The team at Hasbean produces good videos, and apparently good coffee – though they’re based in the UK, and I’ve never tried it.
Here’s some important advice on keeping your coffee fresh.
These latte art tips almost guaranteed to make you better at it
My latte art is sporadically impressive and depends largely on how good the milk I’m using is (and how well I’ve textured it – but if that’s wrong it’s just easier to blame the milk).
This slideshow from Serious Eats, perhaps more than anything else, made me more consistent because now I think I know what I’m trying to do.
“To begin, we have to lay a foundation of liquid milk underneath the crema. Start by pouring a thin stream of milk from about three inches above the top rim of your mug. The thin, liquidy milk will sink below the foamy coffee and create a supporting base for it in the bowl of the mug.
Think of the milk at this stage as being like an Olympic diver, making her body as thin as possible to pierce the surface of the pool water without creating ripples.”
Then, skipping a few steps to you have to click the link…
“When you bring the pitcher down low and increase your flow, you should see a dot, or halo, of white foam collect on the top of the coffee. This is your artistic belly-flop, and is also the genesis of the rosetta.
To begin forming what will become your leaves, you should start moving the pitcher from side to side at this point. Be sure to do this by using your hand only, not your whole arm: You’re not simply “painting” on top of the latte. Instead, imagine yourself riding a bicycle with hand-brakes, and “pump” the handle of the pitcher with your fist as though you were trying to slow your bike down on a hill.”
There’s also a guide to tulips…
“When a white circle or ring appears on the coffee, lift the pitcher up again and stop pouring milk. Practice will help you get this first white blob looking neat and symmetrical.
The cup should be about a third of the way full at this point.”
“Repeat the bring-it-down-low step one more time to create the smallest top part of the flower, and then “pierce” the design to bring it together by slowly lifting the spout of the pitcher while pouring the last bit of milk in a thin stream through the middle of the circular blobs you’ve placed on the coffee.”
Handy stuff.
Brisbane Cafe Review: Pompidou, Balmoral
Pompidou is a quaint French themed cafe in the leafy suburb of Balmoral.
It’s a Di Bella account, and they do an admirable job of producing drinkable coffee from their 2-group Wega. My double shot flat white was strong and rich, Di Bella style. I’m starting to think that Di Bella probably works best as a single shot. It can be quite overpoweringly full bodied if prepared well as a double. My dinepanions said their coffees – a cappuccino, and a piccolo, respectively, were tasty.
The coffees were good. The breakfasts were fantastic.
What follows are pictures of my pork belly with poached egg, spicy relish, haloumi, bread, and baby spinach, with a hash brown on the side, the “pan meal” which is pretty much the ultimate big breakfast, a ratatouille with bacon and eggs, and an Eggs Benedict, with the hollandaise on the side. Each meal was delicious, and well worth the price of admission.
We’ll be back on the strength of the food alone, and the coffee wasn’t too shabby.
Ice hot: the key to brewing tasty iced coffee
Cold Drip kind of fascinates me in an “I don’t actually enjoy the flavour like I enjoy every other brew method” kind of way. I’ve had several cold drips now ranging from palatable to mildly enjoyable. I just don’t get the fuss. And this might be why – coffee is made to be brewed hot. So if you want good iced coffee. Brewed. Here’s a nifty trick. Brew onto a bed of ice (though from what I remember of high school science this has the potential to smash glass if not carefully managed). But also. Factor the ice into your brew ratio. It’s clever stuff from the Counter Coffee mob. Here’s the thinking behind it. And here’s the beaut video.
How to Make Japanese Iced Coffee from Counter Culture Coffee on Vimeo.
And another…
How to use a Pourover Coffee Brewer – Pourover Basics from Counter Culture Coffee on Vimeo.
Brisbane Cafe Review: Belaroma Coffee Centre, Stones Corner
Belaroma has been a bit of a Sydney coffee institution for some time. One of Australia’s most famous baristas, Scottie Callaghan, is the face of their brand (check out his latte art skills in the video below). So one expects big things when they open up a “Coffee Centre” in one of Brisbane’s trendiest little cafe strips.
It was fun to see the barista using customised dosing tools, while the coffee inspired fitout, replete with laminated coffee sack tables, canvas prints of macro coffee photography, a coffee table made from a coffee machine, and a grinder lamp, and funky red wall brew bar setup also inspired confidence.
Belaroma also offers some light dining options..
The coffee was initially disappointing. The shiny La Marzocco (I couldn’t tell if it was a mistral or a mirage) promised so much.
The milk was a little too separated, and slightly too hot. The roast was a little too dark for my preference. And it was fairly bitter up front with a fruity and spicy acidity on the finish. Once the too foamy blend of milk and crema was gone it was actually a very pleasant coffee. I really loved the spiciness of the aftertaste, which the tasting notes on the blackboard identified as cardamon.
Toowoomba Cafe Review: Firefly
Toowoomba may be able to claim, per capita, to be the best coffee destination in Australia. I’ll know after my next visit, when I’ll check out a new specialty roaster I noticed yesterday. But what started as a movement with the Angel Cafe, which boasts Australia’s first Synesso, and began to come of age with Findos, the shopfront of Sleepless City Roasters, is now a bit of a coffee haven. Firefly rightly takes its place in this increasingly diverse scene.
Firefly serves up a couple of blends from Supreme Roasters, and a couple of single origins are on offer through the cold drip.
My double shot flat white was packed with body, and on the first sip smacked my mouth around. It mellowed a little bit towards the middle of the cup, and my wife, who’d already had her morning coffee, took a sip and declared it “good.” I’d say it was like a strong and pretty rich dark chocolate.
Breakfast was very tasty. Especially the haloumi on my Firefly Feast.
I went back for another coffee. A single shot flat white this time. And it was superb. So silky and sweet, I thought maple syrup, but I had that on the mind because of what I’d ordered to follow. It was on the Miss Katy blend, the first was on what I think was called the Southern Blend. I probably wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been.
The Cold Drip with maple syrup on the side was just sensational and refreshing. Better with the maple syrup than without. I drizzled it over the ice before I poured the coffee into the glass. Winner.
This was a worthy stop, but I was glad to check in at Findos for a flat white before heading down the range.
Brisbane Cafe Review: Coffee Hit Specialty Coffee, Carindale
The idea of a gas fired commercial coffee roaster pumping out the aroma of roasting coffee in the heart of the foodcourt of a major shopping centre sounds pretty crazy. But that’s what Coffee Hit Carindale promises. The roaster isn’t hooked up to roast yet. At the moment it’s a nifty piece of visual marketing for this cafe, and they’re currently (according to their shelves and someone I spoke to) serving up a blend roasted by Veneziano in Melbourne. They’ve got some beans sitting there spinning around but I’m withholding final judgment from this place till they start roasting their own goodies.
We were there a couple of days after opening, and it was packed.
The food is pretty good.
The coffee was, without question, the best coffee I’ve ever consumed… in a shopping centre. It wasn’t terrific, but if you’re doing the grocery shopping or the tiresome hanging out outside clothes shops, then it’s a welcome coffee hit. It wasn’t a bad drop. The milk was a little bubbly, rather than glossy. The flavour was good, but better on the second or third sips, and even in the aftertaste, than it was on the first taste. It dominated the front of my mouth, rather than filling every corner, it was fruity with hints of berry and a little bit of brown sugar and chocolate. Those were my tasting notes. But they are, like all tasting notes, essentially meaningless.
A rosetta by any other name: A review of Friday’s Brisbane Latte Art Smackdown
On Friday the crema of the crop (see what I did there – it’s a coffee pun) of Brisbane’s microfoam loving, tulip pouring, jug swirling, baristas rocked up at Veneziano’s First Pour cafe in West End for what my friend Mitch described as “the coolest sub-culture meeting ever.” The $400 in prize money, but more importantly the chance for acclaim from one’s peers, was enough of a draw to attract 47 competitors for a string of head to head latte art elimination battles. Those people brought their people, and Veneziano’s First Pour was packed with coffee lovers.
The hosts pulled out all the stops, with a sausage sizzle, free beer (though that went pretty quickly), and coffee from their brew bar.
Three judges – Queensland Latte Art Champion Scott Luengen, Tim Adams from Tim Adams Specialty Coffee on the Sunshine Coast, and Veneziano’s John-Paul Sutton – scored pourers on contrast, symmetry, and difficulty.
It was a fun night, with some amazing pieces of art produced. Here are some highlights from my phone camera – which struggled a little with the lack of light.
Mike Tam and Josh Russell Cup Specialty Coffee ended up going head to head in the Grand Final.
Here are their last few rounds, and the final itself, in video form. I shot and edited this video on my phone – and uploaded it – the sound goes a bit funny when it switches from video to photos. But you can handle that.
These are the winning pours from Cup’s Josh Russell…
In all, it was a really fun night, with a great vibe. Coffee industry peeps are the coolest, I’m always struck by how friendly people who could view themselves as competitors are with one another, there’s a real sense of camaraderie, and wanting to see the industry move and develop through cooperation – which can only benefit us end users.
Barista Basics from Cup Coffee
Cup is one of my favourite cafes. It was one of the first places I reviewed here, and it remains in my top three cafes in Brisbane.
It has been far too long since I’ve last enjoyed the fruits of their Slayer. And I feel like I should go back there even if it’s just to update the photos used in that review… But we can all enjoy the fruits of their labours together – thanks to their freshly published guide to making coffee which they’ve launched into cyberspace. This is top shelf stuff. Apparently its the material used in their barista course, and apparently there’s an advanced guide in the pipeline – at least that’s what the link says.
This is gold. There’s little tips in there like this one about splitting the milk into two jugs before you pour it into your coffee:
Splitting milk for multiple drinks should be done immediately after steaming.
Pouring multiple drinks from one jug will result in the first drink having more foam.
Milk is best served around 60 degrees celsius. You should learn to feel this temperature with experience. Splitting milk into a cold jug will reduce temperature by around 5 degrees. Always preheat jugs before splitting.
Like I said in my review. These guys pay attention to detail. They sweat the small stuff – you can see it in the typography in this guide, and you can taste it in the cup.
Coffee Recipe: Chemex/Vietnamese Coffee Icy Poles
I saw some coffee icy poles floating around on the internet once upon a time. And I thought to myself: “delicious.” Time passed. We moved house. And in the process I found a set of rocket moulds for icy poles. And I thought to myself: “I should totally make some coffee icy poles”… so I did just that. Here’s how:
I brewed up a Chemex using some delicious Brazilian “Toffee” Cerrado coffee from Ministry Grounds, roasted by yours truly. I’m playing with a fun brewing app called Bloom, so I know that this particular chemex had 40gm of coarse coffee, which I bloomed for a minute, with 60gm of water, and brewed with a 2:34 pour.
I added about three quarters of a tin of condensed milk, and a few dollops of cream to this mix. And stirred.
I poured this concoction into the moulds.
Then added a dessert spoonful of condensed milk to each.
Which sank to the bottom.
The lids went on, and these bad boys went into the freezer.
And then I ate them. Though the tips didn’t come out of the moulds particularly cleanly.
They were quite delicious. And I highly recommend making them yourself. I had some left over mixture, which I drank. It was silky smooth and ridiculously sweet.
