Sunday Roast

Well as you know, EVERY Sunday I post about my weekly coffee experiences.

Well a lot has happened since the last Sunday. This week in particular has bean a cracker on the coffee front.

To begin with, I have been drinking the Bahitalia blend as roasted by threebeansroasters this week. It has been superb.

Then on Friday morning, a whirlwind weekend of good coffee and good times began.

We flew down to Melbourne for a friends wedding on Friday afternoon. On the way to the airport we snuck in to Allpress Espresso in Rosebery for a cheeky latte. Once in Melbourne, it was straight to the hotel and a quick shower before crossing the road to the wedding venue – Ormond Hall, attached to the Belgian Beer Cafe. Needless to say the beers were some of the finest I have seen served at a wedding: Leffe, Hoegarden, Bellevue.

After partying til the wee hours of the morning, there was no better way to wake up on Saturday than to scrambled eggs and kevin bacon at St Ali’s coffee roasters. This was our second visit and the food and coffee certainly lived up to expectations. My 2 lattes were exceptional and indifferentiable. I didn’t ask for a clover or a syphon as it looked like the baristi were flat chat. We had to wait 10 minutes for a table.

Saturday afternoon, after lugging our luggage around the CBD, we squeezed into Brother Baba Budan. Despite having an interstate reputation, this place is still tiny and quaint. The 2 baristi behind the Synesso worked like a well-oiled machine and served up another latte (sooo much milk today!) that saw me through the afternoon. Love the chairs hanging from the ceiling. The could stand to upgrade the dunny…

I heart Melbourne.

Adri at St Ali

Sunday Roast – Coffee News

Not much to say about coffee this weekend. Have been drinking it. Have been enjoying it. Threebeansroasters did their biggest ever roast last week – woohoo!

Here are the top 5 stories I got when I googled “coffee” on the google news website.

1. Starbucks fan travels the globe in a quest to visit every outlet

2. Starbucks will refresh coffee containers every 24mins in a bid to enmphasise freshness

3. Angola will harvest 12,000 tonnes of coffee in 2009 compared to only 5,000 in 2008

4. J.M. Smucker Co. fourth quarter earnings more than doubled this year. The growth of the company’s coffee segment hints that consumers could be making a frugal switch from buying their daily cup of java at leading stores to brewing a pick-me-up at home.

5. India’s coffee output will increase 17% to a new record this year as summer rains over the growing region boosted crop prospects.

Awesome…. Starbucks, instant and a market flooded with cheap coffee.

Sunday Roast – Allpress

I don’t know much about Allpress Espresso. I have been there once or twice a long time ago, but Alexandria is a bit out of the way for me.

I have always heard good things though and when I went there with a friend yesterday, I wasn’t disappointed.

The place was full on a Saturday morning, mostly with people getting takeaways. My mate DK and I got a Clover with an Indian single origin that I didn’t catch the name of. It was delicious! It was the first time I had tried a Clover, but I will certainly give it a go again!

Sunday Roast – Decaf

Just had a lovely weekend up the coast with some wonderful friends.

I also had opportunity to crack some of the threebeans decaf. I was very impressed!

I don’t drink much decaf – at all – so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

But it was very pleasant. Very close to “real” coffee. Good work from the bean, the Saeco VV and Turns (I think) as barista.

I was thinking of doing a bit of research into the decaffeination process. I assume these beans were decaffeinated using the “swiss” process. It looks interesting… sounds like its all about trying to remove the caffeine without removing the flavour.

Sunday Roast – Lamb!

I have taken delivery this week of:

1. 250g threebeansroasters Ethioian Yirgacheffe
2. 250g threebeansroasters El Salvador ‘Santa Teresa’ Organic RFA
3. a small sample of the threebeansroasters decaf

I have only just cracked open the Yirg and it was still a bit early methinks ( a few bubbles in the crema). Having said that, it tasted alright. But I have a headcold so everything tastes alright at the moment! I wouldn’t be doing it justice to try and describe it here and now.

So in lieu of coffee talk, let me tell you about my delicious Sunday Roast lamb! Adri worked wonders tonight with a Coles mini leg of lamb, some roast potatoes, green beans and gravy. This was delightfully accompanied by a Victorian Cab Merlot, part of a recent purchase from the Wine Society.

If you’re not a member of the wine society, and you are a responsible adult who enjoys a responsible amount of wine, check them out! There are bargains to be had. When I joined up, they gave me a free bottle of this. I have struggled to spend the value of that one bottle in almost a year!

Sunday Roast

You may have seen this already, but this all in one coffee-maker is well worth re-linking to here.

Video here.
From here.
h/t Chong

Sunday Roast – New Milk Jug

I have been on the hunt for a new milk jug for some time. My old jug has a shallow, ill-defined spout that is lame for latte art. (That makes me a bad tradesman.)

The problem with milk jugs is, they are either not what I’m looking for, or ridiculously expensive. Another key problem is that I am not entirely sure what I should be looking for. Milk jugs seem to be largely a matter of personal preference.

Anyway, on Wednesday after my exam, I thought I would treat myself to a post-study treat. So I ducked out to Jetblack espresso in Cremorne and picked up this little baby…

I really like the bell bottom. It makes spinning milk a cinch. Plus the spout is much better defined than my old jug.

Nothing to blame now… Will have to up my pouring skills!

Sunday Roast – Syphoned Sidamo at Mecca

Well, after getting excited about the possibility of a syphon coffee at Mecca during the week, a friend from work and I went down to try one out (after a little side-trip to Clarence St to get a new inner tube, but thats another story).

I must say, I was not disappointed.

They are certainly not making a spectacle of the syphon. It is hidden away in a corner of the cafe and I felt like I was putting them out by asking for one. I think they should have it displayed more prominently, because it really is a pretty thing to watch the coffee sucked back into the vacuum. Check it out on youtube.

It cost me $4.50. Two bucks more than a takeaway latte, but well worth it for the novelty and the flavour experience. It was unlike any coffee I have ever had. A really nice floral aroma. I spent ages just smelling it. The flavour was nice too, but somewhat diluted compared to the smell. No trace of bitterness at all. I proabably should have let it sit for a bit longer because it seemed like the flavours were developing as it cooled. Lots of sweetness that haven’t experienced with a long black or plunger coffee.

The bean was an Ethiopian Sidamo (Bagresh?? something like that) and they only had a bit of it, especially for the syphon.

I will definitely be going back for another – loved it.

(I get the feeling that there are differing views on how you should go about adding and stirring the coffee. But I won’t try to understand that just yet.)

Sunday Roast – Syphon Coffee

I got the 17th issue of “Cafe Culture” thisweek. It’s described as the magazine for the cafe industry and retails for $6.95. But the have been sending it to me for free ever since I put my details down when I went to watch Sam compete in a barista competition.

Anyhoo, there is an article in this issue entitled “Japanese Syphon”. It’s all about syphon coffee, which has apparently been around since the 1830s, but is only new to me. I only know what I’ve read from Michelle.

I’m very keen to learn more. Apparently, Mecca has some syphons in store. I’m thinking about asking them for a syphon brew this week.

(Image from flickr – chez pim – here)

Sunday Roast – Tiger Mottle

Apparently, “tiger mottle” is a description of the striped and flecked pattern you get on top of a well extracted espresso shot. That was new to me. It’s also the name of a trendy cafe in Glenmore Rd Paddington.

Adri and I ventured out in the wet this morning to mix with the uber-trendy young professional crowd at this cosy cafe. It was recommended by a friend at work and we weren’t disappointed.

As we went in, out of the rain, I was stoked (ha!) to find an open fireplace. I don’t know if this is going all the time, but this morning, it was perfect. It was a trendy fitout. Mostly plain white, but still cosy. Loved the wood cut-out model of the deers head above the fireplace.

We had our standard twin lattes whilst Adri had the banana bread with maple yoghurt and I had the fancy pants egg and bacon roll. Dunno about the bean, but Adri thought it tasted like Campos blend. It was pretty tasty and well made. Nice head on the latte with a fairly shaky rosetta.

Even managed to flick through the April edition of Bean Scene, which was a great read.

Highly recommend making a visit if you get the chance.