BeanScene Magazine

“G’day Courtney”, “The usual thanks mate”, “Hey look it’s the metro ad guy”, commuters shout out on their morning route into the city as they emerge from Melbourne’s CBD train route.

As part of Melbourne’s Metro trains ‘This is me’ campaign, featuring everyday Melbournians who use the public transport system, Courtney Patterson has practically become a household name as possibly the most recognisable barista in the city.

Courtney, 31, has been working as a barista for eight years. Previously employed at Vue de Monde restaurant and others, Courtney experienced his first specialty coffee at Atomica Coffee in Brunswick, Victoria, where he first started in the industry 10 years ago.

Along with his business partner, Verity Govett, together they opened Cup Of Truth (COT) two years ago as a hole-in-the-wall business, an untouched market which brought specialty coffee to mass numbers, being in the subway. Courtney says it took four months for COT to find its feet and establish a client base.

“At that time, no one had associated specialty coffee in such a niche market or in a train station,” he says. “Commuters would stop for any cup of Joe, but then it kicked off and with the best equipment, a Synesso Cyncra and quality Axil coffee, it brought another level to a lot of unaware consumers.”

Today, there’s no shortage of customers ready to wait for a quality coffee. From 7.30am to 11am, Courtney says business is “non-stop”. Every morning around 4000 people walk past the corner-espresso bar. Of his customers, Courtney knows around 80 per cent by name. He says he usually memorises their orders after the first two visits.

Business is fast-paced. Instead of a lengthy morning chat, Courtney says conversation usually resemble a quick ‘Hi, how are you going?’ And, ‘See you later’.

There might be a 10-minute gap in between train arrivals, but COT operates on a five minute maximum turnaround and most customers are happy to wait a touch longer to get a quality cup of coffee from their favourite inner-city barista.

“We were the first in Australia to set up a shop like this in a train station. Of course a lot more are doing it now, but we were the first and it’s a nice niche to get into.”

As the name implies, COT is about honesty. A set price list is inscribed on a blackboard and customers help themselves to change in a large coffee cup on the bench counter. In the two years COT has been open, Courtney says he’s had no major issues with the honesty payment system. “People aren’t too scared for free coffee but run the risk of getting caught and not being able to come back,” he says. “Honesty in coffee is proven.”

Asked how the Melbourne specialty coffee scene has changed since he first started in the industry, Courtney sighs and says: “Where do I start? It’s hit such a peak that no one was ready for it to get this good, and now we’re caught in such an increase in quality.”

Courtney says each day behind his espresso bar is a day of learning and it’s something he values within the industry. “There is such an abundance of great baristas in Melbourne who know so much and to be apart of that growing base is just unbelievable,” he says.

Courtney enjoys experimenting with new brewing techniques and has a Clever Coffee Dripper, cold drip and French press to his espresso bar for his Melbourne customers to try. “Customers now want to know more and more and they even ask us about blends to use at home,” he says.

Confined to a small space and the constant whiff of coffee from 7am to 3pm, Courtney explains how ironic it is when people tell him what a nice day it is outside. “Some daylight would be nice,” he admits. “I live in a bat cave.”

Courtney’s big break into the television industry came while he was working at a café in South Melbourne. He was approached to do some film work by The Guild Company, a commercial production company. He later found out Metro was interested in making an ad with a barista with someone who resembled his characteristics: male, blonde and engaging. His likeable personality got him the gig, however it wasn’t until a year and a half later, when Courtney had just opened COT, that the producers finally approached him and asked if he was still keen to be involved in the commercial.

Courtney describes the experience of making the 30-second ad as “too surreal”. Featuring Courtney at the COT espresso bar, the commercial represents his daily life as he travels to and from work on the train, bringing his father home a bag of Ethiopian espresso beans for his birthday. The commercial has been on air from early 2011, but Courtney says since the public’s reaction to the ad has been overwhelming.

“I took my my girlfriend to Saltimbanco (Cirque du Soleil) and in the intermission a couple asked for a photo, I couldn’t believe it,” he recalls. “Even riding the train home in a packed crowd and watching 10 people view the ad in an mX spread and look up at me is a strange experience.” 

Courtney faced another challenging experience in the specialty coffee world when he competed in the 2010 Australia Barista Championship on the Gold Coast in the Coffee in Good Spirits category. Using a Reidel glass, for one of his drinks, Courtney mixed crushed blueberries, fernet branca, cranberries, Panama filtered coffee and Hennessy XO cognac. Unfortunately, all was lost when Courtney became caught up in his own world and didn’t say anthing at all throughout his routine, failing to explain to the judges what he was doing.

With his competition days over, Courtney has a new focus in life. “Indigo is the name of my new baby girl,” he says with pride. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Although she is only a few months old, Courtney already has his daughter’s future mapped out. “I would love her to be a barista,” he says. “Of the small number of female baristas, they are so talented and precise, I’d be very proud.”

Already little Indigo has visited COT and Courtney is convinced she fits in perfectly. “As soon as she can hold a jug, she’s in,” he jokes.

And so begins a new chapter in Courtney’s life. Having always caught the train, Courtney still continues to commute on the public transoprt system or on his bike, which he says “most baristas have and use”.

Asked why he loves his job so much, Courtney answers: “I like that there’s no answer to coffee, there’s always something new to strive for and something to learn. “It’s a good life, good people and I’m in it.