Melbourne's Best Coffee

askthecoffeeguy

ok ive thrown in an entirely subjective tasting poll for good measure so dont take it as gospel truth folks unless its been vetted by tony abbots media advisor and i realise that the same coffee can taste different made at two different cafes hell, the same coffee can taste different if made at the one cafe, depending upon whos on the machine, and the time of day etc... so just give it a pot luck best shot and let the apples roll where they may p

kbilleter

GeekKopi wrote:

Yes I contracted myself. Meant to state choc full of hipsters and they are forgetting what the average folk want. Plus it's a new place so let's see if it's there in 3 years time let alone 12 months time.

Yeah, that's what I'm curious about too. As contrary as I'm being, I actually prefer mid / darkish roasts. Just that I like the idea of a bit of chaos, vibrancy and heterogeneity too :-).

Dry_bean

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

ok ive thrown in an entirely subjective tasting poll for good measure so dont take it as gospel truth folks unless its been vetted by tony abbots media advisor and i realise that the same coffee can taste different made at two different cafes hell, the same coffee can taste different if made at the one cafe, depending upon whos on the machine, and the time of day etc... so just give it a pot luck best shot and let the apples roll where they may p

Re the poll Pat, should have included none of the above, I like my coffee to taste like coffee. :🙂

askthecoffeeguy

True dat it is s little tongue in cheek >😃 :stir

FreshCoffee2

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

Just had a shit coffee from somewhere *I won't say where* using a slayer - it was all lemon acidity and burnt toffee in the flavour profiles More the fool me for ordering a flat white and an espresso at the same time ! Is it unreasonable to expect a coffee that tastes like a coffee and not some fool barista's wet dream of what they think a coffee should taste like ? Word up to cafe owners everywhere - don't inflict your social coffee experiments on me ! P

Thank you Pat. Well said. And you didnt even mention anything about the brand of machine and the BS associated with "brands".... May I simply say that I like my coffee to taste like coffee. If I wanted lemon and acidity, I would go to the local fruitarama and buy a lemon. Or, I would specifiy the coffee made by INFUSION for cupping where I can legitimately seek to find all sorts of characters depending on the type of coffee and roast, rather than in an espresso machine where I expect the coffee to taste like an espresso style brew should...

askthecoffeeguy

Agreed have to say I prefer an old school Italian roast to a bowl of fruit salad any day !

kbilleter

We had trouble finding coffee that didn't taste predominantly of ash in Venice last year. And the milk was always frothy. Fared a bit better the few days we spent further north (and much cheaper). Lots of choice the week we spent in Bucarest, although my favourite (Origo) sounds like it would have been too bright for everyone here. Still... I was so glad to get back to our machine, I had to make a coffee at 03:00, jet-lagged just to make sure I wasn't imagining how good it used to taste :-) K

Brett_H

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

Just had a shit coffee from somewhere *I won't say where* using a slayer - it was all lemon acidity and burnt toffee in the flavour profiles More the fool me for ordering a flat white and an espresso at the same time ! Is it unreasonable to expect a coffee that tastes like a coffee and not some fool barista's wet dream of what they think a coffee should taste like ? Word up to cafe owners everywhere - don't inflict your social coffee experiments on me ! P

This is one of my favoite posts from 2015!!!!!! While I was reading it I anted to pump the air screaming yes, only you made me laugh too quickly. I attended a Bris coffee meet-up a few years ago and The host gone to great trouble to procure some of a barista champ's blend. The resulting ristretto tasted like warm lemon juice with slightly more body. The only thing more outrageous than ruing good coffee with a roast profile akin to a lemon meringue pie was the price he charged. I topped mine up with cold soda water and drank it as a spritzer.

Brett_H

Fresh Coffee wrote:

Thank you Pat. Well said. And you didnt even mention anything about the brand of machine and the BS associated with "brands".... May I simply say that I like my coffee to taste like coffee. If I wanted lemon and acidity, I would go to the local fruitarama and buy a lemon. Or, I would specifiy the coffee made by INFUSION for cupping where I can legitimately seek to find all sorts of characters depending on the type of coffee and roast, rather than in an espresso machine where I expect the coffee to taste like an espresso style brew should...

Another 'YES' and fist-pump! I help can't help but feel very smug when I think of the money I haven't spent on coffee despite enjoying high-end gear. As I read your collectively excellent posts ladies and gents I'm sipping on a coffee from my BFC machine roasted by me and tasting like coffee. A double win!! Now someone did the sums on my gear in a thread a couple of years ago and looking around I see I'm in good company. But when I consider I rarely if ever drink coffee out compared to my friend who manages two to three a day at a cost (he's in finance) of $3k -$3250 a year, my machine looks particularly frugal. Think of it as renting for 18months but owning it at the end of that time. What has this all to do with Melbourne coffee? As the caffeinated home of Australia how far are they prepared to to let the fringe and avent garde dictate the mean? How many will they turn off, disenfranchise and then rue the economic implication? As a country of very recently converted beer drinking zealots is this even possible?

askthecoffeeguy

I don't mind bright acidity in an espresso as long as it's balanced by fruit sugars I just don't like it in my milk based coffees I've also had some great coffees from Reverence Coffee, St Ali, and Seven Seeds in Melbourne - all of which were lighter style roasts but which were exceptionally well balanced Not my preferred or 'go to' drinking style for coffee but very enjoyable never the less Still I've often found myself making my own coffee afterwards to my own requisite strength, and desired coffee profile But I've had a lot of terrible coffees out and about also which makes me even happier that I can produce my own good cup of Java at home !

kbilleter

Thought you guys might appreciate Ironically, my short macchiato was a little under extracted.

askthecoffeeguy

kbilleter wrote:

Thought you guys might appreciate Ironically, my short macchiato was a little under extracted.

That's great ! I hate lemon acidity in my espresso !

mycuppa

Well, this post is not about Melbourne's Best Coffee - but more a sad case of lament over the distinct lack of professional journalism now exhibited by commercially focused editorials attempting to compile reviews for consumer consumption. A rather stylish and fashionable electronic publication, aptly called Broadsheet, caters primarily for the new and interesting foodie and beverage community happenings along with aspects of entertainment. Featuring cafes, restaurants, exhibitions, events, etc. I have often enjoyed and appreciated their artistically prepared emails. Their juggernaut has continued unabated with recent Sydney-based content publications now up and running. Everything was fine in my Broadsheet world until last week when they featured a "Best Cafes in the West" manifesto. Being an Eastern-based boy I relished the opportunity to read about what cafes have been up to "over there" - especially with a tagline of "go west young man"! - how could I resist. And then it happened.......... One of the cafes they featured from an inner-west suburb had almost the entire review content focused upon a specific owner and his "heritage". Written in the style of intimacy that gives you the impression the author actually turned up and had that precise experience. Unfortunately, said owner no longer owns that establishment as it was sold some time ago.........now offering a completely different theme and entirely new menu and facilities under the new owner. So.......being rather curious I started searching for other references via trusty, indispensable mr google.......and it seems that a very old article (ancient in hospitality years, which are sort of like dog years) popped up. Well, what do you know.........a few simple cut & paste jobs and task complete.......record time. Can the publisher be trusted anymore ? Was it just a simple and genuine mistake caused by a pressing deadline and the need to "fill space" ? Is this a sign of the future - treat your followers with contempt.....just like they are wood ducks....... Reminds me of recent articles about vast segments of social media who purchase 50,000 facebook likes for $150 or 1,500 Instagram followers for $100 - fake it till you make it !

Brett_H

Reviving this old thread and re-reading Jeff's excellent post above... I'm off for a couple of days in the Melbourne CBD. What are the up-to-the-minute cafe must do'oooZZZZ??

Dry_bean

Brett H wrote:

Reviving this old thread and re-reading Jeff's excellent post above... I'm off for a couple of days in the Melbourne CBD. What are the up-to-the-minute cafe must do'oooZZZZ??

Business or pleasure Brett? regardless, enjoy your trip.

admin

actually must admit i'm a little out-of-touch with the Melb scene - names of top 5-6 standouts would be much appreciated!

Beanz

Brett H wrote:

I'm off for a couple of days in the Melbourne CBD. What are the up-to-the-minute cafe must do'oooZZZZ??

If you are in the CBD I would suggest LB2, Patricia and Workshop Brothers

Koffee_Kosmo

I was in Melbourne about one year ago Place we went to was Degraves Street - originally for lunch and there is lots of choice as well as some good coffee establishments Nice chooros as well around the corner Sorry can't recall any names KK

Brett_H

Thanks guys... that's a good start. The trip is pleasure but because our jobs are our hobbies it'll be business too for a good portion 😉

mycuppa

Brett, The standard is pretty similar across the entire spectrum. There are no standout places and the names of places mentioned above are nothing special in terms of coffee, especially Patricia's ( which I sample every 2 months in the hope that I figure out what I seem to keep missing). The days of the 5 or 6 standouts are long gone. Some of these places are up or down week to week and the same names keep getting A mention. Personally, you may get better coffee outside of the CBD but I'm not going to list places because it's all really subjective. Nobody gets to samples every place. CBD outlets are operating on fixed budgets where the price of a coffee is basically the same across the entire district due to competition. When you get outside of the CBD there is more scope with pricing of products and in some cases a stronger desire to produce excellence...more time, more care, etc. I think it's the places doing exciting and innovative things with food as well as serving good coffee are the most rewarding and memorable experiences. There is some seriously great foodies stuff going on. The coffee, well it's all been done before !

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