Alan Chan has tried both sides of the coffee machine – working as both a roaster and a barista. After 15 years in the hospitality industry, Alan says it was time to combine all the coffee knowledge he’d developed and start his own cafe.
“One Origin is about educating people about good quality coffee, and letting them experience something new,” he says.
Alan first got a glimpse of the hospitality industry when his parents owned a restaurant in the 1980s. While he studied law and commerce at university, after two and a half years he knew coffee and food were where his heart was. Instead, Alan completed a hospitality and management course, and worked at notable venues before opening his own café.
The interior of One Origin Specialty Coffee is homely and welcoming with an industrial touch. Alan has sourced a range of recycled materials to establish a style he describes as “a taste of old and new”. Most prominently, reused wooden slats make up the coffee counter facade that holds the custom-painted red La Marzocco machine. Industrial neon lights, recycled floorboards, ceiling beams, and exposed brick walls also help create the sustainable design.
The house blend is a seasonal coffee from Axil Coffee Roasters. The blend uses 50 per cent yellow Bourbon from Sertaozinho in Brazil, while the other half is a washed Colombian Los Naranjos. In black coffees it offers chocolate, orange, and toffee flavours. In milk it displays notes of chocolate, shortbread, and citrus. Two rotating single origins are on offer in addition to rotating guest blends. Current favourites include blends from Mailing Room, Industry Beans, Uncle Joe’s Coffee, and Axil Coffee’s single origins.
V60 and cold drip are also available, as is a range of single origin specialty teas. At the time of print Uncle Joe’s Purple Haze was used for the cold drip, served over ice. “I’m slowly converting our customers to cold drip – one at a time,” says Alan.
With Head Chef Lee (ex-Nobu) on hand to help bring Alan’s food dreams to reality, must-try items from the all-day breakfast and lunch menu include the Wagyu Beef Burger and Super Mario.
“This industry is always changing so there’s always something new to learn. Eight out of 10 people actually work in a job that doesn’t makes them happy. I’m lucky. I’m living the dream,” Alan says.
