 star blend that changes frequently, as it’s roasted and blended due to seasonal factors in specialty coffee. With a young, enthusiastic team behind the machine this is one of the coffee highlights of Brisbane, and should be on any espresso enthusiasts must-do list!

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2. Dandelion & Driftwood

Shop 1, 45 Gerler Road, Hendra

When you first walk in to Dandelion & Driftwood in Brisbane’s upmarket suburb of Hendra, you are struck by the almost equal dichotomy between the pretty interior decoration [some would call it 'fussy'] and the profusion of coffee-related paraphernalia around the walls.

Coffee is by Wolff Coffee Roasters, a new up-and-coming blend from Peter Wolff, one of Brisbane’s most experienced coffee people, and his partner Penny [owner of Dandelion & Driftwood] is an experienced coffee person in her own right, so it’s no wonder the coffee is good. The single origin we tried gave sweet citrus notes in the front, berry fruit and caramel in the middle palate, with a clean and pleasant finish. As well as espresso, they also have other brewing methods that you can try.

One of our reviewers felt the tight space was a little limiting, and you certainly wouldn’t want to come at lunchtime if you didn’t have a reservation. However, if you manage to come off-peak, you’ll find extremely knowledgeable staff and some of the best coffee in Australia.

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3.One Drop Specialty Coffee

5/515 St Paul’s Terrace, Fortitude Valley

There are two shiny, glass & mirror cafes at the bottom of an office block right next to the showgrounds in Fortitude Valley. One Drop is the second, owned by Ben Graham and Blaine Swanborough. As you walk in, the first thing you notice is the clean and tidy space with the shiny, white La Marzocco FB 70 on the bench.

As well as making great coffee, it’s a friendly cafe environment, offering good food and a pleasant atmosphere, if a little ‘plasticky’, because of the location. But the main thing is that staff are passionate about coffee and are missing that ‘attitude’ that some cafes who are serious about their coffee suffer from. They also make a point of remembering customers, and the coffee they like.

Offering a sweet, clean shot that had gentle body and dominant spices, the result was a little light on ‘mouthfeel’ but nevertheless pleasant in the cup. Overall One Drop offers a great coffee product, although some would feel that the location [and lack of parking] mean that it misses that special something in ambience that a truly great cafe would be able to offer. However as a coffee ‘destination’, it’s hard to beat!

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4. Campos Coffee

11 Wandoo St, Fortitude Valley

Walk up the laneway and you’re not quite sure what to expect… it’s almost a surprise to find a cafe amongst the smelly warehouses and fish market paraphernalia, but reach the end and there it is … a funky, busy cafe with two huge fan contraptions [complete with decorative monkey!] completing an interesting decor.

The Brisbane offshoot of a Sydney-based brand name, from a coffee point-of-view Campos offers a tried & true formula, typically serving a ‘punchy’ shot, perhaps lacking in subtlety for a short black, but tailor-made for milk-based coffees, with of course, their trademark rosetta.
On the day we called by, the espresso demonstrated a gentle acidity, a smooth body with just enough mouthfeel, lots of stone fruit and cheery with lovely cocoa on the finish. Serving good food and a consistent experience, it ticks all the boxes.

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5. Bunker

Railway Tce, Milton

Bunker has received a lot of exposure in the Brisbane press for its unique concept and it probably is unique, in that it’s a café inside a converted domestic garage, made of concrete [hence the name].

The interior space is covered with ivy and the La Marzocco coffee machine sitting on the bench is testament to their coffee credentials. It’s interesting to note that they make a point of making only ‘naked’ coffee  – ie using a naked portafilter [see Crema Winter 2007].

As one of our reviewers said: “the care taken can be tasted in the cup; cleanliness and brightness in the shot open up the palate for a rich fruit and caramel middle palate, with a slight sharpness in the finish”. The other point to mention is that it’s quite small with limited seating. An unusual spot with an unusual location, but certainly a place worth coming back to.

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Best Up & Coming

Corner Store Café

113 Sylvan Road, Toowong

Only recently opened on the corner Sylvan Road & Quinn St the interior retains part of the feel of an old corner store but that’s where the similarity ends. It has a beautifully renovated white tile bench with an open plan kitchen area and spacious outdoor terrace seating.

Their 3-group Synesso testament to their seriousness about coffee and we were offered a wel- balanced shot with heavy cocoa again and notes of caramel. There are few cafes which do great food as well as good coffee, and this is certainly one of them.

10 Llankelly Place
Potts Point NSW 2011

by Rob Stewart

I have often wondered what would happen to the world if Brazil stopped producing coffee – perhaps a catastrophic melt down! The price for coffee per kilo would go up, making a cup of coffee cost more than a cocktail at a night club, sounding the death knell of the majority of cafes and coffee companies.  Shift workers, parents, students, productivity, and Italy would all come to a grinding halt. It would affect our economy and our way of life, leaving everyone with one giant headache.

The reality is that Brazil produces 30% the world’s coffee and the only country that comes close is Vietnam, producing about 14% [much of it robusta].  Brazil has been producing coffee that has formed the foundation of coffee brands throughout world. A typical Brazilian coffee doesn’t tend to have many predominate flavour notes that dominate the palate like Central American coffees do, instead they produce fantastic  crema, body and add sweetness, which are all characteristics used when building the base of an espresso blend.

Coffee is not native to Brazil, the first seeds were smuggled there back in 1727 from French Guiana and since then the industry has ebbed and flowed, enduring devastating frosts and drought to dominating the world’s consumption.  Brazil’s growing regions include Sāo Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paranā and Mogiana.

There is a pocket in the Minas Gerais region called Cerrado which is where you will find a company called Daterra: currently producing some of the most exciting coffees you are ever likely to come across. Daterra epitomises what a modern coffee plantation should be: innovative, experimental, sustainable and inspiring. They possess certifications such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ and are also leaders in organic farming, environmental preservation and social standards for their workers and their community.  But the ace up Daterra’s sleeve is when it comes to quality assurance. Daterra has developed the Penta® system; an elaborate series of technological procedures that follow the coffee from seed to shipping that eliminates defects and ensure that only the best beans make the cut.

Daterra has two locations in Brazil, the Cerrado and the other in the Mogiana region and they have been growing coffee there since the early 80’s. They grow a number of varieties such as Mundo Novo, Bourbon, Typica, Caturra and Red and Yellow Icatu and produce single origins, reserves (being the best of each crop), experimental varieties and Collections which are blends of the various varieties they grow.

The Sweet Collection from the Bourbon cultivar is, I believe, the finest examples of their range. When I first cupped this coffee I was hit by an intense rock candy and mandarin aroma, followed by the sweetness of caramel and honey. The body of the Sweet Collection is well pronounced without being overbearing and the acidy is delicate with a spicy twist. I find this coffee works well across all brewing methods and but in practice the plunger is best, as it accentuates the rock candy notes. Milk based drinks will highlight the sweetness and bring out a vanilla flavour and it’s definitely a coffee you can happily sit and drink a few cups of. I prefer any Brazilian coffee roasted on the lighter side as they have a tendency, if roasted too dark, to leave an ashy aftertaste and this is no exception; try peppering it with a little Kenya or any of the Central Americans – particularly a Costa Rican – to make the cup really come to life, or just enjoy it as a single origin!

The Coffee

Location: Brazil, Cerrado region
Estate: Daterra
Plant Type: Arabica Bourbon
Process: pulped natural

Cup Profile

Fragrance/Aroma: rock candy, mandarin
Flavour: caramel and honey
Aftertaste: clean and subtle
Acidity: low and spicey
Body: medium, persistent

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.