For the cyclist heading into the hills along Greenhill Road in Glenside, a welcome respite can be found in the form of specialty coffee at Red Berry Espresso.

Four years ago Owner Walter D’Addario set up his coffee roastery on L’Estrange Street and began serving – as well as selling – beans to locals and passers-by.

“The coffee roastery combines my two passions, cycling and specialty coffee,” Walter says. “Cyclists are now making up about 50 per cent of my business.”

When Walter arrives each morning he hangs his own bike up on the wall, where it stays on display for the day. Cycling hats, musettes, and images of old cyclists adorn the walls surrounding it.

When he’s not on his bike, much of Walter’s time is spent indulging his other passion, experimenting with and creating specialty coffees. As chief roaster and the person responsible for sourcing the green beans, Walter ensures Red Berry Espresso only uses premium beans.

“We will often have 15 single origins available at any given time,” Walter says. “Lately I’ve been really enjoying a Cuban and a Sumatran single origin, which have great flavour profiles – my preferences are always changing though.”

Walter uses a 5-kilogram Toper Coffee Roaster to roast the beans, and a San Remo Verona three-group espresso machine.

Red Berry Espresso has recently started bottling its cold drip, which Walter says is proving really popular.

To complement its coffee offering, Red Berry Espresso keeps its customers fed with a selection of light lunches, cakes, and biscuits. “When people come in here I really encourage them to try a coffee they might not have considered before,” Walter says. “I like having the opportunity to experiment with coffees from all over the world and to teach my customers a bit about that coffee – at the end of the day it’s really all about the coffee.”