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NEW (OLD) WAYS TO DRINK COFFEE
The ristretto and macchiato are so last year. Coffee aficionados are abandoning the espresso machine in favour of syphons and filters. It’s a case of back to the future, since these old ways of brewing coffee predate the 110-year-old espresso machine.
CLOVER
This American invention can be tried at Mecca in the CBD. It’s an industrial-looking steel box that, despite its vast expense (they cost about the same as a small car), is essentially a high-tech version of the French press or cafetiere. It brews and filters the coffee to produce a light yet aromatic coffee.
POUR-OVER FILTER
Many people who started drinking ground coffee in the ’70s and ’80s probably still have a filter system somewhere in the cupboard. To this day, it remains the modus operandi of the American diner and there’s a push for Australian restaurants to introduce it for diners keen to explore specialty coffees. A paper filter in the neck of an hourglass-shaped ceramic or glass flask is filled with ground coffee. Just-boiled water is tipped over the coffee and steeps slowly down into the base of the flask. Et violà!
SYPHON
You’d expect the boffins at the CSIRO to drink their coffee this way, since it looks like a science experiment. Water in the lower bulb is heated by flame or halogen lamp until it percolates to the upper bulb. Coffee is added, stirred and brews, before it descends to the lower bulb once again through a fine mesh filter that catches the coffee grounds.
Espresso Galleria
The smooth creamy coffee arrives in chunky ceramic white cups, brought to a handful of tables in this no-frills corner of a charming shopping strip. This espresso bar does its own roasting and owner and barista Emanuel Patniotis is said to make some of the best blends in town. Emanuel remembers regular customers’ orders, and there are quite a few of them. It took a while for this Greek barista to persuade Italian locals he knew what he was doing with an espresso but, if the crowds are any proof, he’s got them swayed now.
HABERFIELD
84 Ramsay Street • 9798 2112
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm; Sat 8am–2.30pm
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Forsyth Coffee & Tea
Rob Forsyth has taken his coffee bar to a new level. Literally. The award-winning barista has converted the warehouse downstairs into The Lab, where you can enjoy a siphon- or paper-filtered coffee. Another addition is the Tearoom, displaying more than 60 blends of tea and a range of ceramics. The Forsyth and Roberto blends remain the staples, and the coffee bushes still grow out front. Rob takes part in the Cup of Excellence competition, which selects the best coffee from around the world. Sample the unusual kopi luwak or Indian Monkey Parchment – just don’t ask how they’re made. Check online for details of appreciation courses, barista training and coffee carts for hire.
NAREMBURN
284 Willoughby Road • 9906 7388
Daily 7am–6pm
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Euroespresso
This is the business of coffee machines and coffee paraphernalia. Marcello Nadile sells a colourful assortment of La Pavoni machines, including a copper-plated variety with rosewood handles that looks pretty serious. There are little coffee brushes, what they’re calling ‘coffee dumpers’, and other trinkets, as well as coffee that’s roasted and blended by Marcello himself. The place is packed on Saturday mornings, when it seems the entire Inner West decides to go out and invest in a new machine.
ANNANDALE
165 Parramatta Road • 9560 7000
Mon–Fri 9.30am–4pm; Sat 9am–1pm
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The Little Marionette
If Sydney loves its coffee more than ever, Ed Cutcliffe at The Little Marionette has played the role of cupid. He started making coffee at age 15, and he now makes what is regarded as some of the best morning jolty beverages in the Inner West, if not Sydney. He roasts his own beans, using a rotating list of blends including Colombian, Brazilian and Papua New Guinean, to name a few, and sells the beans in 250-gram bags. This is where Bondi Icebergs’ espresso bar Crabbe Hole buys its beans, along with some other noteworthy Sydney institutions. Also at: 1A Booth Street, Balmain, 9810 9728.
ANNANDALE
18A Trafalgar Street • 9557 8337
Mon–Fri 7am–4pm; Sat–Sun 8am–4pm
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Live Craft Centre
This welcoming Chinatown shop is all about creating good health and prosperity. You’ll find all the feng shui items you need to ward off life’s bad omens. Handwritten instructions for a traditional six-coin charm read, ‘Hang behind an office chair to stop backstabbers’. But it is the tea here that is the real specialty. Owners Lawrence and Alice Cho brew fresh daily their own blends of Chinese herbal teas, believing that each blend can help prevent certain ailments. Come in for a cup of Five Flower Tea (Wu Hua Cha) to help clear damp heat in the stomach or the Traditional 24 Herb Tea (Ya Sei Mei) to prevent colds and flu. They also import over 50 premium teas from Hong Kong and stock a quality selection of tea ceremony paraphernalia.
HAYMARKET
84 Dixon Street • 9281 2828
Daily 2pm–7pm
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Mecca
Aficionados reckon Mecca turns out one of the best coffees in Sydney – a brave claim. Owner Paul Geshos imports green beans from boutique growers around the world. These are roasted and blended in a vintage Probart machine over in Chippendale, resulting in the smooth, deeply aromatic brew for which Geshos has made his name. His Dark Horse blend is for black coffee and Swift is for milk-based ones. He also offers alternative brewing methods to espresso, such as that provided by the Clover (short for Coffee Lover) machine, a piece of spiffy hardware that allows the barista to choose the exact temperature and brewing time for a particular coffee. Also at: 1 Alfred Street, City, 9252 7668.
CITY
67 King Street • 9299 8828
Mon–Fri 6am–4.30pm; Sat 6am–3pm
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Siboni’s Coffee
You can smell Siboni’s long before you can see it. As you walk in, the coffee roaster is right at the door and more often than not it is in action. This is a coffee-lover’s paradise: coffee beans, coffee machines and all the paraphernalia you could ever need to make the perfect brew at home. Dean and Rose Kiner won two silver medals at the 2010 Royal Easter Show for their Romeo blend, their most popular selling coffee. When you buy your coffee machine, Dean will happily give you lessons on how to get the best out of it before you walk out the door.
PYMBLE
975 Pacific Highway • 9440 3173
Tues–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat 10am–3pm
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T2
This tea emporium has about 180 teas, from English breakfast black tea to rare green, yellow and white varieties. Ranging from $10 to up to $50 for 100 grams, every tea sold here is imported for T2 (and all are beautifully packaged). Among the offerings are exotic-sounding Rolling Clouds and Plum Green Blossom, both green blends from China, or Dong Ding Oolong, a fragrant Japanese variety. Try also rooibos, herbal tisanes and pu erh teas, and check out the abundant tea paraphernalia. Tea tastings and ‘sniffings’ occur daily. Check the website for details of their other stores.
BONDI JUNCTION
Level 5, Shop 5010, Westfield Bondi Junction
9389 5799
Mon–Wed & Sat 9.30am–6pm;
Thurs 9.30am–9pm; Fri 9.30am–7pm;
Sun 10am–6pm
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Single Origin Roasters
This cafe and retail outlet has a serious reputation for its eco-credentials and excellent beans. The reputation is deserved: the beans are premium-grade, come from sustainable farms, and are lovingly roasted at the company’s Alexandria headquarters on a roaster known affectionately as Big Boris. And while Single Origin Roasters does a heavy wholesale trade, they also do take-home packs from the Surry Hills cafe, including the House Origins blend, a mixture of wild-grown beans from Ethiopia and India. Green beans are also available for enthusiasts to roast at home. Head office: 5/80 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria, 9693 2232.
SURRY HILLS
60–64 Reservoir Street • 9211 0665
Mon–Fri 6am–4pm
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Taka Tea Garden
Taka Pan opened Taka Tea Garden with his wife Helen in 1999 to spread the word of Japanese green tea and its health benefits. It’s done so well he’s opened another store in the city, now co-run by Tony Kwok, Helen’s brother. All involved are tea connoisseurs, and can quench any thirst for tea info. Want to know what the aftertaste of Sencha Imperial is like? Just ask. The tea itself is always excellent, and varies in price depending on the leaf. The Double Bay store is a cup of calm on the bustling busy road. Also at: 320 New South Head Road, Double Bay, 9362 1777.
CITY
Shop 12, Ground Floor, The Strand Arcade
412–414 George Street • 9222 1577
Mon–Wed & Fri–Sat 9am–6pm
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The Tea Centre
With the rise and rise of interest in quality loose-leaf teas, it is little wonder The Tea Centre shops do such brisk trade. They’ve been in business since 1993 and source teas directly from ethically run plantations the world over. The city store is divided between the cosy cafe and a huge counter, behind which sit canisters of tea – more than 180 varieties. From Chinese white teas, green teas and oolongs to Japanese bancha and Aussie-grown sencha, there are teas to fascinate the neophyte and satisfy the connoisseur. They offer flavoured teas (such as Autumn Spice, Quince Green and Mumbai Chai) and decaffeinated teas too.
CITY
The Glass House
150 Pitt Street Mall • 9223 9909
Mon–Wed & Fri 9am–5.30pm;
Thurs 9am–8pm; Sat 10am–5pm
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Toby’s Estate
Terrific coffee and a plate of perfectly toasted Brasserie bread with good jam make for an excellent start to the day, as many an Inner Westie fully appreciates. However, Toby’s is so much more than a local espresso destination; the folk here run coffee appreciation classes, sell and service espresso machines (check out the cool Otto – the remake of the classic Atomic stovetop espresso maker), and dispense beans, whole or ground, by weight. Although Toby’s has got into bed with food behemoth Cerebos, the cafe has lost nothing of its boutique feel, although some of the bought-in baked goods (biscuits, pastries) are pretty ordinary. See the website for details of their other stores.
CHIPPENDALE
32–36 City Road • 9211 1459
Mon–Fri 7am–4pm; Sat–Sun 8am–4pm
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Ten Ren Tea
The striking canisters of King’s Teas – a premium range of gift-boxed oolong teas – take pride of place at the entrance to Ten Ren. To make sense of the three-digit codes that identify each semi-fermented tea, the first two numbers relate to leaf quality (the higher, the better) and the end number references the roasting time (higher equals darker). An assortment of oolong, jasmine, ginseng, pu erh and green teas are sold packaged or as loose leaves from gleaming giant gold tins. Try the tea-flavoured noodles and dumplings in the cafe or choose from an exhaustive list of 150 hot, cold and flavoured teas and tea drinks. Also at: 696 George Street, Sydney, 9281 1887.
CHATSWOOD
389 Victoria Avenue • 9884 7668
Sun–Thurs 10.30am–midnight;
Fri–Sat 10.30am–1am
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Zensation
Just off noisy Cleveland Street lies this little corner of tea and tranquillity. There are around 100 varieties of Chinese, Japanese, jasmine, white, green and herbal blends to take home, but to get into the spirit we suggest sitting down to sample a cuppa or two first (with accompanying dim sum, if you’re hungry). Try the milky oolong or the vintage pu erh, perhaps buy a handmade purple clay tea set to match, and if you really want to delve deeper into the world of tea, they hold appreciation classes on request.
REDFERN
656 Bourke Street • 9319 2788
Mon–Sat 11am–6pm; Sun midday–6pm
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