Jam Jar Lounge is not your average café. As customers relax to the smooth jazz beats of Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Holliday, this eclectic café in Hobart invites local customers to enjoy a relaxed and dedicated coffee experience.
“The café is a 1920s, art deco prohibition-Chicago gangster feel,” says Owner Danny Matheson.
Originally from Melbourne, Danny has taken the alternate vibe of Gertrude st and transcended it into his Hobart oasis. “The café was built on coffee,” says Danny. “I filled a niche here in Hobart. I brought my coffee experience with me and it’s evolved ever since.”
Jam Jar Lounge uses Villino Coffee, which Danny handles with care on their Nuova Simonelli machine. “I wanted to find a local roaster. I went on a coffee pilgrimage for five months to find a decent roaster, then settled on Villino,” says Danny. “When we first started, we were only serving 4 to 5 kilos of coffee a week, now we’re doing 21 kilos.”
The Jam Jar Blend is a combination of Central American, African and Colombian beans. Danny describes it as containing the “richness of Colombian beans, smoothness of the African and a hint of chocolate at the end”.
Making the “sea change” from a corporate background, Danny says the idea of being his own boss was a real catalyst to his career shift.
“I’m doing what I love, working in hospitality,” he says. “This café is for the locals. I love a chat and it’s a comfortable, friendly space for everyone to enjoy.”
The café features a range of menu items made in-house, including gluten-free cakes, anzac cookies and a lunch menu of soups, salads and Japanese beef curry.
Apart from the morning coffee rush, Danny says breakfast on a weekend normally caters to a busy crowd of 90 customers each day. Must-try breakfast items include eggs benedict with Tasmanian smoked salmon, sardines on toast, and coco pops.
The café is fully licensed and hosts fright night tapas and live jazz most sunday afternoons.