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All Posts By Brigette Paterson
Making Sense at Balderdash
Look up Balderdash in the dictionary and you will find “nonsense, stupid or illogical talk; senseless rubbish.” Seek out Balderdash in Port Melbourne and what you’ll find is something rather the opposite — two young hospitality veterans on a mission to create a quality enterprise.
Taking Time Out at The Bell Jar
Tucked away in what is formally known as the “Harlem” end of Smith Street, The Bell Jar is re-inventing the way smaller cafes produce amazing food and coffee. Owner Stuart Filmer, a former shop fitter who has worked on numerous cafes around Melbourne (including the iconic St. Ali), wanted his vision of the perfect café to become reality.
Impressive latte art by the Balinese baristas
As part of our direct trade relationship with farmers in Bali, we enjoy training the local Ubud baristas. After our first training session, two of the baristas stood out. Their natural talent and enthusiasm were impressive, and we quickly decided to sponsor them to a week of intensive training with us in Perth.
Jamie Oliver interviews Nolan
Jamie Oliver recently visited Australia. During his stay, he dropped in to Proud Marys and tweeted that he?d just had the best coffee of his life. That?s high praise ? but most definitely deserved. Jamie?s followed this up with a long interview with Nolan Hirte, co-owner of Proud Marys and one of Australia?s leading baristas. Check it out on Jamie?s blog.
Steves is all grown up
I rarely order coffee when I go out for dinner. I’ve become a little pretentious with my coffee. I was a bit of a snob before, but since my Five Senses days, I’m worse. So you can understand why there’s great excitement around the roastery when a top notch restaurant joins the Five Senses family.
Cup of Excellence win
While most of the world is gearing up for late nights watching the World Cup, Jen Murray has been up until the wee hours for a far more worthy reason — Cup of Excellence coffee auctions. Jen pulled off an all nighter in a bidding war for our pick of the COE coffees — the Esperanza del Carmen Tercero Monca — La Esperanza. And she was successful!
Smokin' new latte art
Our resident latte art pro, Bo, took a break from the Latte Art Champs last year. While those competing breathed a sigh of relief, we missed his frantic practice sessions. There’s nothing like freebie coffees from The Bo. Lately he’s been getting back into the game. His dragon is especially impressive. Check out his smooth moves in our new video.
Skip the queue at txtSHOTS
If you have a love-hate relationship with your snooze button, you’ll think newly opened espresso bar txtSHOTS, in North Perth, is heaven sent. Kitted out with an iMac ordering system, you can text or email your coffee order so that it’s ready and waiting when you arrive.
Unwind at The Dizzy Witch
The Dizzy Witch seems as though it was specially designed to make you relax. There are comfy couches scattered around, a huge variety of newspapers and up-to-date magazines, even a bookshelf with plenty of books for you to choose from. There are a couple of chess buffs poring over their moves at the long dining table, and another table engaged in a game in the far corner.
Single Origin Coffee Tasting at Sayers Tonight
One of our favourite WA cafés, Sayers, is hosting a Single Origin coffee tasting tonight. If you?ve never tried any Single Origin coffees or experienced a tasting, this is the event for you! For just $10, Sayers? barista will guide you through four of their favourite Single Origin coffees, and you?ll enjoy some of Sayers? delectable tapas.
Voulez vous Miss Marmalade
You know you’re doing something right when you get a write up on the Melbourne Coffee Review website in your first week of opening. That’s exactly what happened for Melbourne’s new kid on the block, Miss Marmalade, which opened recently in Brunswick.
CU @ Cnr.
If you’ve wandered through Northbridge recently, you may have stopped to admire the grassy piazza at the corner of Lake and James Streets. You may have even discovered the piazza’s best kept secret, Cnr. Tucked away under the huge TV screen, with tables overlooking the grassy expanse, Cnr. has been serving up outstanding coffee to lucky punters for just over two months.
Signature drinks to try at home
Some of the signature drinks we saw prepared at the 2010 Australian Barista Championship made us drool. It’s exciting to see creative new ways to enjoy espresso. In honour of the ABC, we thought we’d ask the Five Senses experts for a few recipes you can try at home.
APTE and Voyage Kitchen in delicious. magazine café awards
Delicious. magazine has undertaken its annual survey to find the nation’s best cafés. For the second year running, APTE has scored an award. This year APTE was named Victoria’s best café, and WA’s Voyage Kitchen was highly commended.
Café Elixir — a new star in the north
Café Elixir opened in Wanneroo two months ago and came as a welcome addition for the multitudes living in Perth’s ever expanding northern suburbs, where top notch cafés are… well, a little thin on the ground.
The coffee community at Collective Espresso
Collective Espresso opened recently in Camberwell, Melbourne. It’s the perfect combination of stellar coffee, hip fit-out and a savvy crowd. Owners Mark and Gerrick put everything together perfectly, and Mark’s enthusiasm for his craft really gives your espresso experience an extra buzz.
Record numbers at the WA Barista Championship
This year’s WA Barista Championship was bustling, with record crowd numbers and a massive 16 baristas hoping to take home the trophy. But it was last year’s champion, Mark Chandler, our man on the street, who was crowned 2010 WA Barista Champion. Mark wooed the judges with a flawless and professional performance and some sweet looking coffees. Second place went to Jeremy Hulsdunk, who heads up training for Five Senses at the WA Barista Academy. Kaya McCarthy from Dimattina Coffee came in third.
Coffee evolution takes the prize
Entries came in thick, fast and from far afield for last month?s coffee photo competition. It was hard work trying to choose a winner! We received photos from all over the place ? Melbourne, Perth, paddocks in regional Australia, and even a couple of shots that were taken in Seattle.
Entering the land of milk and honey
While there’s plenty to love about Northbridge, from the cultural surrounds of PICA, The Blue Room, and the Art Gallery, to sumptuous dim sum and arthouse films at the Paradiso, one thing has always been missing. We mean somewhere to get a great coffee on the weekend, of course. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case, with the arrival of the swanky new café, milk and honey.
Q Graders in our midst
The roasting business involves a lot of cupping ? not only to make sure that we?re roasting your blend just right, but also in the selection of green beans.
All hail coffee at Brownhaus Espresso
It’s hard not to love a place that goes by the motto “all hail coffee”. Especially when they back it up with a two group Synesso and a set of bathroom scales underneath the grinder to ensure that their tamping is right on the money, every time. Brownhaus Espresso in Subiaco is that place.
Latte art showdown
It’s time to get your latte art cranking. You might have seen some of the awesome art that we’ve turned out over the years? Well, we reckon it’s high time you guys show us what you’re made of, so we’ve decided to hold our very first latte art competition, for all you home baristi.
La Galette cures the winter blues
It’s a grey and dreary Tuesday and I’m grumpy. I don’t like winter, and today is the seventh miserable day in a row. To make matters worse, rain starts to fall the instant I step foot out of my car. Just perfect!
Voyage hits the mark
Situated on West Coast Highway in Sorrento, the distant murmur of the ocean gently soothes your senses as the friendly staff welcome you to Voyage Kitchen. Weekends are always busy — the uninitiated would be wise to book ahead — but early on this weekday there’s a little more breathing space.
Introducing Bar 9
For those of us who are passionate lovers of coffee, the dream of owning your own espresso bar is probably a pretty familiar one. Even if it’s more daydream than serious plan, it’s always fun to imagine how you could do things just that little bit better than your local.