Five Senses Coffee

Pimping the grinder

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:46:00 WST

The guys in our tech department are so busy out on the road that it’s hard to figure out how they have time to indulge their passion; tinkering around with machines and grinders, working R&D magic. However they manage to find the time, it’s good news for you guys out there in the cafés, who reap the rewards from their technical inventions and modifications. Their latest project is a pimped up version of the Mazzer Robur. Rich and the guys have been hard at work, altering it from a traditional doser-type grinder to a grind on demand doser, complete with variable timer.

Tweaking and adjusting the grinder is one of those things that needs to be done each day, sometimes several times a day, to ensure that you’ve set the grind right, and that you’re pumping out the best possible coffees for your customers. However, it can be tricky to find the time for this, particularly when you’ve got a line of caffeine deprived customers champing at the bit for their next hit.

Rich’s modifications make fine-tuning much easier and less time consuming. The original grinder requires that you hold down a button for four seconds to enter and then exit adjustment mode, which can be pretty disruptive to your workflow and can be a disincentive to making adjustments when it’s busy. Rich has implemented a much easier way to adjust the grinder, by replacing the existing button with a ten turn knob that gives you around one second of adjustment per complete turn. This means that instead of trying to exact minute adjustments, one simple twist of the knob will give you a grinding time adjustment of between 1/8 to 1 full second.

The guys have also removed the installed doser and fork and replaced these with the funnel-style doser and fork that you find on a Mazzer Robur Electronic grinder, and they’ve added a timer start switch and manual run button. Once your adjustments have been made, the new funnel-style doser and timer switch eliminate coffee mess and wastage. Minor adjustments can be made on the run, all day as humidity changes, or if a new bag of beans requires that you perform a little grinder tweaking.

Demand has been hot, with our team of Western Australian champion baristas snapping up the first few modified grinders to use in the WA Barista Championship. The pimped up version of the Mazzer Robur will cost around $500 extra (plus GST) and you’ll find it well worth the investment. If you’re interested in getting your hands on one, speak to one of our Sales guys on (08) 9528 6200.

Going green

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:15:00 WST

Eco-friendly, sustainable living, environmental footprint — these words have quickly established a place in the common vernacular, and no doubt you’ve noticed an increase in the number of customers seeking assurances that your café uses environmentally friendly products. As the media focus on climate change escalates, it seems likely that consumer demand for sustainable products is set to rise.

One of the easiest ways to improve your green rating is through your choice of takeaway cups. Many of the cups traditionally offered are made with a petroleum-based plastic lining. There are a range of environmentally friendly alternatives which offer a great opportunity for you to flaunt your café’s earth-friendly attitude, and gain an edge over your competitors.

The key things to look for in environmentally friendly cups are compostability, meaning that the packaging will decompose or sustainability, meaning that the cups are made from renewable resources.

One company providing biodegradable, sustainable cups is BioPak. Their BioCups have a fully renewable, certified compostable corn-based lining and use less energy to make than traditional takeaway cups. They provide a full range of environmentally friendly products, from cups, cutlery and takeaway containers to clingwrap and rubbish bags. Find out more at www.easylivinggreenproducts.com.au or contact Debbie on 0414 154 913, or email contacts@easylivinggreen.com.au.

There are plenty of other green initiatives that you can implement in your café, both for your own peace of mind and to satisfy your eco-minded customers. To get you started, look into whether you can recycle packaging and milk cartons, investigate renewable power options available in your state (this varies between electricity suppliers), choose biodegradable cleaning products, use local, organic produce and consider composting food waste.

The crema dilemma

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:16:00 WST

For a long time crema has been viewed as the definitive sign of great espresso. This has never sat very well with us at Five Senses, as we have often tasted magnificent coffees with fleeting, delicate crema and some not so magnificent coffees with crema that lasted forever.

In fact, older coffee with a high robusta percentage will reliably provide espresso with a thick layer of crema but the flavour is reminiscent of burnt rubber. So we were stoked when the nicest guy in specialty coffee, James Hoffman, made a real paradigm change in a ground breaking video on his leading blog, jimseven.

No point in me trying to explain it to you when James has already done a brilliant job; check it out yourself.

This doesn’t mean we disregard crema altogether. Crema is still an important diagnostic tool for fine tuning your espresso extractions. But let’s not let a small layer of foam and oil seduce us away from the real mission here — great tasting coffee.

Anyway, who still uses an espresso machine? They were so 2008, pass me the syphon please!

An Australian bean counter in Bali

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:21:00 WST

When you are an accountant and you tell someone that you work for a coffee roaster, you’re usually greeted with the same joke every time. “Oh, so you’re a BEAN counter”. Ha Ha. Not funny. Trust me, when you hear this joke for the 5,000th time, it’s incredibly unfunny.

The great thing about working at Five Senses is that you truly are more than just a bean counter. Every employee, from receptionist to delivery driver, or even accountant, is encouraged to immerse themselves in the world of coffee. And so it was that earlier this year I was given the amazing opportunity to travel to Bali, so that I could visit some of the coffee farms that we buy direct from, to see how they work.

Now, this was a big deal for me. Firstly, because I really had only a basic understanding of the whole coffee process. I had heard phrases such as ‘parchment coffee’ and ‘wet mill’, but now I was going to see these things in action. Good stuff. Secondly, this was Bali!!! Friendly people, cheap massages, and Bintang. It doesn’t get any better than that.

It was a great trip, with eight of us spending the week based out of Ubud. We visited local cafés, training staff in the art of coffee making, and then we spent some time up in Kintamani at a number of farms that we have a direct relationship with.

The days at Kintamani were fantastic. The farmers were so welcoming. Just wandering around you could see the daily routine of coffee being pulped, being laid out to dry on raised screen beds that were placed all along the street, and people sorting beans and removing defects by hand.

We also headed out into the fields and picked some coffee cherries ourselves. One of the key things we have developed in our relationship this year is the separation of cultivars, to develop a greater understanding of the various coffees from the region. I headed off with a group of eight young people. I was picking a cultivar called Usda, named after the US Department of Agriculture, which introduced this cultivar to Indonesia from Ethiopia.

It took me quite a while to work out the difference between the cultivars. The different trees grow side by side, and on first glance they look just the same. But after studying them for a while, you can see the differences in the shape of the cherries and the features of the leaves.

Any normal person would pick up the differences pretty quickly, but it took me a bit longer than normal. For about 20 minutes I kept on pointing to plants and saying “Usda?? Usda??”. After a while, the locals just laughed every time I asked; they thought it was hilarious that I still couldn’t tell the difference. It seems like even in Kintamani, accountants aren’t taken too seriously!

Our relationship with these farmers has been growing over the last few years and in a few weeks we will be receiving this year’s crop, direct to our Rockingham roastery. We are very excited that we will be receiving this coffee in separate cultivar lots; it will be great to have this coffee available to our customers to incorporate into their blends.

We have already cupped pre-shipment samples and the coffee tastes amazing. Some people around here think the S795 cultivar is the best, but for me, I think the Usda just shines. I might be biased, but I think it’s got something to do with how well it was picked!

New world of coffee in Sydney

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:44:00 WST

The weather wasn’t the only thing heating up in Sydney recently; the coffee scene was also warming up with baristas, café owners, roasters and coffee enthusiasts trekking out to the northern suburbs to take part in the NSW heats for the 2010 Barista and Cup Tasting championships. Coffee sacks and roasting equipment at Australian Independent Roasters provided the perfect background for the state competition and it was an exciting scene, with many new faces and nervous enthusiasm filling the warehouse space.

One first time cup tasting competitor and barista judge was Anthony Svilicich, owner and manager of Le Monde Café in Surry Hills. After working closely with the crew at Five Senses, Anthony felt he was ready to take a step up, and he attended the eight-hour judge accreditation course held prior to the competition. This sensory evaluation training, paired with his ongoing experience through Le Monde’s single origin and filter programmes, no doubt played a large part in preparing Anthony for the challenge of the NSW Cup Tasting Championship.

Facing down five other competitors, Anthony had to identify the ‘odd coffee out’ in a triangle of black coffees. This triangle was repeated eight times, with increasingly difficult combinations. Taking his time to taste and compare each coffee within the triangle, Anthony managed to identify seven out of eight coffees correctly, which earned him the title of 2010 NSW Cup Tasting Champion! Anthony will fly to the Gold Coast in January to compete in the national final, where he hopes to win the coveted Australian Cup Tasting Champion title, along with a flight to London to compete on the world stage.

Anthony was not alone in his success. Brad Davies, head barista at Le Monde Café, gave an awesome presentation and served out some delectable coffees to take out second place in the NSW Barista Championship. In only his second competition, Brad impressed the judges with his passion, breadth of coffee knowledge and his unique signature drink, using boutique honey, sourcream mixed with grapefruit juice and zest, an espresso shot and shaved dark chocolate, all layered in a shot glass.

Le Monde Café in Surry Hills has been going from strength to strength, offering a custom designed house blend and a rotating offering of single origin espressos, brewed through their Synesso Sabre and Mazzer Robur doserless grinder. More recently, Le Monde has begun to offer a range of brewed style coffees, prepared through Chemex, syphon and pourovers, aiming to showcase some of the truly exciting flavours of their Five Senses coffees. Not only is their coffee offering always evolving and dynamic, but their kitchen is constantly turning out drool-worthy delights, with head chef Joseph Sergio and co-owner Renee Byrne launching an exciting new menu recently; the raspberry hotcakes are a dangerous thing as you’ll find yourself heading back for a serve each day!

Congratulations to both Anthony and Brad from the Five Senses crew — best wishes for the nationals! Keep a close eye on Le Monde, as more exciting developments are happening soon!

Le Monde Café
83 Foveaux Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9211 3568

To find out more about the various barista and cup tasting championships around the country, visit www.aasca.com.

Win a free ticket to the Edge of the Web Conference

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:27:00 WST

Five Senses is proud to be the Coffee Edge Sponsor for the Edge of the Web conference that’s happening in Perth on 4-6 November 2009. In order to celebrate this event, we’ve cooked up a little competition.

If you follow @5Senses on twitter, and then tweet the following text, you’ll go into a draw to win a free ticket to Edge of the Web (valued at $795) as well as a $100 coffee voucher! How easy is that?

Win a free ticket to Edge of the Web and $100 of coffee thanks to @5senses http://bit.ly/4Cyw3q #eotw #fivesenses

Don’t know what twitter is? Learn all about it here: twitter.com and follow @5Senses at twitter.com/5senses

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow @eotw at twitter.com/eotw

Fine Print

The prize will be drawn at 12PM WST 30 October 2009. To be eligible, you must have posted the above text to your twitter account, and be a follower of the @5Senses account at the time of drawing. The winner will be announced on twitter at that time.

Coffee evolution takes the prize

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:49:00 WST

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 rural Australia, and even a couple of shots that were taken in Seattle.

We loved the photos of the Cousins family enjoying a coffee in the canola, and Scott Bennett’s shots of Vivace (well, his partner’s shots!) showed off some serious photography skills, while Megan Fairhead’s creative shot in the woodshed was a cracker.

Still, we had to come to a decision — eventually — and the creative genius behind the winning photo, titled ‘Coffee Evolution’, swayed us. It’s goodbye to the syphon which we’ve been eyeing off all month. We’re sure it will take pride of place on winner, Damon Wasserman’s shelf. Thanks to everyone who entered, we had a blast checking out all of your photos. Congratulations Damon, hope you raise a coffee cup or two to your victory.

A Clover in our midst

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:16:00 WST

The first Clover to ever grace Western Australian soil is sitting pretty on Richard Muhl’s workbench. Although it’s only paying a flying visit, I thought this was a great opportunity to take a closer look at this infamous machine.

We first started hearing whispers about the Clover in the lead-up to the 2006 SCAA conferences. Clover launched a captivating advertising campaign, with a simple ad featuring a white clover on a black background and small, seemingly insignificant text, luring you in with statements like “taste the real thing. Booth ### SCAA conference.” It worked, I’ll give them that! They definitely had us wanting more of something we knew nothing about; quite a marketing achievement. It was only after Ben and Nolan returned from the 2006 SCAA conference in Long Beach that we actually clued in to its awesomeness and highly criticised hefty price tag!

The Clover on the workbench belongs to Nolan, one of Australia’s best baristas (with the trophy to prove it). Nolan recently handed over the reins of one of Melbourne’s best cafés, Liar Liar, and has an exciting new café project in the works.

Nolan caught Clover fever at the SCAA, and when he returned from California, he brought one of the first machines into Australia. The machine has certainly been put through its paces at Liar Liar and it’s made the trip to WA to get a bit of love from our talented tech guys. Nolan wanted to make sure his unique bit of coffee equipment was in tip top shape in time for the opening of his new Collingwood café, Proud Mary’s.

If you don’t know already, the Clover had a couple years of glory, growth, hype and excitement and was then bought out by Starbucks in 2008. Starbucks has since taken it off the market and it’s become increasingly difficult to get your hands on, making it a rare commodity.

What is the Clover? Essentially, it’s a very pricey single cup brewer. Very pricey — $11,000 USD+! It works on the same principles as an espresso machine — made to order, every time. The only real difference is that instead of brewing an espresso, you’re actually brewing a black coffee brew. No doubt the inspiration came from America’s black coffee culture, with drip brewers stewing in the background, producing nothing more than a cheap and functional cup of coffee. The Clover takes a step up, with variables such as temperature, dwell time (contact time with the water) and water volume all adjustable at the touch of a button. The same variables that we consider with all coffee making processes, only this time, the process is repeatable, easy to use, and fast paced enough for a commercial venue.

We plugged in Nolan’s Clover, set up our deli grinder and took it for a test drive. For some reason, I feel like comparing it to an iPod — minimal buttons and no need for a manual; it’s obviously been well thought out. While it’s extremely user friendly and the adjustments are easy to make, finding the right recipe for different coffees becomes a combination of trial and error and Extract Mojo-ing. The roast profile for a Clover is lighter and the machine itself is likened to an upside down plunger / syphon.

The trickiest part is dialling in the variables, which include temperature, time, volume, dose and grind size. After this, the process is quite simple. If you’ve got someone working hard behind the scenes creating ‘coffee recipes’, the reproducing part of it is a no brainer. The barista needs only weigh out the dose, grind, activate the Clover and pour in the coffee; the rest is taken care of. The filter attached to the piston moves up and down to create a vacuum, separating the grinds, opening valves and pouring out the goodness.

I feel a little bit attached already, but easy come easy go… I know it will have a good home at Proud Mary’s and see plenty of action — which is exactly what it’s meant to do.

Entering the land of milk and honey

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:23:00 WST

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.

Located on James Street, just up the road from the Brass Monkey (a Northbridge institution), milk and honey is seriously opulent. Lots of marble, stunning orchids, plush booths and Italian tables and chairs entice one into spending much more time here than planned.

The menu doesn’t hurt in prolonging your visit either! In addition to a glass display cabinet offering very well priced café fare, chef Santi Panjaroen keeps things fresh with an ever changing menu. On our visit, the Crispy Skinned Atlantic Salmon for $15.90 sounded too good to resist — and it was good. It arrived drizzled with delicate dill and caper sauce and was accompanied by the season’s best vegetable, asparagus. The Thai Green Curry Chicken ($13.50) was gently spiced and topped with the most unbelievably tasty eggplant we’ve had in a long time — melt in your mouth goodness. The constantly changing specials are particularly well priced (where else can you get Morton Bay bugs for $15?!), but all of the dishes on the menu represent fantastic value.

Diana, Santi and the milk and honey guys are crazy about coffee, and they’re making the most of their Synesso. Their house blend combines the ever-popular and oh-so-consistent Colombian with Balinese, Costa Rican and PNG beans. The result is sweet and smooth, and the kicking latte art from the team tops the experience off perfectly.

There’s plenty to observe at milk and honey, with the full glass frontage affording a panoramic view of the world walking by. You’ll find that the viewing isn’t all one way. It was fascinating to see just how many heads turned to peer into this beautiful space.

In these penny pinching days, milk and honey is a Godsend. They’re all about excellent quality at a fantastic price. It’s a welcome addition to the eclectic Northbridge menu.

milk and honey
82 James Street
Northbridge WA 6003
(08) 9227 0500
Opening Hours
Mon to Fri: 7.00am – 5.00pm
Sat: 8.00am – 5.00pm

Story book ending: Ever After Café

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:22:00 WST

After the first few conversations with mother and son team, Mary and Nick Roberts, I knew that their new café was going to be something special. Nick has worked as a barista around the traps in Melbourne and recently made the trek to sunny Cairns, keen for a sea change. Combining Nick’s coffee knowledge and Mary’s avid foodie bent, developed through hours of cooking show research, they opened Ever After Café Bookstore in the Cairns CBD.

On the main pedestrian strip in Cairns, Ever After sits unassumingly next to a busy bus stop. The clean, minimalist exterior opens up to a vibrant and cosy interior. Working with an existing site, Nick and Mary made some great tweaks to the set up, with splashes of bold red bench tops, funky light shades and shelves packed with an eclectic mix of books.

Getting a retail space to work with a combination of products and services is often chancy, but Ever After is one of the few places which work this together seamlessly. The bookshelves are certainly accessible; they’re cleanly integrated into the café design, not distracting those who are ducking in for a quick takeaway coffee before catching the bus, but allowing those who want to browse the selection the space to do so.

While the rest of the crew is reasonably new to the café scene, their enthusiasm and casual chats with customers create a great atmosphere. There’s a simple but well thought out breakfast and lunch menu. The Ever After scramble hit the spot for me, along with a rich long black. The array of salads and baguettes looks delicious and they obviously have their following.

Nick and the team’s passion for coffee is obvious, from the way they obsessively grind to order to the way they only fill the cups ¾ full. “I love the cup design, but I wanted to make sure we could taste the coffee!” Nick said. On my recent visit, I had a great time hanging around with the staff after hours, tasting single origin coffees, nursing a beer and discussing coffee ideas.

As with anywhere a bit off the beaten track, the specialty coffee scene in Cairns hasn’t had a huge amount happening in past years, but with Nick and Mary’s addition to the scene, locals are being offered the option of something special — definitely a far cry from the average. It’s a great feeling to know that out there in regional centres, there are hidden gems like Ever After Café Bookstore dishing out some great coffee. Drop in next time you’re on a tropical adventure and say hi to the crew!

Ever After Café Bookstore
Shop 10
85 Lake Street
Cairns Qld 4870
(07) 4031 5955
Opening Hours
Mon to Fri: 6.30am – 4.30/5.00pm(ish)
Sat: 8.00am – 2.00pm(ish)

Caleb crowned Victorian Barista Champion

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:14:00 WST

The annual search for Australia’s best barista kicked off last month in South Australia, and this weekend it was time for Victoria’s best to step up to the plate. Competition is particularly fierce in Victoria, the state which many call Australia’s coffee capital.

Caleb Podhaczky put in a polished performance to take out the title of Victorian Barista Championship. His win came as no surprise to the Five Senses team, who have long recognised Caleb’s talent. Caleb is Five Senses’ point man for roasting in Victoria. Runner up was Kris Wood, with Talor Browne taking out bronze.

Like many of the Five Senses team, Caleb has a strong competitive streak, but was gracious in victory, saying “I still can’t believe I actually won, it is quite a humbling experience. All competitors, judges and volunteers were amazing and there was a lot of hard work put in by everyone.”

Will Priestley was crowned the 2010 Victorian Latte Art Champion, after pulling out some jaw-droppingly good art, and Aaron Wood took out the Cup Tasting Championship.

A big thank you to everyone who helped to pull off the day, all those from AASCA, the judges, the volunteers and the trusty sponsors.

Q Graders in our midst

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:42:00 WST

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.

It’s certainly an advantage having Ben Bicknell, Australian Cupping Champion, on our team. Ben’s quest for excellence is not easily satisfied. Even after taking out the Australian title, he was keen for more so six months ago, Ben and Jen headed off to Coffee Lab International in Vermont to sit the rigorous Q Graders Exam, in order to become Coffee Quality Institute certified Q Graders.

As you would be only too aware, there are plenty of variables when it comes to coffee. This rings especially true with cupping. Without the Q Grading Program, cupping is a very subjective exercise. What one person rates as an outstanding coffee may be rated very poorly by another cupper. The Q Grader Program is the first professional accreditation for cuppers and coffee graders to be recognised worldwide. Basically, it introduces a common language and a recognised scale for cuppers around the world. Instead of subjective measures, Q Graders rate coffee on a numerical scale of 1 to 100. If a Q Grader in Brazil rates a coffee a 94, Jen or Ben in Australia immediately understands what quality she or he can expect that particular coffee to be.

Not surprisingly, licenced Q Graders are the cream of the coffee industry crop. There are only 697 licenced Q Graders worldwide, and only one (so far!) in Australia. Jen and Ben have been anxiously biting their fingernails for a long six months to find out if they have officially passed all of their exams. The unofficial results have come through, and it seems that they’ve passed, and they’re now just waiting for their beautiful certificate to frame.

The exams are no easy feat. Aspiring Q Graders sweat through three intense days of exams covering 22 subjects, including sensory triangulation where they pick the odd coffee out, acid identification, green bean grading, roasted bean grading, aroma identification and pairing, and, of course, lots of cupping.

All of this can only be good news for you guys out there behind the espresso bar. Not only do you reap the benefits of their accreditation (without having to stress about exams!), but Jen (in WA) and Ben (on the East Coast) are our people out on the street, ready to jump in and answer any questions, help solve any problems, and generally inform and enthuse you about the wonderful world of coffee.

A taste of things to come

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:11:00 WST

It’s safe to say that in our industry, Australians are refocusing their attention on the intricacies of classic brewing methods. I recently returned from my year in North America, inspired and ready to tackle brewing parameters, only to find I’m not the only one with new drinking habits. Just like espresso, black coffee results are often based on subjectivity; there are so many factors that we can attribute to a quality cup. With the Extract Mojo ™ system (EM) now available, we jumped at the chance to take a more calculated approach to our brewing explorations.

The EM utilises a refractometer which is calibrated specifically to measure the % TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) in coffee. Once we are able to measure this number accurately, and combine it with water and coffee weight, we can then calculate our extraction yield. These two numbers (% TDS and extraction yield) are very important when it comes to standard brewing parameters. Based on widely accepted research and Gold Cup standards, we are aiming for an extraction yield between 18-22%, with a %TDS range of 1.15 – 1.35 for optimum brewing results, better known as the ‘sweet spot’. Basically, anything outside the ‘optimum’ box will, in theory, show signs of under- or over-development. There will always be exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, this particular calculation is spot on.

What exactly does this mean? This information allows us to continually calibrate our brewing devices and grinders to achieve the best possible extractions. For example, if I am attempting to make a French press coffee (plunger), I would enter the amount of water I intend using and the EM software will calculate the exact weight of coffee needed. Once I’ve completed my brew, I can measure the resulting %TDS to see how close I am to the desired extraction yield. The software will chart my results on a coffee-brewing control chart in real time, making it easy (with experience) to see what adjustment is needed, often starting with particle size. Bottom line — less trial and error and more calculated results. It would certainly be a worthwhile experiment to trace the results as a particular coffee ages too.

The more chance I get to play around with the EM, the more I realise how many experiments could be validated by this piece of equipment. It really could be an invaluable tool for any café trying to create an exciting and dynamic black coffee programme. Continually changing origins and brewing methods would require regular calibration, so having an EM on hand would come in very handy.

Keep an eye on this space over the next couple of months as I take a closer look at some of the more popular brewing methods coming back into fashion.

The milk debate

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:37:00 WST

After working with ‘moo juice’ for a number of years at cafés scattered around the globe, I have come to ask myself one thing; why did that first person milk a cow and drink it?! On a more professional note, I have found that milk is yet another of those pesky variables in coffee making. The final steamed product can vary, not just because it’s skim, hi-lo or full cream, but due to seasonal variations in the milk too.

If you want to read lots of detailed information on the complex topic of milk, take a look at Sapna Kamath Voderbet’s thesis from the University of Queensland in 2007. Today, however, I am going to put it into a ‘café applicable’ context, and cover the two most important questions in the milk world for a café; ‘Why shouldn’t you re-steam milk?’ and ‘What is the best milk for a café to use?’.

Re-steaming milk is a common practice in cafés which don’t mind compromising on quality. Essentially, this can be viewed in two ways. The first relates back to the overall purpose of an espresso coffee machine; the second considers more scientifically the chemical makeup of milk and what really happens when it is steamed.

Espresso as a brewing method is a comparatively recent arrival in the coffee world, having been developed in the last hundred years or so. Essentially, an espresso machine is a small, advanced filter, designed to extract all of the sugar and oil from freshly ground coffee into a cup. The espresso machine allows the barista to make a coffee from scratch, and tailor the coffee exactly the way the customer likes it. An espresso machine does this very efficiently (around one cup of coffee in 45 seconds) for the quality of product it produces. So, in essence, it’s about personalised coffee; the barista grinds the beans especially for you, pulls the shot especially for you and steams the milk especially for you. This is different to the drip filter mentality, where enough milk is steamed for several coffees in advance, and everyone gets an identical product …

The other side of the coin is a little more scientific, but much simpler than you might think! Essentially, the two most important parts of milk are the fats and the proteins. When you steam a jug of milk, the protein is cooked and turns hard, which traps in the air. (Just like when you fry an egg, the white turns from a liquid into a solid.) This happens at 60 degrees Celsius. But if you fried your egg, placed it on a plate and went outside to water the lawn, the egg would cool down, but it wouldn’t turn back into a liquid — it would stay cooked! If you were then to put the egg into a microwave to reheat it, the egg would turn rubbery and taste disgusting, which is exactly what happens to milk if you start to re-steam it!

The other frequently-asked question is, ‘What is the best type of milk to use?’. The answer is very simple; you need to use full cream milk for a top quality cup of coffee. This is due in part to that other important ingredient in milk — the fat, or lipids, as they are known. Lipids add to the texture and mouthfeel of the resulting product, they also add a glossy, creamy appeal to the surface of the coffee.

Skim milk is essential at any café, where a low-fat option is necessary. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to get the same quality of product through skim milk as full cream provides. It doesn’t give you the fine glossy surface and the foam tends to separate a lot more. This is also why it was said for a long time that skim milk is better in coffee, as it is actually easier to texture because of this separation.

And what about hi-lo milk? Honestly, it doesn’t really fit into any category. It sits right in the middle of the fat scale, and offering it as the only option in a café, is really just taking the easy way out! Hi-lo doesn’t have as much fat as full cream milk, meaning it doesn’t give you that absolute quality of product with the creamy glossy surface. That said, it isn’t as low in fat as skim milk, which is the other standard variety.

So, for the best quality coffee, always use cold, fresh full cream milk!

Engineering skills

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:14:00 WST

Yes, the rumours are all true … Five Senses’ engineer extraordinaire, Richard Muhl, is attempting to combine a Synesso Cyncra group head and boiler with an Isomac to produce the most impressive hybrid domestic espresso machine in the world.

Richard has always wanted to build his own espresso machine. The fact that Synesso make the Rolls Royce of espresso machines made Synesso an obvious choice — Richard knows there’s no point reinventing the wheel. So he set off with a Synesso boiler and group head tucked under one arm, looking for a body to put it in. He couldn’t go past the Isomac La Mondiale. La Mondiale is a fantastically popular heat exchange machine, and when combined with the best bits of the Synesso, could create the most amazing and, we dare say, most impressively temperature stable and user friendly one group in the world — besides the Synesso Cyncra one group, of course.

Now, this isn’t one of those situations where we say how good Richard is for pulling off this feat, because he hasn’t — yet. He’s come up with what seems like the perfect idea (inside his brain, at least), but building the machine is a different story. He’s sure to encounter some serious challenges and road blocks along the way. Richard will be blogging his progress, so that people around the world can follow, comment and provide suggestions when he stares down some of those future challenges. And for those of you who aren’t into the technical minutiae, Richard will be taking multitudes of photos so you can visualize his progress.

So strap yourself in, there’s no doubt this ride is going to get bumpy, but the destination will be a coffee utopia.

Follow Richard’s progress:
Richard’s blog with all the technical details and discussions
Richard’s photos on Flickr where he’ll regularly be posting photos that show his progress

Latte art winner and new competition announced

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:58:00 WST

We weren’t too sure what to expect from our latte art competition. Our first latte art comp set the Five Senses wives against each other, and the results were (we’d better be diplomatic here) — interesting. So we were totally blown away by the response from you guys. Amazing stuff!

Kim was in his element judging entries. Australian Idol and So You Think You Can Dance have a lot to answer for — there’s an inner judge lurking beneath the surface of many of us, just itching for an opportunity to make unsuspecting contestants cry. Unfortunately for Kim, he had to begrudgingly admit that the results were impressive.

Kim awarded first place to Kade Sims, who can look forward to seeing a Reg Barber tamper and some schmick ACF cups on his doorstep any day now. Kade whipped out a series of perfect hearts, and topped it off with some amazing rosettas. Kim was impressed with the milk texture of Kade’s shots, and noted that they had great contrast. Long time Five Senses enthusiast, Andrew Petrie, didn’t surprise us with his skills; we’ve long recognised his prowess. Unfortunately for Andrew, we know a little bit too much about his background, so he was disqualified because of his barista experience.

Those of you who were too modest to send us your latte art might find this month’s photo competition more up your alley. We’re looking for your best coffee photo — let your artistic side run wild! Seriously, anything coffee — your home espresso set up, an action shot of you making coffee, a close up of a bean, your favourite barista in action — you get the idea. Here are a few of our favourite shots to get the ideas ticking over in your mind. Send your photos to competition@fivesenses.com.au by Monday, 21 September. Our photographer, Rich, will award a Syphon (plus butane burner) to the best shot.

The French experience at Le Triskel

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:53:00 WST

If you’re a bit of a Francophile, Le Triskel will be right up your alley. They serve their café au lait French style, in “le bol” (that’s a bowl, for us Aussies), all of the waiters are French, and yes, even the menu is in French. Few people can resist a French accent, and we suspect that plenty of people return to Le Triskel just to hear the waiters’ lilting speech.

Nestled amongst its Italian cousins on Hardware Lane, Le Triskel is famous throughout Melbourne for its authentic galettes and crepes. The menu includes a selection of French wines and cheeses, ciders and plenty of simple, well executed dishes such as the Croque Monsieur — a sophisticated version of what we Aussies unromantically call a ham and cheese toastie. The Croque Monsieur’s bechamel sauce and gruyere cheese put the humble Aussie toastie in pretty poor light!

There are heaps of galettes to choose from, but the pick of the bunch (according to us) is L’Auvergnate, which arrives overflowing with blue cheese, walnuts, apple and prosciutto. The flavour combination is sublime. If you haven’t tried a galette, you must. Unlike some of the dodgy versions floating around, these ones aren’t just crepes with a savoury filling. They’re created from buckwheat flour, and they’re amazing.

The sweet crepes are incredible — light and crisp, as all good crepes should be, some with chestnut puree, others with banana and nutella or a traditional apple and cinnamon filling. The pain du chocolate and croissants will have to wait for another visit.

Owner Michail has plenty of French magazines and books for the lone diner, and he’s always got something French on the playlist —Serge Gainsbourg on this occasion. If you time your visit right, you can enjoy live jazz drifting down the laneway.

If you’re looking for a fully fledged French experience, this is your kind of place.

Le Triskel
32 Hardware Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
Phone: 0466 406 404
Opening Hours
Tue to Thurs: 7.00am – 4.00pm
Fri: 7.00am – 9.00pm
Sat: 9.00am-4.00pm

All hail coffee at Brownhaus Espresso

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:54:00 WST

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.

Brownhaus sits right next to the Regal Theatre on Rokeby Road, which makes it the perfect spot for a pre-show latte. The Brownhaus blend was developed with Corey Diamond, a big name in the coffee world, and combined with Bannister Downs milk, which gives it an extra kick of sweetness, it goes down very easily.

In addition to the usual suspects on the coffee menu, Brownhaus has its own juice bar for blending an array of refreshing fresh fruit mocktails and fruit chillers. The glass case full of handmade Swiss chocolate truffles is agonisingly tempting. Too tempting, in fact; we cave and take some home for an after dinner treat, and they’re amazing.

We decided that a return visit was in order, so that we could try the kitschy, but oh so cute Italian gelato. Not only are there a bunch of unusual flavours — apple and pear, for example — but they have been created to look exactly like what they are.

Brownhaus stress the importance of creating a sense of location, meeting and gathering and judging by the crowd that’s gathered around the tables when we’re there, it’s hitting the mark.

Brownhaus Espresso:
55 Rokeby Road, Subiaco WA 6008
Phone: (08) 6380 1519
Opening Hours:
Mon/Tues: 8.00am – 5.00pm
Wed to Sat: 8.00am – 11.00pm
Sun: 11.00am – 5.30pm

Training in paradise

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:57:00 WST

We added a new dimension to our annual harvest trip to Bali this year by doing some barista training in our base town of Ubud. A speculative email to the good people at Casa Luna got the process started. With a posse of Australia’s best baristas in the group, I thought it would be great to do some training between our trips out to Kintamani to work with the growers. It kills me that so many origin countries don’t use their own coffee, and import stale product from far off Mediterranean countries.

Our first trip was just a reconnaissance mission to check out the state of the equipment and see what we were up against. I wasn’t expecting a state-of-the-art set up, but was a little surprised to see a pool pump hooked up beneath the machine to provide pressure. The old clanker managed to get to a peak of about three bar (usually about nine) and the grind was set very coarse to compensate. Not a very promising start!

We delved a little deeper and stripped the grinder down a little which revealed a Jurassic era deposit of coffee gunk that was worthy of some photos.

There were four venues in total with some antiquated, but workable, equipment and we split the teams up to cover a bit more ground. We soon found that though the gear was a bit challenging, it was more than compensated for by the awesome students. They were incredibly interested and had a natural feel for coffee making. We didn’t dumb it down at all, and got them grinding to order and hand tamping very quickly.

Armed with some Reg Barber tampers and Scottie Callaghan dosing tools, we soon had them pulling nice shots. We had to convince them that the half frozen milk wasn’t making the job any easier and, after a bit of searching, we found some fully liquid milk and, quite quickly, uncovered some latent latte art gurus ready to strut their stuff!

We managed to do multiple sessions at all the venues over the five days we were in Ubud and made some incredible progress with the staff. We are hoping to bring the most promising barista over to Perth for some more intensive work, and then have that person become the head coffee person for the Casa Luna group.

If you’re in Bali, drop in to Casa Luna for coffee and let us know how our favourite pupils are going!

Syphon coffee on the menu in Subiaco

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:36:00 WST

Syphon coffee has generated quite a buzz in the specialty coffee industry, and we reckon it’s well deserved. Over the last few months, our roasters have been spending increasing amounts of time experimenting with syphon cuppings and raving about the results. We can’t count the number of times we’ve heard “this is the best coffee I’ve ever tasted”…

We’re not the only ones who are keen on the syphon. Out in the ‘burbs, Spring Espresso is making coffee history — it’s the first café in Perth to introduce syphon brewing as part of their regular coffee menu. It complements their Single Origin programme brilliantly.

Sometimes called vac-pots, syphon brewers have been relatively unknown in Australia. Although the original invention dates back to the 1830’s, this style of brewing is making a comeback in the specialty scene.

Zach and Andrew have been playing around with syphon brewing at Spring for some time now, however, syphon brewing has only been on offer at the café for the last three months. It’s something they are slowly introducing as they learn to deal with the logistics of the time-consuming, sometimes messy, brew. At the moment, Mondays and Fridays are the designated ‘syphon days’. However, if you ask nicely, you might just get lucky during the week, if they’ve got a spare minute, or three!

Most people compare the look of the syphon brewer to something you’d see in a science lab, as the dual glass chamber ‘defies gravity’ by pushing water up the central tube to the upper chamber for extraction. Once the extraction is complete and the heat source is removed, a vacuum is created and the resulting brew is sucked back down through a cloth filter to the bottom chamber, separating the grinds from the brew. It’s mesmerising to watch and it’s hard to ignore the ‘wow’ factor. The action of forcing the water up through the second chamber using water vapour can also be seen in stove top percolators, something Aussies are a bit more familiar with.

When you order a syphon coffee at Spring, you’ll get one of the many freshly ground premium single origin coffees they have on rotation. The roasting profile is slightly lighter than espresso roast, and the coffee is aged anywhere from one to four days. Always different, always fresh, that is a reasonable expectation from Zach and Andrew.

Syphon brewed black coffee was introduced at Spring to provide an alternative for long black drinkers, as the lighter roast and different brewing method gives a much cleaner and more clearly defined cup. If you’ve ever read coffee tasting notes and been confused by terms describing sweetness, acidity and mouthfeel as well as specific flavours, you will be surprised how much easier they are to identify in a well-brewed syphon. Zach feels it’s a great way to introduce black coffee (which has a pretty dismal reputation) to his clientele. The lighter roast often allows for a much better representation of the origin’s flavours, and highlights the quality, as well as the unique nuances and flavour profiles that the guys at Spring are so pedantic about. If none of that interests you, you can at least be guaranteed a black coffee that will go down easily without sugar or milk; a nice option.

If you’re interested in trying something different, I highly recommend you pay a visit to the baristas at Spring Espresso in Subiaco. If you’re keen to have a go on your own, Spring is actually the WA distributor for Bellina Syphons. There are three cup or five cup versions available, and they also supply the butane burners (a must for efficiency and speed). The whole set up is pretty cheap compared to espresso equipment.

There are many options when it comes to brewing a great cup of black coffee, and I’m certain this is only the beginning for Spring.

Latte art showdown

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:38:00 WST

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.

To encourage those of you who shy away from fame, fortune and public scrutiny, we’re offering a little sweetener; the best latte art shot will win a set of ACF cups and a shiny new Reg Barber.

The rules …

Your photo must have the Five Senses logo somewhere in the frame. No, we’re not shameless self promoters. We just want to make sure that nobody’s tempted to take credit for someone else’s work, or to use some of the latte art they produced back in 2006.
Email entries to competition@fivesenses.com.au by Friday, 21 August 2009. The winner will be announced in the September edition of Home Barista. All entries will be published on Flickr.
Entries will be judged on both the difficulty of the design, and the quality and appeal of the art.
This competition is for home baristas only, so if you’re a professional barista, sorry, you’re not eligible to enter.

Our resident latte art expert, Kimbo, is all set to play the judge and pick a winner. Kim’s generously imparted a couple of tips to help you out:

Correctly textured milk is vital to producing great latte art.
Rather than fluking a brilliant rosetta once, try to replicate the same design multiple times.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. Have a look at the huge variety of latte art designs on the web, watch the pros for free on YouTube, or spy on your favourite barista to see how he or she does it.
The biggest tip of all? Practice, practice, practice!

Good luck! Don’t forget to grab an extra carton of milk on the way home; you’re probably going to need it.

Vinyl; record breaking coffee

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:28:00 WST

Aaron Pyne has been something of a fixture on the Perth CBD coffee scene over the last few years. With stints at Tarts, Lincolns and Zekka on his resume, we were always keen to get Aaron into the Five Senses family. When he began looking for a coffee partner for his new site Vinyl, we jumped at the chance!

Aaron is one of those guys who always manages to be in a great mood and creates a good atmosphere wherever he works. It’s not often that a great barista also happens to have an excellent rapport with his customers and a good feel for food. Aaron manages to tick all the boxes.

The tiny space for Vinyl was created when the iconic 78 Records site in Hay Street was broken up into a number of smaller spaces. Aaron managed to grab the prime street front site, perched right on Hay Street, to establish his espresso bar. The clever, well thought out shop design sits right on the street, and the combination of a good location and Aaron’s reputation saw this tiny café recruit a strong following almost from day one.

It’s pretty rare for a café to get busy this fast, as people usually need to be lured away from their regular haunts. It’s testament to Aaron’s barista skills and popularity that Vinyl is already doing more coffee than many cafés three times the size. We like to think our coffee played its part as well!

Aaron is now looking at how to re-jig the layout of the machines and grinders to allow him to introduce a second barista, and thus ensure that the growing hordes continue to get their coffees quickly, and at the high standard that Vinyl has established.

It’s quite a ‘buzzy’ scene outside the café, with plenty of lively banter as a steady stream of local city workers wait for their takeaways and catch up with office gossip and the footy scores.

Taking advantage of a large alfresco area and also a cozy nook deeper into the 78 Records building, Vinyl manages to seat a surprising amount of people. With Aaron’s pedigree as a barista, you could be excused for thinking this place is all about coffee. Think again! The food is a pleasant surprise and, personally, I’m a sucker for the breakfast tart that is a bit of an ‘Aza’ signature dish that has followed him from venue to venue.

So next time you’re in Perth, why not head for Vinyl and enjoy great coffee at an iconic location?

Ten Minutes by Tractor

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:58:00 WST

If ever there was a time for seeking solace through comfort food, it’s now, during these chilly winter months. There’s something about single-digit temperatures and masses of grey clouds on the horizon that conjures up daydreams of gastronomic delights.

Where better to bring the daydreams to life than Ten Minutes by Tractor, which recently bagged the award for “Best Restaurant in a Winery” in the Mornington Peninsula Regional Awards for Excellence. This is just the latest of a swag of awards for Ten Minutes by Tractor, including the highly coveted Gourmet Traveller Wine List of the Year (2008).

The wines at Ten Minutes by Tractor regularly receive outstanding reviews by some of Australia’s most discerning and respected wine buffs. Big names like Jancis Robinson, Tyson Stelzer of Wine Business Monthly and Ralph Kyte-Powell of The Age Epicure.

Chef Stuart Bell brings a wealth of experience to the Ten Minutes by Table kitchen. He has created a mouth-watering menu which is designed to complement the stunning wines. The hearty duet of pork, which combines braised cheek and roasted fillet on crushed swede and carrot, drizzled with pork jus and served with a pickled apple coulis, is sure to ward off the winter chill.

Stuart has offered to share one of his luscious recipes for you to try your hand at; Local Asparagus with Port Phillip Snapper Fillets, Tomato and Pine Nut Dressing. If you’re looking for the perfect wine to accompany this dish, try the 2006 Ten Minutes by Tractor Wallis Vineyard Chardonnay.

Local Asparagus with Port Phillip Snapper Fillets, Tomato and Pine Nut Dressing

Ingredients

Port Phillip Snapper Fillets
Asparagus

Dressing ingredients:
20ml red wine vinegar
60ml olive oil
10ml balsamic vinegar
Chives, chopped
Dill, chopped
Basil, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
20ml walnut oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper
1 tomato, deseeded and diced
Pine nuts, toasted

Method

Preheat oven.

Whisk dressing ingredients together.

Clean snapper fillets by removing the small bones from the centre of the fillet. Sear fillets in a hot frypan then cook in the pre-heated oven for around 6 minutes (depending on the size of the fillets). When cooked, dress with a little lemon juice and olive oil.

Prepare asparagus by cutting off the base by around ¼. Blanch asparagus in salted, boiling water for 1 minute.

To serve, place asparagus spears on the plate, top with the rolled snapper fillet, then spoon over dressing. Garnish with a little dill.

Ten Minutes by Tractor:
1333 Mornington Flinders Road, Main Ridge VIC 3928;
Phone: (03) 5989 6080
www.tenminutesbytractor.com.au
Opening Hours:
Lunch from Wednesday to Sunday, 12.00pm – 3.00pm,
Dinner Thursday – Saturday from 6.30pm

Ben hits the world stage

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:39:00 WST

It isn’t every day that someone from within your ranks rises to the top of their field and gets to represent Australian at an international championship. Whatever the result, it was always going to be a proud moment for all of us at Five Senses.

First, some quick background…

There are essentially three major international competitions on the coffee calendar each year:

The World Barista Championship (aka WBC);
The World Latte Art Championship; and
The World Cup Tasters Championship.

Preceding each world event, a series of competitions are held within each country to determine who will be named as the country’s representative. I’m sure you’ll have read some of my previous articles about how we’ve fared in these competitions. To date, Five Senses employs four people who have won the state championship and gone on to represent at the nationals in both the Barista Championship and Latte Art Championship. In fact, the number of people on staff who have achieved at this high level is almost freaky!

Some of the State Barista Champions that we’re lucky enough to have working here include Mark, Jenny, Ian and Jeremy; and then there’s Kimbo, who won the WA Latte Art Championship, and Ben, who is the current Australian Cupping Champion.

It was this last victory at the National Cupping Championship that heralded the entry of the first Five Senses person onto the world stage. Enter stage left Ben Bicknell (cue loud applause).

The rules of the competition are simple. Each competitor is given 8 sets of 3 cups of coffee. In each of these 8 sets, two of the coffees are the same and one is different. In other words, the competitor has to identify the odd coffee out in each set. As the competition progresses, the differences between the coffees become smaller and smaller, making it more and more difficult to determine which is the odd one out. The competitors are given a maximum of 8 minutes to make their choices, and when competitors get the same number correct as other competitors, each competitor is ranked in order of how quickly they finished. For example, if 6 of the 30 competitors get 8 out of 8, they are then ranked by the time that they took to finish.

In Australia, most competitors employ an MO based on speed, and accordingly, this is how Ben trained. In his practice sessions, Ben was completing his selection in less than two minutes, typically getting seven or eight correct. As it turns out, if he’d managed to pull this out on Sunday and score eight, he most certainly would have been the World Champ.

Unfortunately, it appears that nerves got the better of him. Ben pulled out a time of 1:52, with 5 correct out of 8. We were both interested to see that strategically, in the early rounds, many of the competitors used nearly all of their 8 minutes to ensure that they scored at least 7 out of 8. We’re certain that if Ben had employed this strategy, he would most definitely have made it into the last round of 4. There were 34 countries competing. Unfortunately, his score of 5 out of 8 was too low to get him through to the finals. The next fastest completion time of any competitor was about 4 minutes, meaning that Ben was more than twice as quick as the next fastest competitor.

As it turned out, the Russian competitor, Valentina Kazachkova, won the title of World Champ. In the preliminary rounds she used almost all of her 8 minutes to achieve her 8 correct sets. In the final round, her time was still longer than the other three competitors, who got 7 out of 8 within around 3 to 4 minutes. Unfortunately for them, despite her very slow time, around 6 minutes, Valentina nailed 8 out of 8 to take the title home to Russia.

We’ve taken a lot away from this competition. We know that way they ‘play the game’ at the international level is very different to the way it is done in Australia, and that we need to adapt our game plan next time. We also know that we can mix it with the best in the world. Ben was middle of the field in the end and could quite possibly have been amongst the top few had our game plan been different.

To Ben we say ‘well done’ and to the rest of the world we say ‘look out – here he comes!’.

Two Buoys awarded Best Café Restaurant

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:12:00 WST

There were plenty of celebrations at the roastery this month when we learned that one of our favourite customers, Josh Ball, owner of Two Buoys, won Best Café Restaurant in the Mornington Peninsula Regional Awards for Excellence.

The Mornington Peninsula is blessed with an abundance of excellent restaurants, talented chefs and outstanding wineries, so taking home a win is no easy feat. Two Buoys, however, has a formula that’s proven unbeatable.

Two Buoys has an enviable location, with stunning views of the peaceful Dromana foreshore. It attracts a large breakfast crowd, who gather around the espresso bar enjoying a lazy start to the morning over a full bodied Five Senses coffee and the morning paper; or tucking into one of the tasty breakfast selections.

The tapas style lunch and dinner menu has proven equally popular, with both tourists and in-the-know locals flocking in to share a plate. The menu is well rounded, with plenty of seafood, meat, vegetarian and sweet tapas offerings, along with flatbreads and starters, and plenty of desserts, including the option to build your own tart. Our favourites include the Coffin Bay oysters, the simple asparagus with butter and parmesan, which really allows the fresh, local produce to shine, and the beef carpaccio with capers, aioli and crostini.

Josh is a distinguished sommelier with a highly developed palate, and the wine list at Two Buoys deserves lots of praise. It has over 250 wines, including an array of high end wines, from both local and international wineries. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of choices for the more budget conscious, which is welcome news in the face of the apparent impending doom of the GFC. Two Buoys serve heaps of wines by the glass, and recommend a couple of favourites, the Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Italy and a Leo Buring Riesling from Australia’s own Clare Valley. The guys at Two Buoys are certainly knowledgeable and bend over backwards to help you out with some recommendations if you’re overwhelmed by choice.

Everyone at Two Buoys is keen to make sure you feel at home, to help you “relax and have fun”, and they encourage you to enjoy the atmosphere and explore something new. There’s no doubt that Josh and Two Buoys deserves the win, and we’re all wishing them victory in the Victorian Awards for Excellence, which will be held later this year.

If you’re keen for a closer look at Two Buoys, including menus and wine list, check out their website — but be warned, you’ll be dialing up for a booking before you know it!

Two Buoys: 209 Point Nepean Road, Dromana, Mornington Peninsula VIC 3936; Phone: (03) 5981 8488
Opening Hours: Open 7 days a week, 7.30am — 11.30pm (closed Christmas Day)