Coffee Collective co-owner Caleb Evans wants to offer specialty coffee and fresh, good quality takeaway in a sustainable package. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
If you walk or drive past Wentworth Avenue in Kingston on your way to the office, new kid on the block Coffee Collective is hoping to become your “good little local”.
Co-owner Caleb Evans wants to offer specialty coffee and fresh, good quality takeaway in a sustainable package to those who don’t live next door to Old Kingston or the Foreshore.
“We’ve hit somewhere in the middle for a bunch of people that are kind of tucked away,” he says.
“I think it’s going to be a good little local for a chunk of Kingston that is just ‘in-between’.”
Coffee Collective’s unique location comes courtesy of being embedded inside of Property Collective’s existing reception area. But this sustainable theme doesn’t stop at the shop’s design.
Takeaway cups are plastic-free and wrapped in Forest Stewardship Council certified paper and the lids are certified to the Australian standard for home composting. “Compostable Alternatives are doing the only takeaway coffee cup that is truly home compostable,” Caleb says. “A lot of the cups on the market say compostable, but then they still have to go through a composting plant.”
Takeaway packaging is made from renewable, responsibly sourced resources such as bagasse, bioplastic and Forest Stewardship Council paperboard. Most containers are also compostable.
Canberra ceramicist Clyde Arnott is currently making a special batch of coffee cups for those with a little more time on their hands who’d like to enjoy a cuppa at one of the tables inside.
“It’s more expensive to do it this way, but it’s worth it,” Caleb says. “A cafe is only a small drop in the ocean when it comes to this stuff, but I feel like it’s our duty to do what we can.”
And Caleb has no plans to stop there. He wants to start composting on-site and install a tap system for kombucha and other drinks with reusable glass bottles.
However Coffee Collective’s star beverage is, of course, coffee.
On tap is Canberra-based Redbrick Coffee’s classic style Coffee Coffee blend, but Caleb says he’s been working with Nordic-style coffee shop Bedst to add some more choices from around the world. “If you want something like a flat white, you’ll be able to have that a couple of different ways and explore some coffees you might not normally get to see or taste,” he says.
You’ll also find a familiar face from Canberra’s hospitality scene behind the coffee machine, with Church Public Service cafe owner Brock Dunn running the show while Caleb travels overseas.
On the food menu is a small selection of fresh sandwiches and toasties, a vegan bircher muesli and some locally sourced pastries from Fyshwick’s Three Mills Bakery and Mawson’s UNDER.
But Caleb personally can’t go past the avocado toast. “I know it’s been done to death, but the way I’m doing it is just really simple on really good bread,” he says.
Customers can then choose between a crispy Sichuan chilli crunch, nut dukkah or everything bagel mix to sprinkle on top.
“For me, all three on top of avocado with a bit of lemon is a ripper breakfast,” Caleb says.
Coffee Collective at 47 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston opens weekdays from 7 am to 11 am. Order in-store or online via the Coffee Collective website.
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