Australians have quickly become the world’s most painful coffee snobs – our Olympians even brought their own baristas to Paris.
Three masters of the espresso machine explain why it takes more than an excellent brew to make the perfect coffee shop experience.
Like Seinfeld’s famed “soup Nazi”,my local coffee shop treats its customers with contempt. But I can’t bring myself to walk away.
And fireys are a crack outfit.
At one end,multinationals are buying small coffee roasters and at the other end cafe owners are building relationships with individual farmers. Australia’s coffee scene is,well,complicated.
When Mary and Pompeo Ursini opened Cafe Andiamo,Degraves Street was not the hub of Melbourne’s coffee culture it is today. Thirty years on,a lot has changed.
Alessandro Carciotto has been working with coffee his whole life,and he is deadly serious about it. In fact,the only people more serious are his customers.
Like wine lovers know their grapes,coffee customers are ordering beans from their favourite region. Cafes are offering tasting paddles to allow coffee fans to try different styles.
Data from food delivery companies show Australians love Indian,burgers after midnight,and reveal the difference between Sydney and Melbourne’s coffee orders.
It is uniquely Melbourne,but you won’t find it on the menu.
Few coffee drinkers would know the company behind the popular plant-based milk product Milklab is involved in a spectacular corporate implosion.