Nash Lane Coffee Co is a specialty café and roastery giving regional Victorians plenty of reasons to be excited.
Located in Mildura, Nash Lane Coffee Co officially opened its doors on 12 March 2016.
“After many years in the coffee game, mainly in supplying other cafés with a major wholesaler I saw a gap in a market that had increasingly discerning tastes and standards,” says Nash Lane Coffee Co Owner/Head Roaster Peter Thompson. “I combined my love of coffee and people, taking inspiration from my home cities of Sydney and Melbourne, and brought that to a regional town that was missing it.”
Nash Lane Coffee Co embraces a simplistic white interior with reclaimed timber furnishes from local auction houses and vineyards. On the building’s exterior is a touch of street art thanks to an Italian backpacker who grape-picked by day, and spray-painted the building by night.
The company carefully-sources green beans from around the world, and roasts them on site for residents to see – and enjoy.
Nash Lane Coffee Co currently houses a 10-kilogram RoastMax roaster. Peter says it’s not only a focal point in the café, but a great room-warmer on cold winter mornings.
“The beauty of roasting in-house is it obviously sparks that intrigue and conversation about our coffee. It enables us to tell the story about who we are, and more importantly, the journey our coffee makes and takes before [customers] take that first sip,” Peter says.
Nash Lane Coffee Co runs a house-blend as well as offering up to three single origin coffees on any given week, thanks to green bean supplier and Q Grader Tony Strickett from First Crop Coffee.
Peter says the house blend, AKA “Ernesto’s Shift”, deviates from the ‘typical’ house blend intention that coffee must have hints of chocolate, caramel and be creamy. Instead, Erneseto’s Shift features more acidity and fruit in its profile.
“Ernesto’s is carried by a San Rafaels Colombian, with pear sweetness, cacao and hazelnut flavours that are full bodied,” Peter says. “Our Kenyan Thanga-ini introduces lime acidity with blackberry flavours, and Himalaya from El Sal matches the intenseness of the Kenyan without detracting. It introduces white peach aroma and flavour, with its buttery mouthfeel. Basically, it’s our shift away from the norm, while still appeasing milk-based coffee drinkers. We feel it helps transition people into our singles, allowing them to experience flavours in the cup other than roast notes of chocolate or caramel.”
Various brew methods are used to fully-release the integrity of Nash Lane roasts in every cup. Peter says espresso is the most popular option for his customers. However, a great deal of customers are intrigued by the science and flavours of alternate methods Nash Lane Coffee offer, namely V60, AeroPress, cold drip, and siphon.
Up until recently, Peter says Mildura's specialty coffee scene had been completely ignored, with the market dominated by franchise-type establishments.
“Independently-run cafés would emulate the franchise-type feel, often producing generic flavours and products. This year however, I've really seen a shift in the specialty coffee scene. Cafés are now looking beyond mainstay volume roasters,” Peter says. “Specialty roasters such as Five Senses, St Ali and of course Nash Lane Coffee Co have really opened up peoples eyes to what coffee is and can be.”
To accompany the selection of coffees are freshly-baked bagels and house-made treats. For Peter, he can’t go past the Espresso Muds cake, made with shots of Nash Lane Coffee’s Black Lion Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. “Absolutely delish,” he says.
Nash Lane Coffee Co: 155 Tenth St, Mildura, VIC 3500
