What comes to mind when you think about coffee?

Do you think about Nespresso?

Maybe Starbucks?

Or perhaps instant coffee?

 

 

There are many different kinds of coffee to be found in the world and it comes in many different forms but the question you need to ask yourself is, are you buying coffee that is good or are you buying it for the sugar hit, convenience or the propaganda?

 

 

For a while now I’ve seen all over bookstagram people saying they are ‘coffee lovers’ but only have iced coffees (full of sugar to hide the coffee taste) or they are under the impression that Starbucks makes the best coffee in the world, or they love to have a cappuccino with three sugars, soy milk and caramel syrup. So whilst I sat there annoyed that these people clearly were not in fact coffee loves and were actually coffee fakers, people who think they know about coffee but actually don’t. I mean what would you know about coffee when you hide the coffee flavour under sugar and thickened, sweetened cream? As someone who is a self-proclaimed coffee addict who can sit at a café and have a short black (straight coffee) and enjoy that it has a blueberry note on the back palate, or someone that can tell by the smell of the coffee if it is stale or someone that can glance at the colour of the coffee and know that it was watered down because the barista didn’t set the grind right or tamp hard enough. So in the beginning I wanted to call these fakers out and simply say ‘you know shit about coffee’ but then I realised maybe it is the propaganda of Starbucks that makes them believe this Starbucks is good coffee? Maybe it is the fact that they have never had a decent coffee so they need to hide it with flavouring, because they don’t know any better? So instead of going on the defensive, maybe I should try and share some knowledge or light! Look at me being a positive fucking little star!

 

Now before I break this down into places you should visit or even what to look out for, here is a little background about me. I’m not claiming to be the coffee expert, I know there are more knowledgeable coffee lovers out there than I am but I have worked in the coffee industry for over ten years, I have tried many different types of coffee, I have worked with coffee machines to make coffee but I have also on them as well. I drink about 15 coffees a day and I have also worked in a café that has pumped out 15 kilos of coffee on a Monday (that’s a lot FYI). So whilst I am not an expert I know my beans and I know my coffee.

 

 

Finding a good coffee on the run

Going from the above, when I say coffee is a scientific art form, I am not joking around. There are three major elements behind a good coffee and I’ve included something that you can look out for as well.

 

• Did you know that after being roasted a bean it is only fresh for 30 days? After that it’s stale. And to sum up the roasting of a coffee bean, it’s how you get some of the flavour from the bean. Depending on the age and origin of a bean will also determine the rest of that beans flavour but also the roast adds/enhances or changes that flavour. I won’t go into too much detail but you have a light roast, medium roast, medium to dark roast and a dark roast. Side note, keep that 30 days in your head for a later reference.

 

• Okay so now this roasted coffee is at the café and you are there wanting to order a coffee. Depending on the bean, weather, and the artist behind the machine will depend on the settings on that grinder. If you grind it too fine, the coffee will be compacted and will not allow too much flavour into the pour. If the grind is too course then too much water will run through the ground coffee and well, it will be watered down. Every café should be checking this with the morning pours. So, say you walk into a dead café, the first thing you want to listen for, after ordering a coffee, is the grinder. If you don’t hear that grinder, than I would ask for another coffee. Once those coffee beans have been grounded they are only good for 15 to 25 minutes (dependant on the bean). So if you want the best tasting coffee, you would want the beans to be freshly ground otherwise you are tasting stale coffee.

 

• The packing of the ground beans, the tamp and the rest of the making of the coffee is something that I can’t give you advice on, you just have to have faith that the barista knows what they are doing.

 

• The last thing to make a good coffee is the milk (for those that drink it) I could ramble on about the different types of milk and what is better and so on and so forth but let’s keep this short and sweet. Frothing milk is not hard for those that have been trained but for those that aren’t well…. Here are some things that you need to look for when ordering a coffee. If you hear screeching when they are frothing milk, they haven’t been trained. Screeching means they are holding it at the wrong angle and not allowing the air to circulate in the correct motions. Another good way to ensure that you are getting a good coffee is the temperature. When you get the coffee it should not be hot to the touch and realistically you should be able to put your finger in there without burning yourself but feeling the heat of the milk. And yes, I have used this as an example when purchasing a coffee after the snobby barista told me, my scolding hot coffee was perfect. I don’t think she enjoyed me making a scene though! Realistically coffee should be served around 90C any hotter than that and you are burning the coffee. Personally I will ask for a warm milk based coffee when I go out if I don’t know the barista. Another good thing to watch out for is if they are going off a thermomotor or going by touch. If I see a barista that is using a thermomotor I don’t have faith in the barista. When I make a coffee and the jug (metal) gets hot to touch that’s when I know the coffee is the right temp.

 

Alright how did we go with the magic behind the coffee? Now with that in mind let’s talk about finding the right coffee place.

 

Starbucks

Let’s look at Starbucks as a business. Whilst it is a place to get coffee, it really wasn’t designed for that. Starbucks is more for meetings, having a place to work and generally about the atmosphere and the hype. Now let’s look at what Starbucks advertise, it isn’t their normal hot coffee range but more of their flavoured iced drinks. Because that’s what sells, their sugar, bright coloured chinos not the coffees themselves. Great from a business perspective but not really a great taste for the consumer.

So whilst Starbucks is great and works in America, how is Starbucks losing money (millions) in Australia? And if you think it isn’t, why isn’t there a Starbucks on every corner like there is in the USA. And if Starbucks was that brilliant, how come there isn’t a Starbucks in Italy? It all comes down to the consumers. And while their frap’s are really nice on a hot summers day here in Australia, our market doesn’t have the demand for it. But let’s look at why Starbucks isn’t the greatest place for coffee.

Now let’s take away the sugar, cream and high calorie add ons and let’s talk about coffee and in this case hot coffee. Have you ever heard a coffee consumer order a short black (straight shot of coffee) while in Starbucks? No? Yeah, not surprised because the taste of their coffee is horrid. So remember how I said once roasted coffee beans only last about 30 days? Starbucks do not roast here in Australia, their beans are put on transport and then shipped to Australia. So let’s do some maths. Let’s say that shipping out of the warehouse takes three days with the bagging and tagging of the beans, then take a week or two of these pallets getting shipped to Australia. Now let’s put those beans on the shelf of a Starbucks store before they are opened and used which could be about a week or so. Why would you choose to drink stale coffee beans when we have hella good roasters in Australia? Also, a good way to check this yourself is by looking at the bags of coffee, Starbucks do not have the date that the beans were roasted labelled on the bag. So how would they and you know that it is stale? Every great roaster that knows their stuff will put a roasted date on the bag!

It’s also worth noting that in its first 7 years here in Australia Starbucks made a loss of 105 million. By 2008, Starbucks shut 70% of their stores in Australia. So the facts are there and let’s face it, getting a coffee from Starbucks is either out of desperation (no other coffee places around) or for the name (or the insta photo as I like to call it).

The reason why Starbucks doesn’t work here in Australia is purely because us Aussie take pride in our coffee and we (mostly Melbourne) have the greatest cafes/coffee roasters anywhere.

Want to know why there isn’t a Starbucks in Italy? Because Italy know their coffee and they don’t want that shit aka Starbucks anywhere near their way of enjoying and consuming coffee.

 

Maccas aka McDonald’s

Okay there are times where you get coffee from here, simply because there is nowhere else to get coffee and I get that, there is no judgement. When I drive to my boo’s house the only place to stop on the way is to get a T/A coffee is from Maccas, so I will never judge.

Now…. Maccas coffee’s are similar to Starbucks but I would have to say I NEVER get a plain coffee from Maccas anymore, I have to get some sort of flavouring to hide the burnt/stale/bitter taste. Which I hate flavouring, not only do I try to stay away from sugar but I fucking hate sugar in my coffee!!! Now Macca’s actually doesn’t have bad beans, so that has to say something about the barista itself. Like I said it’s an art form, and doing a half an hour coffee making course only gives you the BASICS darling, the skill comes over time. Unfortunately like anything, you get people that do a five minute course, watch a video on YouTube and they seem to think they know everything, and it ain’t the case. I’m not saying all Maccas Barista’s are horrid, I’m simply saying that I just haven’t found a good one yet. But it begs the question, why would you get a mehh coffee from Maccas if there is a perfectly good roaster around the corner????

 

 

 

 

Finding a good Café or Coffee Roaster

 

So being a coffee snob myself, I base my coffee experience or brunch date around the coffee and not so much the food. So here are a list of some amazing roaster here in Australia that you should keep an eye out for:

 

St Ali @st_ali

Proud Mary @proudmarycoffee

Axil Coffee @axilcoffeeroasters

Toby’s Estate @tobysestatecoffee

San Pedro – @sanpedrocoffee

Five Senses Coffee @5sensescoffee

Seven Seeds @7seedscoffee

Padre Coffee @padrecoffee

Code Black @codeblackcoffee

Keep in mind that these roaster are based on where I live in Melbourne so they might not be near you but by all means order beans from them. Now I generally like medium to dark roasted beans and I prefer my coffee on the stronger side with more of a fruity taste to it as an FYI. But you can also get a ‘single origin’ coffee which is designed to be drunk straight or with little milk. Don’t order a latte with a single origin, you will give the barista a heart attack. Order any of the following with a single origin: short black, short man, long mac or even a piccolo. Try to be daring with you coffee and move away from the basic latte order and go for a long mac! I’ll hold your hand while you do this, you will be fine! Now the reason why you shouldn’t really have or have little milk with the single origin is because they want you to taste the flavour! You can taste the most amazing things on your whole palate and from a single sip your palate can pick up say blueberries on the front, herbs on the side and something completely different and florally on the back of your palate. Think of coffee as wine. Are you going to be adding tonic/soda water to your glass of wine? No? Than why do it with coffee?

 

 

But you are after cafes too right? Here are a few city based cafes that you should check out

 

Melbourne:

Proud Mary’s (loveeee)

Manchester Press

Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters

Dukes Coffee Roasters

St Ali

Sensory Lab

Traveller Coffee

Higher Ground

Gold Drops

 

Adelaide

Sublime Coffee Roasters

Monday’s Coffee store

Elementary Coffee

Crack Kitchen

 

Cairns

Origin Espresso

The Chamber Room

Blackbird Laneway

 

Brisbane

Edward Specialty Coffee

Bunker Coffee

Coffee Anthology

Ricochet Espresso

Morning After

Plenty West End

PawPaw Cafe

 

Sydney

Paramount Coffee Project

Single O

Sample Coffee St Peters

Reuben Hills

Skittle Lane

Gumption by Coffee Alchemy

 

 

Perth

Telegram Coffee

Grouch & Co.

Eillo

BOOespresso

Chu Bakery

Gesha Coffee Co.

 

Darwin

The Rabbithole

 

Hobart

Ecru Coffee (Have been here and I loved it)

Parklane Espresso

 

Canberra

The Cupping Room

Barrio Collective

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee in the home

 

Now that kinda covers getting coffee outside your home but what about in your house? Like coffee outside the home, it depends on your taste and what you look for in a coffee. I have a Nespresso Capsule machine at home but I also have instant coffee as well. Personally for me I cannot have too much milk so while I get professional coffees at work and while I am out, but at home I generally have instant or the capsules to try and keep my milk intake under control, or as under control as someone who has 15 cups of coffee a day! Plus I am the only person in my house that drinks coffee, so if I got bags of beans they would go off before I use them all and that’s just a waste for me.

I found some home coffee machines below that you can look into. Some of them have beans and some of them are capsule, look at a coffee machine that would suit you.

• Breville Barista Express *I am thinking of buying this one next year*
• Sunbeam Cafe Barista EM5000
• Delonghi Eletta Cappuccino Top
• Nescafe Dolce Gusto
• Delonghi Nespresso Citiz
• Nespresso Delonghi Lattissima
• Breville Duo Temp Pro
• Delonghi Dedica Pump
• Delonghi Magnifica
• Delonghi Primadonna Elite
• Delonghi Clessidra
• Breville Precision Brewer
• Breville Aroma Style

 

Whilst Nespresso isn’t the greatest coffee, they provide coffee for convenience so it is up to you to weigh up convenience vs taste.

If there are a few people in your household that drink coffee and you will get through a kilo bag within a 30 day period that I would suggest getting a bean/grinder coffee machine otherwise there isn’t anything really wrong with getting capsules, just buy them as you need them, don’t store them over winter because it will go stale. Remember how I said that once the beans are grounded they last about 15 or so minutes? Don’t stress too much when it comes to the capsules. In the making of the capsule process they are ground and quickly sealed in a capsule with no air which will make the ground beans last longer.

Still unsure of what to buy? Youtube it. Get the ratings and ALWAYS type in bad reviews and the product you are after in google and take note about what pops up. Remember try to filter out the complainers too because you will get some that complain that no milk comes out when they haven’t put milk in there in the first place? “Oh gawddd Karen your drunk, stop reviewing shit when you’re drunk!”

 

So some simple care instructions for your coffee machine:

• DO NOT USE CHEMICALS! No you can use Ajax spray and wipe on it! Only use the certain cleaner that was handed to you with the machine do not use anything else. Coffee beans are oily, which most of the flavour comes from, so if you use chemicals anywhere near where the beans go, you are not only harming yourself but most importantly you are destroying the flavour of the beans!
• Clean your machine regularly. Like anything you want to clean it and that can be as simply as just running hot water through it a few times a month. Depending on the type of machine, depends on how you do this. Example: don’t put the capsule in/grind the coffee and run the water through the machine. Being that the coffee is fine, it can get into little spaces and you want to get that out by flushing the machine with water.
• Got Milk? If your coffee machine has a coffee spout to froth the coffee, ONLY wipe the spout with a soft cloth, do not use anything rough, or you will scratch the nozzle which can cause a build-up of a bacteria and also not froth properly! If you have a container that holds the milk and froths it itself. Only keep milk in there for a few days (and in the fridge when not in use) and then wash it out (some are dishwasher safe like Nespresso) and before putting milk back in there, run it with water.

 

Again, this all depends on your machine and *waves hand in the air* you can contact me if you have any further questions.

 

Okay so going over this who chat about coffee, keep in mind I tried to provide enough detail but didn’t want to provide you with a 10 page essay which is what I had before. (ooopsss) But hopefully this will provide some sort of help and if you need more details about coffee or machines or how to care for your particular machine, hit me up, I’ll always offer a helping hand.

 

 

 

 

Thanks it lovelies.

Drink coffee and stay cool kids

Blue xx