Cafe Grendel

Changing Hands - Epic

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:09:00 +0000

As Tweeted by Matt the master tweeter Epic Espresso was sold last week and Corey had his last day yesterday. Corey Diamond opened Epic in September 2006 and it has been a successful and fascinating cafe.

With an emphasis on intense training and promoting ristretto over espresso Corey and the team created something that was a significant departure from other Perth coffee venues.

I am sure the new owners will bring their own style to the business and add to its richness. I wish them the best of good fortune.

Best wishes to Corey also - I understand he'll be taking a well deserved holiday with his family.

International Day of People with a Disability

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:26:00 +0000

Today is the International Day of People with a Disability and I would like to honour all Australians with disability and the contribution that they make to Australian society.

I would also like to recognise those within the specialty coffee industry who contribute in time, money and coffee to supporting many people with disability and organisations who provide assistance to people with disabilities.

The companies I am aware of include:

European Foods
Fiori Coffee
Five Senses
Rubra Coffee

On top of these are a plethora of generous cafe owners who always seem willing to lend a hand.

Thank you all for making a difference.

If you know of a coffee roaster or cafe, or others in the coffee industry who are employing people with disabilities, or contributing in other ways, can you comment below so that I can add them to the list?

Coffee Bias

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:03:00 +0000

The history of coffee is a complex web of human interractions around a mild drug that is popular the world over and affordable to most people.

Like most commodities, the coffee market has been used to influence and oppress, to change governments and shape trade relationships.

Usually this has gone against the grower and favoured the trading behemoths in Europe and the United States.

This is changing and while the large companies such as Nestle and Sara Lee hold tight rein over some aspects of the industry still there is a growing understanding among consumers that quality coffee comes from the specialty end of the coffee market.

The internet has played an important role in providing a source of information to consumers about coffee and in helping promote specialty coffee. This has included the rise of groups such as CoffeeSnobs and CoffeeGeek where there is a concentration of all things coffee. CoffeeSnobs is a distinctly Australian expression of the coffee passion and caters for home roasters by being a source of green beans - unroasted coffee.

For many people stumbling across the website of CoffeeSnobs is a revelation, and the number of 'Snobs' is growing rapidly and now approaching 10,000. When I joined in 2006 there were just about 1500 members. It is now a mature organisation with ongoing corporate sponsors and its very own foreign aid program "Faircrack" that has been delivering on its promise of assisting coffee growers in the developing world and so far has purchased milling and other equipment to help growers improve the price they get for their coffee.

It struck me this morning that most of the people that I know are people who are passionate about coffee - not everyone, but most of them, and that includes the people I work with (not in the coffee industry). I have observed what appears to be an increasing trend towards better coffee and in the last three years in my office there has been a proliferation of plungers, pour overs and even grinders and consumption from the the big bad brown tin of doom has decreased considerably.

I've also noticed a fantastic range of coffee being selected, mostly from local roasters of specialty coffee rather than the big supermarket brands. Is this shift towards selecting specialty coffee a general trend? or are my observations a form of confirmation bias? Am I just noticing it more because I am looking for it, in the same way as you start seeing a certain model of car everywhere once you buy one or think about buying one?

Bowl of Honey

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:17:00 +0000

I finally got the chance to catch up on some blog reading. Perth has some great food and coffee bloggers and I love learning from them.

One I have pretty much missed lately is Bowl of Honey . Blogger Devan gets around the inner suburb with great regularity and seems to manage to find the better side of Perth eating.

Bowl of Honey is definitely a good blog to add you your foodie reading list.

The CSR Golden Bean

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:40:00 +0000

The 2009/10 CSR Golden Bean awards for coffee roasters was recently held with DiBella coffee roasters of Queensland taking out the overall award.

Western Australia had a very strong representation in the competition and the results below comprise the roster of roasters that I know have a presence in WA - if you know of another WA roaster than won in this year's comp please let me know so that I can add them into the list.

The big news for WA is that Fiori Coffee took the gold medal for Category 4 - Filter Coffee, a terrific feat.

There are a lot of medals heading West this year including:

Category 1 - Espresso
Bronze medals for:

Dimattina Coffee
Yahava Coffee Works
Ristretto Espresso Specialists

Category 2 - Milk Based Coffee
Bronze medals for:

Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters
Fiori Coffee

Category 3 - Australian Coffee (milk based)
Silver medals for:

Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters (Kim Gordon)
Yahava Coffee Works

Bronze medals for:

Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters (Jenny Gordon)
Black Starr Coffee Roasters
Bonissimo

Category 4 - Filter Coffee
Gold Medal:

Fiori Coffee

Category 5 - Organic
Bronze medals for:

Fiori Coffe
Crema Gourmet Coffee Roasters (Kim Gordon)
Five Senses Coffee

Category 6 - Retail Filter
Silver medals for:

Fiori Coffe

Bronze medals for:

Five Senses Coffee
Yahava Coffee Works

Category 7 - Cafe/Chain Franchise Coffee
Bronze medals for:

Five Senses Coffee
Bonissimo

Congratulations to all those who took part and represented WA in the National Competition.

Santa Cruz de León Cortés

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:14:00 +0000

Central America is often portrayed as a region of humid chaos – the home of the stereotypical ‘Banana Republic’, and while this is a mis-informed generalisation, the region has seen its share of unrest, revolution and counter-revolution that has caused economic and social instability for many people living there.

Costa Rica had a bloody revolt and civil war in 1948 that so appalled its citizens that in preparing a new constitution they abolished the army. Since the 1953 establishment of the new constitution they have had regular, peaceful transitions of power through the electoral process and the country has made substantial progress against economic, educational and social indicators, regularly scoring at number one for many of these.

It is no surprise then that Costa Rican coffee can be an amazing experience and this is recognised by roasters and baristas (a number of recent competitors in barista championships have used Costa Rican coffee to great effect).

The Terrazu canton in San Jose province is home to some of Costa Rica’s best coffee, and the coffee growing region itself ranges between 1200-2000 metres in altitude. An amazing network of well maintained roads exists to move the coffee rapidly from the hills down to the processing mills.

In recent years a number of ‘micro-mills’ have proliferated that allow growers and mills to collaborate on processing that provides a better return to the grower and a more controlled result to the broker and ultimately the roaster and consumer.

The coffee I am sampling at present is from the Santa Cruz de León Cortés Micro-region and is processed at the Puente Tarrazu Micro mill. Santa Cruz de León Cortés is at 1750 meters above sea level and the coffee, produced by Rodolfo Rivera is processed as semi washed using Caturra, Villalobos, Catuai and Typica varietals. I have some of the Yellow Catuai processed using the 'Honey' process to try and I am finding it a very well balanced coffee.

Production from this micro region is only 400 bags and the coffee itself is clean and well graded. Roasting over a 19 minute period and running a good 30 seconds into second crack, it is even in colour a giving off a heavenly floral aroma as it de-gasses. I roasted on Sunday and opened the first bag today – pretty early but I have a second in reserve to age a little more. It is exceptional in the pour-over and I’ll have to go visit someone with an espresso machine to try it that way as I think it might do well as an SO espresso.

I’m not sure whether the ‘honey’ refers to the lovely warm colour of the parchment coffee after processing, or the result in the cup, but I certainly found that it had a distinct honey quality – not it terms of sweetness but in the honey-musk floral quality of the coffee.

Given the small annual production of this coffee I am not sure how much of this coffee is available – I suspect not much, but I originally bought 5kg of green beans and will likely have to return for more as this is very popular today in my office.

It is available from Kamran and Louise at Fiori Coffee as green beans and roasted beans, although you may want to call them to make sure they have the roasted in stock. I've had some great Terrazu coffee lately and the 2009 crop seems to be one of the best in recent years.

Lesspresso

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:16:00 +0000

With the Faema still in pieces and the Sunbeam now offline due to pump problems there is not a lot of espresso in Cafe Grendel lately. Still, it has been the perfect time to play with some of the other coffee making tools around the house. The Presso has come in for some use when I need something like an espresso and I've been using my toddy to make some great Cold Process but I recently acquired a new toy from 5 Senses - the Clever Coffee Dripper. I have this at work rather than home but it is a great companion to my pour-over bodum and I am slowly getting a feel for the dosing and brewing times for it.

Still, at some point I am going to need to fix (or have fixed) the Sunbeam as most of the coffee I have been drinking lately was roasted for espresso.

I am still not getting out much to cafes - but there are a few about I would dearly love to try and I've been following some of the reviews on CoffeeSnobs that show that innovation is still happening - a good thing all round.

Galeras

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:57:00 +0000

Like many Columbian towns, Pasto in the Narino Department (province) has a number of coffee growing areas that produce some great Central American beans. Farming coffee in Columbia is no picnic, and from time to time those who farm in the area are rudely interrupted. In Pasto the name of the interruption is Galeras. Of course it is more of an eruption than an interruption because Galeras is a stratovolcano - and currently active again. In 1993 six scientists died during an eruption as they attempted to collect gas samples for analysis.

If you are enjoying a nice cup of Central American coffee today - and Columbian coffee in particular, spare a thought for the farmers who grow it in the shadow of a mountain that is very much alive and kicking.

Photo Credit: Josecamilom

Spookie num nums

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:28:00 +0000

Each Friday a different team at my work takes a turn in providing morning tea. My branch is the smallest and we take great pride in upholding a fine culinary standard.

Today it was our turn, and given the date we decided on a Halloween theme.

My team really aced it this time:

Fine Art in Perth

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:05:00 +0000

The Perth Town Hall is currently hosting an art exhibition by three local Perth artists - David Giles, David Guhl and David Mitchell.

One of the artists, David Guhl, had his inaugural solo exhibition at the Perth City Hall in March 2008. That exhibition 'truly madly delightful' was an amazing success with all 28 art works being sold on the opening night. The three Daves have come together to combine their techniques and show of their diverse talents. (You can see a little preview of Dave Guhl's work at Down Syndrome WA's website. The image to the left is one of Dave's works - titled 'The Kimberley' )

The artworks to be displayed have been created in a collaboration by the three artists specifically for this exhibit.

Mr Guhl is an artist who has an intellectual disability, and has been creating and exhibiting art for seven years.David Mitchell has acted as a mentor to Mr Guhl and curated his first solo exhibit. David Giles, the third local artist, is also an advocate for artists with disabilities.

The exhibition will run in the Perth Town Hall from 21 to 29 November 2009. Admission is free and the venue is accessible to all.

Gloria Jeans appears to have dropped Mercy Ministries… : Sean the Blogonaut

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:03:00 +0000

Gloria Jeans appears to have dropped Mercy Ministries… : Sean the Blogonaut

Sean the Blogonaut has scrounged an interesting tidbit from the ragged pages of the Daily Telegraph - apparently GJ's have moved on from their support of Mercy Ministries, a Hillsong linked group that was recently involved in some controversy around its practices.

According to Gloria Jeans this separation took place in April 2007 - however, my own observation in Perth where I pass several GJs is that the Mercy Ministry collection boxes were still in place just a couple of weeks ago - so it is either a much more recent development or the WA stores never got the memo. . .

I hope that GJs might consider supporting local charities - or ones that have transparent governance arrangements so that giving is as sweet as their coffees.

NZ Dining - Winnies (Queenstown)

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:28:00 +0000

While walking through the Queenstown Mall on our first day there we were accosted by a charming young lady bearing pizza. I have always found pizza to be an attractive accessory for a girl so we stopped and sampled what seemed to be a capsicum laden piece of pizza. I've never been a great fan of bell peppers but this one was actually very sweet and not as overpowering as many I have tried here.

In one quick stop we had simplified our dinner plans.

Winnies is mid way up the mall in a large upstairs area with a great balcony, big fireplace and a remarkable roof (more on that later).

It was a bit dark on entry but our eyes soon adjusted and it was in fact quite a comfortable level of light to dine by. Looking around it appeared to be a pub trying to be a pizza place and not knowing the history if the place we had fun speculating whether in fact it might be a pub where the bar snacks just got a little out of control.

Whatever it was, it is fun and the pizza was great. It was also quite child friendly and early in the evening the vast majority of patrons are families. As we were getting ready to depart we could see the skiiers starting to arrive to fuel up for a night of partying.

Junior Grendel Number One brought his headphones and his Nintendo and thus was able to dodge the noise of the place successfully. He loved the fireplace though and was suitably impressed after delcaring that he was getting too hot so suddenly feel a blast of icy night air as the roof above us split in two.

This was quite a sight and where we were sitting we could see all the way to the top of the peak on which the gondola station rests. It was a unique way of changing the air in a bar!

The pizzas are great and I highly recommend them - the kids menu is good and Junior Grendel Number Two was pleased two nights in a row with the Spag bol they had on offer.

Being a bar they also had a good range of on-tap beers. Mrs Grendel discovered the Monteith's Raddler and I tried the cider, both came in a tankard and remained favourites as we travelled around the country.

A very enjoyable Queenstown dining experience.

Who: Winnies Gourmet Pizza Bar
What: Really yummy pizza, unusual temperature control feature
Where: 7-9 The Mall, Queenstown
Contact: 64 3 442 8635
When: 18-19 September 2009
Accessibility: Impossible if you use a wheelchair, hard if you have vision impairment and challenging if you have autism (take headphones/ear protection!), however if you just want to try the pizza they do deliver.
Web: Winnies Gourmet Pizza Bar

NZ Dining - Hikari Izakaya in Queenstown

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:27:00 +0000

It was at Hikari Izakaya on Beach Street in Queenstown that we first discovered that Junior Grendel Number Two loves Japanese food. He has always been more interested in trying new things than his older brother but astounded us with the range of new foods he was willing to try.

He ate an entire bell pepper salad along with sushi, sashimi and soba noodles. Actually looking at the 'S' theme of that sentence he missed out on only one thing - the Saki! (mine, all mine!).

Hikari Izakaya is a small neat restaurant what serves a small by delicious assortment of Japanese dishes. The quality of the food is very good and the staff polite and seemed to appear exactly when needed without interrupting the dining experience.

It was also one of the quieter places that we visited in Queenstown - although on our second visit there was a rowdy crew of drunk Canadian skiers who were having trouble finding the menu, pronouncing the items and ordering anything coherently. Dinner AND a show that night!

In a more general comment - Japanese food was almost unheard of in New Zealand when I visited in 1989 but on this trip we were amazed not so much at its presence in nearly every town but by the truly great quality compared to many places here. Sushi in particular seems to be a point of pride in New Zealand and one food hall in a mall in Auckland had the most amazing array of sushi that I have ever seen in my life - it was a display that would put lesser sushi bars in Perth to shame and make the better ones sick with envy.

I asked the chef if I might take photographs - but he declined, understandably, because these were works of art that others might copy. This one not a one off and we repeatedly saw amazing edible art at many sushi bars across Auckland.

Who: Hikari Izakaya
What: Superb Japanese cuisine
Where: 5 Beach Street, Queenstown
Contact: 64 3 442 9030
When: 20 & 21 September 2009
Accessibility: Adequate

2010 WA Barista Championship

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:22:00 +0000

With the Barista Championship now only three weeks away it is time to make sure you have registered for the Barista comp, cupping comp or latte art comp.

Go to the Australasian Specialty Coffee Association website to register!

Dateberry Delish

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:21:00 +0000

I really should leave the creation of names up to someone else, but while the name I have given these treats might seem a bit bland that is certainly not the case with these delectable morsels.

Ingredients:

Medjool dates (fresh dates from the fridge at your grocer)
Small strawberries (smaller berries have more flavour)
Thick balsamic vinegar (I prefer the Mazzetti gold label - 4 leaf vinegar)
Honey
Roasted, salted cashews

Method:

Slice the strawberries thinly and drizzle with balsamic. Allow these to rest while you slice each date in half lengthways, removing the stone.

Place the strawberries in the halved dates, trickle honey over the portion then top with a cashew. If you like you can also add a few flakes of pick Murray River Salt for a great flavour contrast.

Simple, quick and amazing with espresso, turkish/greek coffee or black turkish tea.

Kashiwa Mystery Cafe

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:59:00 +0000

Via Fark.com I followed a link this morning to Cabel's Blog. Cabel Sasser is the Co-Founder of Panic, a company that produces some very cool looking Mac apps.

Currently Cabel is visiting Japan and stopped by a cafe in Chiba prefecture, East of Tokyo. The cafe, in the town of Kashiwa is known as the "Mystery Cafe" because you receive whatever the person before you ordered.

While it sounds both weird and potentially fraught with disaster, Cabel's description of how it works also makes it somewhat appealing - I wonder if any Perth Cafe's would be willing to give it a whirl for a day - it would only work out for single person orders and not for the big runs of corporate orders we seem to see, but fun nonetheless.

The cafe has five rules:

Let's treat the next person. What to treat them with? It's your choice.
Even if it's a group of friends or a family, please form a single-file line. Also, you can't buy twice in a row.
Please enjoy what you get, even if you hate it. (If you really, really hate it, let's quietly give it to another while saying, "It's my treat…")
Let's say "Thank You! (Gochihosama)" if you find the person with your Ogori cafe card.
We can't issue a receipt

"Mike went up to the cafe, slapped down a couple thousand yen (~$25), and ordered a little bit of everything: some ice cream, some snacks, some candy, some drinks, a Japanese horn-of-mysterious-plenty intentionally set up as a shocking surprise for the next lucky customer. (After his order, Mike received single iced coffee.)

As we walked away from the cafe, with just the right amount of delay, we heard an extremely excited "arigato goazimasu!! thank you so much!!" yelled in our direction, from an ecstatic mom and her equally excited young son. They truly appreciated the surprise."

Go read the whole post on Cabel's Blog, the idea seems so beyond what we would consider, but charming in its own way.

Keep an eye out for the beautiful Yashika large format camera on the table - I used to drool over the thought of owning one of these and never have quite managed that ambition!

NZ Coffee Highlights - Rivers Cafe in Murchison

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:30:00 +0000

After the stunning drive up the West Coast of the South Island we turned inland just South of Westport to follow the Buller River to the East. Murchison is in a lush valley once you come through the gorge and we were exhausted already by the drive which was during an intense storm that was bringing down trees and causing rock slides all along our route.

Rivers Cafe, on Fairfax Street just off the main highway, was a welcome relief. We ordered some lunch and coffee with hot chocolate for the Junior Grendels.

I ordered a Shepherd's pie, but was delivered a piece of the Venison pie - I didn't complain as I had been tossing up between the two and I figured I'd count it a fortuitous error. I was correct, the venison pie was stunning and I have not enjoyed such a rich mean as much as that in a long time.

The coffee was very well prepared and to top it off they had a good internet cafe that allowed us to catch up with a few emails and make a quick post.

It was a very enjoyable stopping point - especially for the Junior Grendels who had a play area and a warm fire. As a bonus we got to sit inside and watch the snow fall on the peak across the valley.

Who: Rivers Cafe
What: Amazing Food, cozy fire and great coffee (Havana Coffee Works)
Where: 51 Fairfax St, Murchison
Contact: 64 3 523 9009
When: 24 September 2009
Accessibility: Very Good
Web: Rivers Cafe

NZ Coffee Highlights - C1 Espresso in Christchurch

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:36:00 +0000

We went to C1 yesterday morning - a quirky little caff that out-grunges Seattle and that also has (to the Junior Grendel's delight) a working Dr Who pinball machine and a shopping centre style pony ride (circa 1960-something).

We went to four cafes in our brief stay in Christchurch - only two of these were on my list, the other two were walk-ins and I have to say that I am impressed with everything I have seen here so far.

C1 had great coffee - roasted by C4, good service (which is particularly handy when you have small ones in tow) and the food was exceptional. I had eggs benedict on the best bagel I have ever had in my life!

The ristretto was served in a heavy-bottomed glass, ideal for the purpose and was a good balance between acidity and savoury.

The flat white was well balanced with the espresso sitting nicely above the milk on the palate. Mrs Grendel had a cappuccino - also superb. This turned out to be her favourite cafe of the trip so they must have got everything right!

C1 - great cafe, great style and great coffee.

Who: C1
What: Great coffee and choice nosh
Where: 150 High Street, Christchurch 8142, New Zealand
Contact: 64 3 379 1917
When: 16 September 2009
Accessibility: Tricky
Web: C1 Espresso

Autism Science Foundation

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Taking a break from coffee for a moment. . .

As the parent of a child with Autism I have learned to be wary of the various groups that purport to represent me or my child. It is not so much of a problem here where advocacy tends to be more about ensuring that basic services are in place. The United States is a different story and the vast range of groups that have sprung up seem to represent almost any angle of political, ideological, medical or social approach to considering autism that you can imagine. I had hish hopes for Autism Speaks but it quickly became dominated by those who seek to placate the anti-vax crowd by committing research funds into the many times disproven area of a link between autism and vaccines. It was encouraging to see a member of their research board, Alison Singer, resign rather than agree to further dollars being wasted on this exhausted dead end of research.

Alison Singer has now created a new group - the Autism Science Foundation, which appears to have a much more rigourous framework for research. The scientific advisory board, while still being formed, is very solid and recently released its first request for proposals for doctorate level studies - not a bad effort after five months in operation.

I wish Alison and the Foundation well and hope the research that they fund is a useful contribution to the knowledge about autism.

NZ Coffee Highlights - Coffee Supreme in Christchurch

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:13:00 +0000

While in Christchurch we had just enough time for a flying visit to the local Headquarters of Coffee Supreme on Madras Street.

This funky roastery/espresso bar is the South Island starting point for Coffee Supreme. Of all the roasters whose coffee we tried it was Coffee Supreme who seemed to have the best distribution network and consistency in quality among the cafes that served there coffee. That is not to say that other roasters are not also outstanding, but the representation of their coffee was a bit more patchy than for Coffee Supreme.

Supreme HQ is like a Norse version of Seattle Grunge - enough wood paneling along the back dividing wall between the roastery and the bar to please any sauna lover but bare walls elsewhere with low-watt naked incandescent bulbs providing spartan lighting above the old, but well maintained La San Marco espresso machine.

The coffee was great - a really rich ristretto that bridged the gap between the bright acids and savoury gravy of whatever blend (I'm embarrassed to confess that I did not ask what was in the hopper) they were using that morning.

We got two take away flat whites for the start of our drive to Lake Tekapo and these were rich and sweet, an early taste of New Zealand milk that would happily dominate any milk based espresso drink if you allowed it to. In this case the coffee artfully sang through the milk and it was an enjoyable start to the morning drive.

Who: Coffee Supreme HQ Christchurch
What: Great coffee
Where: 218a Madras St, Christchurch CBD, New Zealand
Contact: 64 3 3790698
When: 17 September 2009
Accessibility: Adequate for entry to purchase a take away
Web: Coffee Supreme

NZ Coffee Highlights - Shawty's in Twizel

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:17:00 +0000

Twizel is a small town in the MacKenzie Basin that was built in 1968 as a town to service the local hydro plant. Today it remains a great stopping point for travellers and a staging point for keen astronomers wishing to take advantage of the clear, dry mountain air.

We stopped there on our way through from Tekapo to Queenstown and dropped in to Shawty's, a small cafe in the Twizel Mall.

Like most New Zealand cafes it was licensed - and they are in the process of expanding their bar (a lounge bar known as 'Grappa').

The coffee was superb (or Supreme to be precise!) and the Afghan we bought was just the right balance between dense and crumbly to satisfy. Owner and barista Troy was knowledgeable about the coffee and had a great menu that was amazing given the small size of the town.

I can't think of many small rural towns in Australia where you can waltz in and find a cafe in an open space with a playground for children that also serves top notch coffee and food. In fact I can't think of any at all - a bit sad given the size of our population.

Who: Shawty's
What: Great coffee, food and Grappa (apparently!)
Where: 4 Market Place, Twizel, South Canterbury, New Zealand
Contact: 64 3 4353155
When: 18 September 2009
Accessibility: Very Good
Web: Shawty's

Christchurch Coffee - Mitchelli's

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Mitchelli's was one of the cafes we managed to visit in Christchurch. I don't know why it is that all Christchurch cafe's seem so stylish and this one was one certainly had style character and great coffee. There is a much more independent mind set in cafes over in New Zealand and the unique characteristics of each make comparisons between them very difficult - much better to enjoy each cafe for what it is.

Mitchelli's was originally a rough warehouse or garage that has refitted by the Mitchell family for the purpose of opening a deli and cafe. It serves coffee by Wellington's Cafe L'Affare and they serve it superbly. The ristretto was tight and full bodied and the flat white creamy, rich and delicious.

Who: Mitchellis
What: Great coffee and gelati
Where: Ash Street Christchurch CBD (just off Poplar Lane)
Contact: 64 3 3774574
When: 16 September 2009
Accessibility: Good (lower floor access for those who use mobility aids)
Web: Mitchelli's

I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:18:00 +0000

And in no particular order I'll be posting some reviews of the various coffee highlights we struck in New Zealand. I'll be cross posting them at the Touring New Zealand blog as well.

Overall I'd have to day that from a general perspective they are ahead of us in getting specialty coffee to the masses - on the South Island in particular it was more common to see an independent cafe with artisan roasted coffee than it was to see a coffee chain or bulk roasted coffee purveyor.

Most cafes also seemed to have licenses for alcohol - this didn't mean that alcohol was a main feature, but it was nice to be able to order a liqueur along with the coffee if you wanted to.

It also meant that almost every cafe had a toilet - travelling with children this is a dream scenario as it means you can make a single stop for lunch or a break.

Food was great and the quality and range was superb and we had a few surprises in places where it wasn't expected.

I'd recommend New Zealand as a place to travel for anyone - but specially if you love coffee.

Where's Grendel

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:26:00 +0000

Click on the image to follow the NZ Coffee Experience!

Friday Night Music

noreply@blogger.com ("Grendel") — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:06:00 +0000

A real classic.