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A Short (Coffee) Stint in Melbourne
I was recently lucky enough to have a short work trip to Melbourne. After work was finished, I was able to spend a few hours walking around and sampling a few of Melbournes better known cafe's.
First up I went hunting for St. Ali. I managed to find it, in spite of phone GPS saying I was up to a kilometre away from wher I was ( :pan ). I found the house blend I had was a bit 'meh' as an espresso for my taste, but was exquisite as a piccolo latte. Very friendly staff, and nice and relaxed, in spite of the obvious busy-ness of the place. I ended up going back the next morning for breakfast and sampled their Colombian Yellow Boubon as an espresso - WOW! Simply delicious, just like my food.
After the morning meeting, I found Dead Man Espresso for lunch. Great food and beautiful espresso to match. Again I had a piccolo latte as well to go with my meal after an initial espresso. Both were very nice and the meal was quite delightful to boot.The difference in 300m between St Ali and Dead Man Espresso is wonderful. Both cafe's have a different feel, but both are equally fastidious about their coffee. Just a different feel in the cafes.
Next on my list of places was Naked Espresso Bar on Little Burke Street. Lever Espresso, what else can I say? Body, body , body and FLAVOUR! ( Yes, I am biased towards a lever... :angel: ) Had a great chat with the young lady working the machine and really enjoyed my espresso.... mmmm ttaaassttyyy....(maybe someone with more coffee knowledge than me may give some insight, but a lever machine to my mind, does produce more body in the flavour/mouth than a pump machine) I think they are using beans from Axil Coffee Roasters. Very nice coffee, with awesome body and a nice lingering aftertaste. Very happy (and caffienated) on leaving this place.
After there, I had a wander down to the Sensory Lab at the back of DJ's. I tried another Columbian Yellow Bourban and was surprised at the difference between what I had tasted previously. Both the espresso from Senesory Lab and St. Ali were superb, but finally being able to taste the difference between barista's/roasters (yes I know it was different stores and all) was something I wasn't anticipating. Another WOW moment for me.
Lastly I walked back up to Brother Baba Budan ( Had to have some palette rest after Naked Espresso and Sensory Lab). What a busy little cafe!!! ??? I had a Coloumbian SO again, and another great espresso! It was great to have the barista asking how my espresso was, especially in such a packed and busy space.
I know this wan't a comprehensive tour of Melbourne's coffee establishments, but it was all I was able to fit in in my time there. One thing I can say that was consistent across every establishment - great customer service, and great pride in each and every coffee that went out.
I'm really looking forward to having a further opportunity in the future to sample more of Melbourne's cafes (hopefully a few more lever's as well ;D ), this little teaser for me was quite fun. Time to start saving up for a coffee holiday to Melbourne methinks :angel:
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