There’s nothing quite like overlooking a beautiful lagoon, watching kayaks glide across the glass-like water and early risers walking their dogs as you sip a coffee.
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The Reformatory Caffeine Lab
Fourth generation Colombian coffee farmer Simon Jaramillo has combined his two biggest passions in his new caffeine lab: Batman and coffee.
“I’m a big Joker fan and superhero nerd, so I had to create a Batman and Joker-themed laboratory,” says Simon, also known to friends as The Mad Professor.
As daring customers step inside the dark Surry Hills lair, Simon’s serious coffee passion and comic book obsession is evident. There are no windows; instead a customised one-piece 2.6 tonne steel bar and 10-metre-long steel cages. Against the wall lies a comic strip hand drawn by renowned Mongolian-born street artist Heesco. The coffee bar features six grinders and scientific-like instruments sit ready for Simon and his team to create crazy caffeine concotions. Two coffee machines are painted in matt black to blend into the dark comic world, including the GB/5 La Marzocco and manual Strada MP. “I’ve spent a decade manifesting an underworld caffeine lab dedicated to pushing the boundaries of coffee experimentation,” he says.
Born and raised on Curazo coffee farm in Manizales, Central Colombia, Simon explains the 19 years he lived on his parent’s farm were some of the best.
“I was like a little cowboy. I would wake up in the middle of mountains and be surrounded by beautiful coffee trees,” says Simon. “Those years on the farm have helped me understand the flavours of coffee. In fact, I started drinking coffee from a bottle at age one and a half – so I really know coffee.”
Simon’s family has more than 100 years in the coffee trade. His father Marcelo still works on the farm today and was the CEO (Buendia Coffee) of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia for 27 years. “Thanks to my upbringing, I understand where coffee comes from and how to make it shine. When I started roasting I always envisaged opening a serious coffee concept store that would be very specialised with high standards of coffee using unique techniques,” Simon recalls.
After moving to Australia in 2003, it wasn’t long before Simon established El Cafetero, a green bean import business, and La Hacienda, his coffee roasting house. Simon still returns back to Colombia four weeks of the year for intense coffee laboratory training with his father to hone his craft. “I experiment on technical components of coffee that help build my coffee dream, not standard extractions and flavour components of coffee,” he says.
With that knowledge, Simon eventually settled on an empty driveway in Surry Hills turned the space into his dream caffeine lab, which he opened on 2 December 2013. Simon’s passion for coffee bubbles oozes in his veins – and it shows. Simon says he sometimes drinks 30 coffees a day. He also travels twice a year in an effort to source his own high-grade coffee beans. The Reformatory served two signature blends: the Joker and SQAB blends. Both are named after The Mad Professor comic.
The Joker is a complex dry red wine flavored roast that Simon painstakingly developed over the course of a year by testing different types of acidity and profiling during roasting. With coffees from Colombia, India, Indonesia, Costa Rica and Brazil this blend is highly graded and combines five different processes. “It has fruit flavours, tastes of blueberries, pineapple flavours,” says Simon.
SQAB is the perfect milk-based blend with delicate sweet notes of mixed nuts, macadamia and salted caramel. Its origins are from Colombia, Ethiopia, El Salvador and Java. Even Simon’s single origins and blends are what he calls “extremely complex”. “I want people to experience the crazy coffee flavours and drink concepts I’ve developed,” he says. “I want to give customers an experience out of the ordinary.”
And he’s not kidding. Simon has managed to find a way to profile coffees that taste like salted caramel, guava, cherries, berries, even pineapple. But more than that, he’s used Geisha coffee through filter to taste like beer. “Using my filter system, I take the Geisha coffee, add water and carbon dioxide and it tastes like beer,” he says.
Far from his expectations, Simon says the reaction to his caffeine lab has been overwhelming. In just one month after opening, the caffeine lab attracted nearly 5000 Facebook likes. “My laboratory features so many things people wouldn’t be aware of – such as the possibilities of coffee flavours,” he says.
Just like his comic idol, Simon says there are some similarities to himself and Joker.
“I’m very passionate about what I do. I have lots of crazy ideas, but I know what I want to achieve, and like the Joker, nothing will get in my way,” he says. “I want to continue serving quality coffee where everyone who comes here leaves with a big smile on their face.” But perhaps the biggest smile at the moment is on Simon’s face. Just like the Joker.
Exeter Café in the City
Sixteen years ago, Kristina Rowe was asked to lend her confectionary expertise to help out at a historical bakery set among the vineyards of Exeter Tasmania.
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Allpress Café and Roastery
Allpress’s first Melbourne café and roastery features pretty high on the “must-visit” list for coffee lovers. Opening its doors in the first half of last year, the inner-city gem is tucked away in the trendy and industrial suburb that is Collingwood.
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Single Rosetta
The Sydney suburb of Haberfield has their first taste of specialty coffee now that Single Rosetta has set up shop.
“We wanted to offer the area something different. Because of the strong Italian presence in this district, there hasn’t been any specialty coffee shops until now. We wanted to give the local residents something different to try, and so far everyone who’s stopped by loves what we’re doing,” says Ian Pope, Campos Coffee Wholesale Account Manager.
Single Rosetta is run by Bruce Kim, who Ian describes as a “passionate, eccentric and a fantastic barista”, who has been working in the coffee industry for more than six years.
The café uses Campos Coffee’s Superior blend; a typical northern-Italian style blend, which suits the area perfectly. The coffee has a toffee base with slight fruity highlights, rich body and a sweet butterscotch finish.
Bruce puts his years of experience to the test on their three-group La Marzocco Linea FB70. The machine is custom-sprayed in pearl white to meet the practical café interior, with its clean lines, use of natural timbers and quirky stool prints.
A single origin is also available and is usually a Cup of Excellence coffee. Past favourites include the Papua New Guinea’s Baroida Estate in the Eastern Highlands, and lot no. 12 Costa Rican Zamora, located at San Isidro de Heredia, the Central Valley coffee region.
Cold drip is always available. “There’s a huge cry for specialty coffee in Haberfield, especially from the younger generation who are passionate about great coffee,” says Ian.
The café serves pastries, breads and jams from local suppliers. A simple menu serves paninis and breakfast dishes, with the famous lemon butter cake and banana bread a hit with locals. A courtyard at the back of the café is an ideal place to enjoy the summer sun.
Pure Boutique Coffee Bar
When Pure Boutique Coffee Bar became overcrowded with coffee-craving customers, Owner Warwick Deare’s only solution was to expand. As luck would have it, the newly refurbished coffee bar reopened in November – directly across the road from their previous location.
“We’re up and running in a much larger space and we’re going from strength to strength,” says Warwick. “Glenelg is a bustling tourist spot near the beachside so we needed to cater to the growth of our customers and expand.”
The new coffee bar has additional floor space, a kitchen, and a new-look menu offering boutique beer and wines. “We still have a strong boutique coffee focus but we’re expanding our interests because we see a great marriage between beer, wine and coffee,” says Warwick.
Taking influence from the Norwegian coffee scene, Warwick has introduced a range of coffee cocktails to his venue. The Bartender’s Latte is their signature drink, which includes small cold drip ice cubes as a additional feature. Another favourite is the Antipode, which consists of a large sphere-shaped cold drip ice cube. “The area has been a bit starved of anything new and different, so now we stand out like a sore thumb, trying to create interest in our products,” says Warwick.
The venue is open each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The café serves Norway’s Tim Wendelboe’s full range of coffees through their Synesso Hydra three-group machine. For their house blend Pure Boutique uses Five Senses’ Harvest Blend, which Warwick describes as “smooth and well-rounded”. Seasonal coffees from Seven Seeds and Barossa Coffee Roasters are also favourites.
Visitors to the Glenelg venue can try a range of alternate brew methods including siphon, aeropress, pour over and filter. The full menu caters to the popular breakfast trend. Popular items include the Norwegian waffles or Hunters Breakfast: free-range eggs on house-made bread with Barossa bacon, and a duck and pork cassoulet.
Pure Boutique’s favourite chalk artwork from a local tattoo artist has reclaimed the new wall space, while new additions include a piano and guitar for live acoustic music acts. “On any day there will be grannies at the front having a latte, young ones drinking siphon coffee and a bunch of blokes drinking beers down the back.”
Red Baron Coffee
Red Baron Owner Matthew Keegan compares working in a shipping container to that of a submarine. “It’s a tight space and we do trip over each other at times, but I enjoy the challenges that small spaces creates, such as storage and seating issues,” he says. “Small spaces create atmosphere, there’s a nice buzz about it.”
Taking inspiration from Melbourne’s obsession with pop-up venues and whole-in-the-wall cafés, Matthew has established Brisbane’s first espresso bar operating from a used shipping container. “It took a while to source and transport the 20-foot container, but we’ve converted it into a great space that was formerly just a car park space,” says Matthew.
The container was green to begin with, before Matthew painted it red, added doors, installation and some hand-made benches. “We wanted to keep the space as bare as possible to keep the feel of working out of a container,” he says.
Located in an office precinct, Matthew says the locals have embraced the new attraction. “Everyone loves it. We’re the reason they creep out of their office so often,” says Matthew.
Red Baron Coffee contract roasts through Veneziano Coffee. Matthew uses a Syncro multi-boiler machine to produce their blend, which he says is “strong and chocolately” that’s ideal for espresso and milk-based coffee. Different single origins are available at the container each week, with regular favourites from South America and Africa.
Red Baron Coffee makes their own ice coffee, a perfect drink to enjoy in the Brisbane sunshine. Take-away food is available and aimed at time-poor office workers, including caramel tarts, gourmet sandwiches, wraps, salads, and fruit salads.
Prior to exploring his passion for coffee Matthew tried his hand at many things. But along with his brother, their niggling obsession with coffee got the better of them. As such, Matthew successfully opened Red Baron Coffee in Bardon in 2009 before opening his second Red Baron venue in Brisbane in February 2013. “I’m loving it. Coffee has given me so many great opportunities. Getting to craft something that’s gone beyond people’s needs, but is moreso a necessity for many, is really rewarding,” says Matthew. “People appreciate what we do and the product we serve.”
Good One
During November 2013, Coffee Supreme’s flagship café in Auckland, Good One, underwent renovations, expanding their back street site to facilitate more of what they have been doing for the past five years.
“We took a bit of a gamble in breaking a few of hospitality’s golden rules; must have high-density daytime foot-traffic, visibility, and easy parking,” says Coffee Supreme’s Managing Director Al Keating. “Naturally, when we proposed to set up shop in an old manufacturing building down a skinny back street in Ponsonby, there were a few scoffs and eyebrows raised.”
Good One first opened in 2008 to showcase Coffee Supreme in Auckland. “We’ve always believed there’s no better way to win friends and influence people than to sit them down at your own table with a mug of great coffee,” says Al. “So when we began trying to crack the Auckland market we figured we’d better start by building a table, and brewing some coffee.”
Visitors to Good One will enjoy abundant natural light, a customised Slayer Espresso machine, hand-painted signage, and ample splashes of Good One’s signature yellow throughout.
“The Good One brand takes inspiration from early 20th century American automotive packaging,” says Jonny Calder, Supreme Sales Manager and Project Designer.
Guests can sit and sip their brew among the extensive collection of over 4500 National Geographics. The earliest National Geographic on display dates back to 1917.
Since reopening, customers have been enjoying a simplified coffee menu with two contrasting coffees being brewed on a Fetco Batch brewer at any one time. This machine allows for complete control over brewing parameters and the production of consistent quality coffee.
“It’s slowly enticing people away from their regular espresso drink and into something new,” says Jonny. Good One baristas serve up Supreme’s signature blend, Supreme, as well as a single origin or seasonal blend, all through their customised glass-paneled Slayer.
The range of coffee is accompanied by savory and sweet treats made by Little & Friday.
For those looking to delve deeper into the origins of coffee, Good One hosts free coffee tastings in their new training room every Thursday morning.
Elements
Located at the “Paris end” of Melbourne’s CBD, Elements café and catering sits in one of Melbourne’s pre-eminent office buildings. The 265-metre skyscraper comprises 50 levels, but the real buzz is on the ground floor, with streams of office workers heading to Elements for their daily coffee fix.
Elements is divided into a kiosk in the building foyer, and a seating area outside the imposing building. The business is run by brothers Joey and Daniel Robilotta, and caters to busy office workers. Men and women in suits frequent the coffee bar, with mobiles and briefcases in hand.
Joey has been working in hospitality for more than 20 years. He most recently operated a restaurant in Queensland for six years.
“Running a restaurant provides a good training ground for a career in the coffee industry, but I wanted a normal Monday to Friday job. So I moved back to Melbourne and was fortunate to find this site,” he says.
Joey’s love for hospitality runs through the family. His father Giuseppe Robilotta has worked in hospitality for 45 years. He owned Robilotta Cellars in the 1970s, an Italian delicatessen selling wines, coffee and continental products in Northcote, Victoria. “In Italy my grandfather had beautiful vineyards and lots of olive trees. I left Italy at the age of 11 but I have vivid memories of those traditional products and knew that there would be a market for them in Australia,” Giuseppe says. Today he helps out his sons, taking catering to different companies throughout the city.
The Robilotta family worked closely with Coffee Co to create their own blend for Elements, called the Diamond Blue Boutique Blend. The beans are sourced from seven origins around Central America. “It’s a full-bodied blend that suits our customers’ strong coffee preferences. Melburnians know their coffee better than in any city, so we have to make sure we’re consistently serving great coffee,” Joey says. “Between the kiosk and café, we’re going through about 100 kilograms of coffee each week, serving more than 1500 cups each day, in addition to our supply of teas, hot chocolate and decaf range of products.”
Increasingly, Joey says many of his customers prefer to drink soy milk. To meet this demand, Elements serves Vitasoy. “We’ve used Vitasoy since we opened. The soy milk is easy to texture and it tastes good too,” says Joey. “While other soy milks often have a sweet taste, Vitasoy’s products taste natural and fresh. Everyone is particular about their coffee and milk these days, so it’s important that we supply milk to suit a range of taste preferences.”
A large team of staff cater to the daily needs of the café, with dedicated baristas glued to the Maranello espresso machine. “Our staff are great with customer service. They get to know the customers personally on a first-name basis and get to know their coffee orders,” Joey says.
Joey says they chose the café’s name from Melbourne’s reputation for having four seasons in one day. “No matter what season of weather Melbourne delivers, at Elements there’s always fresh, delicious coffee on the go,” he says.
Amelia Espresso
There are not many places that serve coffee and offer BYO lunch, but that’s exactly the philosophy that’s attracting clientele to this small CBD café in Launceston.
“We introduced our BYO lunch policy because we didn’t have the space for a kitchen, and we wanted to encourage people to take a break at lunch, to meet their spouse or have a chat with an office friend or grandmother. It also takes the pressure off buying an expensive lunch,” says Café Owner Amelia Padgett.
Amelia says the idea behind the business was to create a café using local produce in all areas, from they coffee they serve to the food they produce.
“We do more that just coffee, we create a little space for Launceston community to belong,” she says. “People frequently describe us as a sanctuary, a place they can escape.”
The café is situated in the very space where Lance Barnard, former Deputy to then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, once had his office. “Lance and Gough spent half their term here in this very space. It’s soundproofed and retains the original fit-out with original bookshelves and benches. It’s amazing to think that so many important political matters were discussed here,” says Amelia.
The café uses Launceston’s own Ritual Coffee for their Amelia house blend. This blend currently consists of a washed Pacaybal from Guatemala, a washed El Roble from Costa Rica and a natural Gelana Abaya from Ethiopia. Amelia says it has a rich malty sweetness, with hints of chocolate and raspberry.
Ritual Coffee’s seasonal blends are also available, which at the time of print included a Guatemalan, Costa Rican, and Ethiopian blend. Rotating daily single origins are always on the go, and past favourites include beans from Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
While Amelia admits the uptake for alternate brew methods in Launceston is a little slow and “a bit foreign”, she says she encourages regulars to try something different; even cold drip which is a refreshing drink in the summer months.
“Our clientele are strong milk-based coffee drinkers, but I have managed to get some customers to reduce the amount of sugars they take in their coffee from three to zero,” she says.
Amelia can be regularly seen busily making coffee on her three-group La Marzocco FB70 machine, which she names Beatrice. “She’s got some old style glam, she’s just beautiful. And the busier we are, the better she runs,” she says. With a background previously working in psychology, Amelia says working in a café is the perfect fit. “I’m a people person and cafés are about building relationships. I’m essentially doing group therapy with 300 people a day.”