From One Coffee To Another Coffee

We met up at the new-look Toby's Estate Brunswick, wondering if it would rain or shine. Half of the original cafe/retail space had been isolated and converted into training space, and gone were the big communal tables originally intended for families & big groups. There is an increased focus on wares for the enthusiastic home barista, with the most intriguing product being the mypressi Twist. This REALLY challenges what we normally know about the extraction of espresso coffee, but the design is actually not too far a stretch for those who drink traditional cloth-filtered coffee. If you travel by car then this may work but I am not sure that the weight will be welcomed for airline travel. There are also more coffee making equipment at the counter for (future) diverse methods of extracting a good coffee.

The waitress explained that the new set-up was to bring back the focus to coffee ("but no more French toast?!" my head screamed), and Chris as Victorian Operations Manager would be responsible for roasting and training operations ("you mean no more coffees from Chris?!" my head shrieked) Behind the counter all I could recognise was Yoshi. I could see how the local (semi-regular) customers were reacting - heard "it was nicer before" being whispered around me. Then I was served my short black Brazil Daterra -viscose and bright, which meant for me it was a kapow of sour, followed by salty and then a hint of sweet. Not my kind of coffee (it made me miss Toby's Organic Mexican terribly) but then the argument over bright versus earthy will keep raging as long as wine makers will argue over what a shiraz should be.

The service is still polite, but we agreed that we miss the boisterous chatting and laughing with children's giggles that made this place a Brunswick cafe. Now it just feels colder. More...Sydney. Sigh.

In the afternoon, I decided that visiting a new place was in order. The Maling Room in Canterbury has been well lauded for a long time now. Built in an old post office, I was immediately intrigued by the choice of three single origin coffees alongside the house blend (though it would have been nice to find out what the house blend beans were). The girls all decided to order Bolivian San Juan cafe lattes while I opted for a Costa Rican Herbazu piccolo. With the help of Himalayan pink salt, we all managed to corroborate the tasting notes: honey, vanilla and toffee in the Bolivian, and balanced with a sweet citrus flavour in the Costa Rican though I did question whether the body of the coffee could be considered complex.

We all agreed the barista, with his two Synesso machines, was indeed as good as the reviews made him out to be. The only thing was that he must be too good because the rest of the staff, as many as there were, did not imbude confidence in their knowledge of coffee. The shop layout is also peculiar in that any queue at the cashier will immediately block the coffee bean retail cabinet and the customers will either be standing next to the coffee machines, thereby blocking the coffee service, or they will be blocking the doorway leading to the lounge area of the cafe.

The barista admitted that, despite the Columbian Del Obispo having been sold out for the day (not surprising since the advertised tasting notes listed the bean as "full bodied, with buttery notes, and hints of blackberries & dark chocolate"), he was hesitant about it. He explained that Gwilym Davies (yes, The Gwilym Davies, he who wowed FH in England with his coffees without even trying) balanced the bean with another in order to create a balanced blend for his coffees. I got the impression that the barista was much happier with the Costa Rica Herbazu than any of the other single origin coffees the cafe had on sale.

Coffees - 4 stars, including .5 star for diversity in single origin coffee offering;
Service and atmosphere - 3 stars; we love the old post office feel and look forward to being able to get the lounge section when we return another day, but service is on this side of naivety and the shop layout besides the seating arrangements leave something to be desired. As well, the line "stovetop coffee is not great as we all know" is probably not something you would say to a customer who is enquiring which bean would be recommended for stovetop coffee. If it is good enough for the Italians...

LS Caffeine Favourites of 2010 thus far (in no particular order):

* Merthi Mountain Karnataka (or K something, I even forgot it was a weekday once I smelt this coffee), in a strong latte at Eclipse - think my subsequent verbal gushing endeared me to the barista;
* Cheeky Monkey 2.0, in a long mac at Eclipse - this managed to convert a tea drinker to coffee;
* Costa Rica Cantine, in a short mac at Seven Seeds - yes yes I know, Seven Seeds?! But hey, if they could successfully come up with a Neopolitan Blend then anything is possible;
* Iced coffee at Brunswick East Project - the gang here are careful to ensure that at least one of the two/three single origin coffees of the day will suit this treatment :)