Competition: Win Beans from Bean Green!

Lacehim

The Coffee Forum Competition

To celebrate our new forum we have decided to run a competition for all members new and old.

To enter the competition all you need to do is to post a photo of your favourite café with a little blurb about why it's your favourite.  Simples!

The winner will be chosen by 3 Judges, Brendan from Bean Green, Ashley from Crema Magazine, and one of our forum moderators.
The prize is a choice of two kg of green beans OR one kg of roasted beans.  The winner can choose the beans from Bean Green’s extensive range (no Geishas or Jamaican Blue will be available for prizes but all other greens are available).  Postage within Australia is included in the prize.

The prizes are generously donated by Brendan at Bean Green (postage included), and we would like to take this time to say thank you to Brendan for his support, and continued sponsorship of our forum.

Rules:

Members can be current or new members of the forum.  If you have more than 1 favourite café you can enter more than once just as long as you follow the rules, and your submissions are unique.  Different members can submit the same café but must have individual photos and reasons why the like the café.

Entries need to be a post in this "Competition: Win Beans from Bean Green!" thread.  Images must be uploaded to our server using the attachment setting on posts (please note attachment size restrictions), and a short blurb about why the café is your favourite.

Photos must be taken by the member, not generic café photos from the internet.

Admin/Moderators and sponsors are excluded from the competition.

Competition closes in 3 weeks.  Submissions must be posted on the forum, including photo and text by 5pm on 27th March 2015.

The most important part if to enjoy yourself, participate and have fun taking photos and spreading the word about your best coffee hangouts

mulquemi

Coffee@home I arrive home after a hard day at work,spoiled for choice with a plethora of coffee machines to choose from, share a coffee "over the fence" with my good neighbour,wonderful!

Lacehim

That's a fantastic first entry mulquemi!   Good luck in the competition!

GaryatGala

Great first entry i must say too. What an array of bikes and machines. You,re a prime example of what they say, "coffee and bikes a match in heaven."

Koffee_Kosmo

This is an entry by Mrs KK  :exclaim: She often shops around and samples cafes and reports back to me Her number one is Casa de Koffee Kosmo as she particularly likes the handsome barista ( her words ) But she likes @Beans in Cannon Hill Kmart plaza - they use Campos beans Cheers KK

Lacehim

KK, you need a photo!  It's in the rules!  :P

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1425296734:

KK, you need a photo!  It's in the rules!  :P

I asked the wife to take some photos on her phone So here they are

Koffee_Kosmo

This is Casa De Koffee Kosmos home cafe Wife asked me to put it in You may notice a Percolated Coffee sign - That was given to me by wife's uncle but we don't actualy have any  :angel:

Lacehim

A number of members had issues receiving the competition email, so I've decided to add a week to the competition date so that we can hopefully get some more entries.  The new closing date is 5pm 27 March 2015. Good luck everyone.  I'm hoping that this will be the start of many competitions on the forum!

GaryatGala

Here at The Roastery in Perth, I work to provide thousands of moments of happiness to punters of caffeine. It certainly is great to do that since I,ve in the past endeavored to provide my family many cups, not to mention my own. Suppose there,s not many coffee tragics who can work as a barista as well as roast coffee as a hobby. Here,e to many more cups of joy away from life,s pressures. [emoji477] [emoji106]

Lacehim

Only 2 days left everyone.  Get your entry in!

lukemc

RCoffeeCo Camden. The first REAL specialty coffee place in Camden NSW. Great cafe because the owner cares about coffee and local produce, sources local milk etc sadly I've moved away and don't get to enjoy it much anymore. Looking forward to dropping in this weekend when we head back up to Sydney.

Beanz

I would like to nominate the Oak Room in Ashburton a suburb of Melbourne. Oak Room is owned by Ken Taing and Karen Wang. Ken’s enthusiasm and passion for coffee is extraordinary and his constant pursuit of perfection in the cup guarantees you will never be disappointed. Oak Room always has an excellent range of single origins available along with their house blend. Regulars are greeted by name and Ken is always pleased to share his coffee knowledge with new customers as he guides them through the options available. The dedicated following of regular customers chasing the perfect shot are always made aware of the new coffees on offer. At a recent cupping they ran following MICE there were eleven 90+ coffees on the table for cupping by a group of customers and interstate / overseas visitors. Several people commented that they will never see so many 90+ coffees on one table ever again. There are numerous good cafes in Melbourne but what really sets Oak Room apart from the others is that Ken and Karen go out of their way to make people feel welcome and take a genuine interest in communicating with their customers.

cosmic_couple22

I am putting forward the Oak Room at Ashburton as well.  Ken Taing is truly a lovely man and is the greatest asset to his own business. His warm, friendly and engaging manner towards all that frequent the café is a level of service others should strive to achieve. The customer matters to Ken! Through Kens passion for his customers and the quality service and exceptional coffee served you see the other side, where Ken matters to his customers. This wonderful relationship between all results in a very relaxed homely feeling local café, free from ego and just a shared enthusiasm for the magic brown liquid that we enjoy. The range of coffee available is exceptional, during MICE the entire 90+ coffee range was available to customers brewed with perfection be it espresso, pour over or syphon.  To bring so many amazing coffees together not only for an amazing cupping session but available to drink is a real reflection of the passion that Ken and his team have for offering their customers the best and further reflecting the passion for coffee that the Oak Room is built on.  It has been a real pleasure to be part of such a great week at the Oak Room and share many hours of conversation with Ken, his team and Beanz.  If you get to Melbourne I highly recommend catching a train out to Ashburton so you to can enjoy the hospitality and wonderful coffees available at the Oak Room. Chester The Photo is Pinky (World Syphon Champion 2013) Amanda, Ken and myself.

cosmic_couple22

There is another really special little private café located deep in the Noosa hinterland. This place is a magical place where the team involved strive for perfection everyday. There is no pretentiousness, no ego maybe a little twist of supressed hipster but the type of hipster that was around long before hipster became a bearded skinny jean wearing ego monster. The pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the humble coffee bean is what truly drives this place, it's not about money as it is plain to see that a whole lot of investment has been made for no return. A clean minimalistic approach has been adopted to the fit out, with the emphasis on the top end machinery that adorns the benches and the roastery. Some days if the angle of the sun is right you need to wear sunglasses to protect yourself from the bling. Coffee is a way of life for these guys and I am pretty sure the roaster / barista is suffering from OCD or just drinks to much coffee, but he is warm, polite and kind in nature and definitely passionate about his coffee. The sink is quick to receive anything deemed substandard and there is always a great selection of coffee's to be tasted.  A couple of things to note though there is a board on the wall with a few pictures of customers faces apparently black banned for inappropriate coffee conduct. Remember the soup kitchen episode of Seinfeld, no need to say anymore. Day in day out you can find them in the roastery, reading, practicing, playing with all things coffee. So if you find yourself in the hills of Noosa wanting great coffee and a personal experience give the guys at Short Long Coffee Roasters ago, you wont be disappointed. Apologies for shameless self promotion, but hey  ;D Chester

Moon

The Black Seed Cafe - a truly International offering in Werribee Victoria. After having the odd coffee with Wyndham Council's Community Development Officer Cliff Eberly to catch up on Council affairs over a shared passion of ours .. good  :coffee2: .. Cliff told me about a new Cafe in Werribee that he thought made the best long black in town, and recommended I try it out. Not being a long black kinda guy .. I figured I'll give a latte a go. Well .. after walking in .. it certainly looked the part with an impressive looking Synesso coffee machine along with two huge Mazzer grinders waiting to strut its stuff .. for lil ol' me... and it certainly didn't disappoint. After tasting this lovely offering, I ended up purchasing 250g of their beans of choice from 'Sensory Lab' to continue the enjoyment at home on my own espresso machine. The line-up *Owners - Waleed - Jordan & his wife Faye - Australia (their 2 children - Ahmad & Liyana) *Barista - Marissa - Seattle USA *Cafe assistant - Isra - Iraq Waleed and Faye previously owned a Cafe/Gymnasium in Roxburgh Park, Victoria before moving to Werribee and setting up the Black Seed Cafe which opened 5 months ago. Waleed emigrated from Jordan to set up his new home 15 years ago. I asked Waleed [all para] Why did you choose Werribee for your Cafe? and he replied - I thought that Werribee needed a quality Cafe. After complimenting the choice of beans he uses, (because I know they are quite an expensive brand that are used at the famous St Ali Cafe in South Melbourne) .. Waleed explained - that after purchasing top quality coffee making equipment .. there's no point unless you also use top quality beans. No argument there Waleed .. nice one ..  :thumb: After taking the photos .. I purchased a kilo of their Sensory Lab beans. ( a blend of Columbian & Panama) Between ordering my coffee beans online .. I sometimes find that I run out and stuck for where I can get some freshly roasted quality beans locally .. to get by until the next order arrives in the post. Thank the Lord for Black Seed Cafe .. no worries  :thumb: Great looking Cafe .. great equipment .. great beans .. great location .. great coffee .. great people .. what else can I say, it's err .. great!  8) From the left - Marissa, Faye, Isra ... and yep .. that's Waleed at the back.

Lacehim

Competition now closed.  Thank you for all the fantastic entries and a sneak peek at your cafes/home cafes.  I'm sure all the members have been very interested. Over to the judges and another thank you to Brendan from Bean Green for the prize donation so this competition could happen!

admin

Ok guys, sorry about the delay, but Brendan [from Beangreen] was overseas and not on internet for most of the week... It was very close and we struggled between the 3 judges but in the end the winner was Moon, who took it very closely over Beanz and LukeMC, so congrats all of you… the prize will go out to Moon once Brendan is back from o'seas [latest pic from him was from a very smoggy Shanghai], but will advise shortly. Of special note were a couple of judges' comments [& if we had more prizes, probably would have got one for special categories]: 1. Brendan loved Chester's 'shameless self-promotion' entry; 2. I loved the intensity of LukeMC's pic of RCoffeeCo Camden, would have got the 'artistic barista shot' prize [or similar] if there was one. congrats once again! A

Lacehim

Congratulations Moon and too all the other members that took part.  It was great to see some interesting photos and to hear about your favorite coffee hangouts. Would you all be interested it more competitions?

Kevohere

on 1428107359:

Ok guys, sorry about the delay, but Brendan [from Beangreen] was overseas and not on internet for most of the week... A

Your saying Brendan WAS overseas? Can I take it then that he is back? I am flying into Brisbane on Wednesday morning and planned a drop in visit to Bean Green, hoping to catch up with him, throw some ITM greens into my baggage before driving up to Bundaberg. (Will be dropping in on Chester on the return journey.  :thumb:) Kev

Lacehim

Not sure if he is back or still away but he is visiting manufacturers of the brew over.  I'm sure his business will be run by staff so you can pop on still.  Enjoy your visit to Chester, great set up and nice bloke. [emoji106]

Brett H

Congratulations Moony!  Thank you also to all entries. 

mulquemi

Dear Brett H, Was there a wooden spoon for coming last in the judges decision or am I out of order? Cheers, Mick.

lukemc

Congrats mooney. I've moved from Sydney to point cook so will be checking out your winning cafe soon too

Cuir Beluga

Congratulations Mr Moon  .

Moon

YABBA DABBA DOO :coffee2:

on 1428107359:

Ok guys, sorry about the delay, but Brendan [from Beangreen] was overseas and not on internet for most of the week... It was very close and we struggled between the 3 judges but in the end the winner was Moon congrats once again!

Gracefully accepted ...  :thumb:

on 1428123484:

Congratulations Mr Moon  .

Thanks  >:D

on 1428123177:

Congrats mooney. I've moved from Sydney to point cook so will be checking out your winning cafe soon too

Point Cook eh? ... cheers neighbour 

on 1428111762:

Congratulations Moony! 

Rating - 10/10 ----> Hit the Jackpot  :coffee2:

on 1428108728:

Congratulations Moon and too all the other members that took part. Would you all be interested it more competitions?

  :thumb:

on 1428122029:

Dear Brett H, Was there a wooden spoon for coming last in the judges decision or am I out of order? Cheers, Mick.

Jar of Nescafe :question:

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Thanks heaps to Ashley and Lacehim for getting the first competition up and running Cheers to Brendan from 'beangreen' for putting up the prize ([size=8pt]I have bought beans from you before[/size]) I hear he's a nice bloke ..  Judges - thanks for choosing that Moony fella ps. oooh .. might go take a squiz at my choices of beans at beangreen. I don't have a decent roaster (one day) -  so I'll be going the 1Kg of roasted beans.  8)  Hmm? Leaning towards the 'El Timbo'

Brett H

on 1428122029:

Dear Brett H, Was there a wooden spoon for coming last in the judges decision or am I out of order? Cheers, Mick.

Mate, with a Picture like yours you're already a winner.  I don't know honestly who was last (didn't work it out) but I'm positive it wasn't you so sadly you'll get no wooden spoon either  

Koffee_Kosmo

Nice win Mr Moon I recon it's all got to do with your story telling Now you need to be a home roaster KK

GaryatGala

Worthy winner there Mr Moon. Fascinating reading of the crew who made it all  possible and living their great aussie dream of cafe life. Thanks to you guys who made the effort to put the comp together. Was enjoyable. Btw, no way anyone deserves the wooden spoon. Each one a winner on their own merits. [emoji106]

Moon

Cheers KK .. I wasn't going to enter .. even though I'd previously bean suggesting competitions as a means of attracting new members .. but when they weren't flooding in with entries .. figured I'd better step up and make an effort to add to the numbers. Waleed and his colleagues were rapt about having their photos taken - even though they were in the process of packing up after a long day. It would have bean good to have bean able to get a shot of customers inside the shop enjoying their coffee .. only it was empty with all the chairs up on the tables - which you can just see on the right side of the photo I entered. I've bean bugging the Community Development Officer, the local Mayor (who is a friend) a couple of Councillors about turning Station st .. which is connected to the Railway Station - into a vibrant Cafe hub .. for the locals as well as for tourists visiting Werribee, which for those who aren't aware, is on the south-western fringe of metropolitan Melbourne .. the fastest growing region in Victoria. It has so much potential ... yet this prime piece of Real Estate is wasted on being used as a car park. I've also been nipping away at the Development Officer at the local community centre in an attempt to set up a semi-professionally run Cafe at the centre as an attraction for locals - which has an outdoor setting with surrounding parkland that Cafes along the main street of Werribee don't have. It now has a community vegetable garden and runs a lot of workshops and courses .. but lacks a means to bring the individual groups together in a social setting to interact and exchange ideas - which is what a Cafe can provide. Coffee brings people together. Progress so far is like this

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>  :head: Edit: Cheers Gary. The middle-eastern contribution adds to the multi-cultural town that Werribee is becoming. A classy addition.

Brett H

The world needs more Moony's!