Café Owner Jason Ghebar has one cardinal rule when it comes to hospitality: customer service is everything.
“All people want is to be acknowledged when they walk into a shop. Not enough places do that,” Jason says. “I want my customers to enjoy a fun and hospitable environment, and leave with a smile on their face.”
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Coffee Anthology Owner Adam Wang has a small problem when it comes to selecting the coffee to put into his hopper each day. “There’s too many wonderful coffees to choose from,” he says.
As such, Adam is determined to showcase different roasted beans from around Australia and present customers with a unique coffee experience.
“I’ve tried lots of different coffee roasters and if I like what I taste, I will happily add it to our menu,” he says. “I take customer recommendations, try new blends, and look for new roasters and blends all the time. Coffee can be quite subjective so we always look to serve two blends at any one time.”
Adam says it’s not uncommon to change one of his grinders with a new blend daily. He says his customers appreciate the diversity. “No matter what we serve each coffee is extracted to the best of its ability,” Adam says.
For those who hate change, Adam says Padre’s Daddy’s Girl blend is a popular staple coffee, as is Uncle Joe’s Coffee House.
Other roasters who have graced his La Marzocco Strada EP include Industry Beans, Duke Coffee Roasters, Small Batch, Market Lane, Proud Mary, Seven Seeds, Cartel Coffee Roasters, Code Black, Single Origin Roasters, Reuben Hills, and Axil Coffee Roasters.
“My personal preference is African beans, so the best part of knowing so many roasters is that I can usually find a good Ethiopian bean at any time of the year,” Adam says.
To make the process less overwhelming for customers, Adam groups his coffee into four categories of different flavour profiles and origins. A variety of alternative brew methods are also available, including pour over and syphon.
Light lunch items complement the coffee menu, but predominantly, the focus is all about the beans. “We’re located in the Brisbane CBD with a busy culture of people who want items to go,” Adam says. “The great thing about Brisbane’s café scene is that it’s growing. There are lots of people doing great coffee and food, and it’s very healthy competition. Everyone wants to see each other do well.”
Coffee Anthology celebrated its first birthday on 7 July, but for the time being Adam is focused on serving is Brisbane customers, and preparing for the Australian Specialty Coffee Association Queensland Latte Art Championship.
“When I first started in the industry seven years ago I thought latte art was cool, but then I saw coffee making as more about perfecting extractions,” Adam says. “I’m passionate about coffee and love to learn.”
On a Thursday afternoon, Hash Specialty Coffee is pumping with customers. It’s only been open only a few months, but word is spreading fast about the new laneway specialty café. Maybe it’s got to do with all the social media “hashtagging” for #Hashspecialtycoffee, or the simple fact that it serves really great coffee and food.
Hash Owner Ben Luo says he wanted to create a specialty coffee venue where busy city workers didn’t have to wait 30 minutes in long queues for a coffee.
“So many people wait in lines only for the offering to be quite disappointing in the end. I want to provide great food and coffee with quick service so those busy office workers can get back to their jobs,” Ben says. “On the other hand, for those who can afford 30 minutes to take a break from their desk job, we want to be their escape.”
Ben and Co-owners Syed Mirranay and Chen Chen have made the most of their CBD venue, finding clever ways enhance seating numbers, such as a mezzanine level and separated booths that provide privacy and ample floor space to move around.
Ben describes the design as a “cool, industrial warehouse” with black tones and wooden furnishings. This includes a Tasmanian Oak communal table, and the wooden service bench top that has been varnished 11 times to get the desired effect.
Visitors are presented with a menu that features food on one side and an array of single origins coffees on the other.
Zest Specialty Coffee provides a great selection, including a Colombian Las Margaritas for filter and cold drip, and a Kenyan Maganjo for cold brew immersion. The house blend is Zest’s Composition VII, consisting of Kenyan Maganjo and Kieni beans, and an Ethiopian Konga Keeble.
“It’s roasted very, very light, to the point that it can be hard for baristas to control. When we first put all these African beans together they started fighting with each other and the result was flat. We realised that after roasting we had to put the two Kenyan beans in a separate bag to the Ethiopian bean to maintain flavours,” Ben says.
And that’s how the Composition VII blend comes for those who want to try it at home – two 250-gram bags stapled together.
Ben says when looking for a roaster to partner with, he first met Rob McDonald of Zest at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo. He says he tested Rob by asking him to come for a cupping on Good Friday.
“I didn’t think he’d show up on a public holiday, so I didn’t either. Before long Rob was ringing me saying, ‘Where are you?’ That’s when I knew he were serious about what he does, and it’s proved to be a great partnership,” Ben says.
Head Barista Alex Asimakopoulous works the manual white Slayer machine, while Chef Adam Pruckner dishes up a killer menu of treats including foie gras sliders and slow roasted pork belly.
For those with a sweet tooth, a must-try is the Hash hot chocolate that’s served with fairy floss, and a beacon glass of 85 per cent chocolate. Before your very eyes the two combine to form a creamy drink that’s not as sweet as you may think – just delicious.
“We’re a team of really passionate people who enjoy what they do,” Ben says.
As for name Hash, well, that’s open to interpretation. “It’s a social media sign, and for others it can refer to drugs. We’re all addicted to coffee anyway,” Ben says.
Go behind the scenes in a national debate on which city does coffee better, Sydney VS Melbourne?
For the August 2015 covershoot World Latte Art Champion Caleb Cha recreates the smiling butterfly he designed for this year’s Art Bar in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Six days a week Phil Lesley wakes up before the sun, braving the cold on the way to his Launceston café in time for a 5am start.
“Being so close to the city centre means we do a bustling morning trade,” Phil says. “The courts are just down the road, meaning we get a lot of court officials who are also up early coming in for breakfast or a coffee before they start work.”
This has been Phil’s routine for the past 14 years since moving back home from Victoria and taking over Charles St Pantry.
“Eighteen years ago I set off to travel the world, but only made it as far as Melbourne before I was offered a job as a chef,” he says.
Despite spending quite a few years working in cafés and restaurants around Melbourne, Phil calls himself a proud Tasmanian.
“We support our locals by serving coffee supplied by Shane Delanty from Doppio Foods here in Launceston,” Phil says. “Shane calls past once a week to make sure we’re on track. He also oversees all the training with our baristas.”
Charles St Pantry serves Bruno Rossi’s Uno for its house blend, and has recently installed a second grinder in order to introduce a single origin.
Phil says this is one example of how specialty coffee is becoming more important for Launceston cafés to not just do, but to do well.
“When I came back in 2001, coffee was still a bit of an afterthought,” he says. “That’s definitely changed now. Customers have a much higher expectation.”
Phil tries to support local suppliers when it comes to sourcing his fresh produce too. All his focaccias, Turkish breads, and bread loaves are brought in fresh from a bakery just down the road.
“We offer the café breakfasts staples like eggs, fruit salad, and toast,” Phil says. “Then there’s brunch items running all day, like the open grilled shaved ham and swiss cheese sandwich.”
Phil says as well as the daily interaction with the young staff he employs, it’s the bonds he’s made with his customers that gets him out of bed each morning.
“I get up early because I have that relationship with my customers,” Phil says. “I’ve been doing this a while now – I couldn’t keep it up if I wasn’t still loving it.”
When three passionate baristas joined forces to open their own specialty coffee café in Sydney, they had one distinct goal in mind.
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